The present volume provides an annotated English translation of the last section of Dharmakīrti’s Pramāṇavārttikasvavṛtti (PVSV 164,24–176,16, ad stanzas 1.312–340), which includes his final assault on the Mīmāṃsā doctrine of the authorlessness (apauruṣeyatva) of the Veda. Dharmakīrti draws out the apparently fatal consequences of this doctrine: If the Vedic scriptures are without an author, hence without an underlying intention, they can only be meaningless. Even if they have a meaning, it must be supersensible. But then, claiming that the leading Mīmāṃsaka authorities – Jaimini, Śabara – possessed privileged cognitive access to its supersensible meaning is not an option, since the Mīmāṃsaka denies that humans have any supernatural form of knowledge. In short, Dharmakīrti forces his opponent to admit that the Veda is nothing but a mutus liber, a “mute book.” Besides questioning the very possibility of Vedic hermeneutics under Mīmāṃsaka presuppositions, the passage translated contains interesting allusions to Dharmakīrti’s linguistic theory, his views on scriptural authority, his critique of the Veda’s reliability, and his understanding of the transmission of the Veda and Vedic śākhās (“schools”, “recensions”). The section includes Dharmakīrti’s polemics against a mysterious vṛddhamīmāṃsaka (“ancient Mīmāṃsaka”).An introduction (pp. 7–21: “The Place of PVSV 164,24–176,16 in the work of Dharmakīrti,” by V. Eltschinger), a synopsis of contents (pp. 23–30) and two independent essays round off the volume. H. Krasser’s “Logic in a Religious Context: Dharmakīrti in Defence of āgama” (pp. 83–118) sheds new light on Dharmakīrti’s conception of scriptural authority and its indebtedness to Dignāga. J. Taber’s “Dharmakīrti and the Mīmāṃsakas in Conflict” (pp. 119–149) explores the guiding principles of the Mīmāṃsā system of exegesis and assesses the relevance of Dharmakīrti’s arguments against it. A general bibliography and various indices complete the volume.

Can the Veda speak?: Dharmakīrti against Mīmāṃsā Exegetics and Vedic authority. An Annotated Translation of PVSV 164,24-176,16. (Osterreichische ... Kultur- Und Geistesgeschichte Asiens Nr.74)

History

Eltschinger, Vincent

Krasser, Helmut

Asia

Austrian Academy of Sciences Press

From very early times, Buddhist intellectuals have made the notion of a self-existing over and above the bodily and mental constituent’s one of their main targets. Their critique first culminates in Vasubandhu’s treatise against the Buddhist personalists (5th century CE).The eighth-century philosophers Santaraksita and Kamalasila provide another milestone in the history of the mainstream Buddhists’ critique of the self and the person: their Tattvasangraha (pañjika) contains the most learned and elaborate treatment of the subject. But how have Dignaga and Dharmakirti contributed to this debate? The present study attempts to answer at least in part this question by offering an account of Dharmakirti’s position regarding the self.The book’s introduction deals with Dharmakirti’s view of the self as the paramount expression of nescience. Chapter 1 is devoted to his critique of the two main expressions of Buddhist substantialism; the Buddha-nature teachings and Personalism (pudgalavada). Chapter 2 presents his way of undermining the non-Buddhists’ arguments in favor of the self. Finally, Chapter 3 provides a detailed account of Dharmakirti’s most original contribution on the subject; his demonstration that the (belief in the) existence of a self makes salvation impossible.

Self, No-Self, and Salvation: Dharmakīrti`s Critique of the Notions of Self and Person (Osterreichische Akademie Der Wissenschaften: Philosophisch-historische Klasse Sitzungsberichte)

Ratié, Isabelle

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