Dharmakirti on Compassion and Rebirth.

• Author: GUENTHER, HERBERT V.
• Position: Review

This monograph deals with the second chapter, called Pram[bar{a}]nasiddhi, of Dharmak[bar{i}]rti's main work, the Pram[bar{a}]nav[bar{a}]rttika, that is one of the great standard works on logic within the Buddhist tradition. Dharmak[bar{i}]rti was a famous teacher among the Buddhists at N[bar{a}]landa, but was repudiated and criticized by contemporary Ny[bar{a}]ya, vai[acute{s}]esika, M[bar{i}]m[bar{a}]ms[bar{a}], Jaina, and C[bar{a}]rv[bar{a}]ka philosophers. For this reason many modern scholars read Dharmak[bar{i}]rti's arguments as addressed solely to a Buddhist audience. Yet, the author of this monograph convincingly proves in his first chapter that Dharmak[bar{i}]rti's arguments were mainly aimed at a non-Buddhist audience, who acceptance of certain Buddhist tenets, especially the Four Noble Truths, he wanted to promote. This task was not unreasonable since at Dharmak[bar{i}]rti's time the Indian philosophical systems were not yet rigidly formulated and their borderlines were still rather fluid. However , Dharmak[bar{i}]rti's problem was rather personal; he was considered as too sectarian and polemic.

Dharmak[bar{i}]rti on Compassion and Rebirth. By ELI FRANCO. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde, vol. 38. Vienna: ARBEITSKREIS F[ddot{U}]R TIBETISCHE UND BUDDHISTISCHE STUDIEN UNIVERSIT[ddot{A}]T WIEN, 1997. Pp. 394.

The second chapter analyzes the introductory verses of the Pram[bar{a}]nasiddhi as to their logical implications...