An Annotated Translation of Candrakirti's Prasannapada

FAIN: RZ-50084-03

University of Wisconsin System (Madison, WI 53715-1218)
John D. Dunne (Project Director: September 2002 to September 2006)

An annotated translation into English of Candrakirti's Prasannapada ("Lucid Words"), a 7th century C.E. Tibetan philosophical treatise in Sanskrit that is among the most important works of the Buddhist Madhyamaka ("Middle Way") tradition. (14 months)

The main goal of this project is to complete our annotated translation of Candrakirti's Prasannapada ("Lucid Words"), a 7th-century C.E. philosophical treatise in Sanskrit that is among the most important works of the Buddhist Madhyamaka ("Middle Way") tradition. Although widely recognized as crucial to the study of Buddhist philosophy, this lengthy text has not been completely translated in any European language. A translation of Prasannapada will aid a wide audience, since the anti-essentialist critiques presented in Madhyamaka thought have recently attracted the attention of scholars and practitioners in diverse disciplines, including philosophy, psychology and gender studies. The envisioned project includes a substantial introduction that will situate the text in its intellectual milieu and address the philosophical controversies that it has engendered among Buddhists and the modern academy. The current funding request is for the translation only.