Description
Book SynopsisBuddhist intellectual discourse owes its development to a dynamic interplay between primary source materials and subsequent interpretation, yet scholarship on Indian Buddhism has long neglected to privilege one crucial series of texts. Commentaries on Buddhist scriptures, particularly the sutras, offer rich insights into the complex relationship between Buddhist intellectual practices and the norms that inform--and are informed by--them. Evaluating these commentaries in detail for the first time, Richard F. Nance revisits--and rewrites--the critical history of Buddhist thought, including its unique conception of doctrinal transmission. Attributed to such luminaries as Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu, Dignaga, and Santideva, scriptural commentaries have long played an important role in the monastic and philosophical life of Indian Buddhism. Nance reads these texts against the social and cultural conditions of their making, establishing a solid historical basis for the interpretation of key belie
Trade Review...particularly instructive for Buddhists who find themselves in these early stages of receiving and interpreting the dharma in the West. Buddhadharma Meticulously situating his sources within the institutional and cultural landscape of their creation, Nance explores these questions with clarity, intelligence, and even humor. This work will be an especially welcome resource for graduate students of Buddhism and other Indian traditions. Choice Impressive. Nance's project is welcome and overdue in Buddhist and premodern Indian textual studies. Philosophy East and West
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. Models of Speaking: Buddhas and Monks 2. Models of Instruction: Preachers Perfect and Imperfect 3. Models of Argument: Epistemology and Interpretation 4. Models of Explication: Commentarial Guides Conclusion Appendix A. The Vyakhyayukti, Book I Appendix B. The Abhidharmasamuccayabhasya (Excerpt) Appendix C. The *Vivaranasamgrahani Notes Bibliography Index of Texts Index
