Devendrabuddhi and Śākyabuddhi

Abstract

This chapter traces the development of Dharmakīrti’s (c. 625) epistemological system as articulated in his Pramāṇavārttika (PV) through the contributions of his two direct disciples and earliest commentators, Devendrabuddhi (c. 650) and Śākyabuddhi (c. 675): respectively, the Pramāṇavārttikapañjikā (PVP) and the Pramāṇavārttikaṭīkā (PVṬ). These contributions are examined in light of a “hybrid text” model, wherein the presupposition that Dharmakīrti’s “root text” was ever intended to be even grammatically or syntactically comprehensible independently of the commentaries of Devendrabuddhi and Śākyabuddhi is questioned. In contrast to this uncritical presupposition, it is argued that Devendrabuddhi’s commentary (in particular) should best be regarded as an integral element of a “hybrid text,” composed of the PV and the PVP together, in the same way and for the same reasons that Dignāga’s Pramāṇasamuccaya (PS) and its autocommentary (Pramāṇasamuccayavṛtti, PSV) should be regarded as a single “hybrid text.” Further light is shed upon the hermeneutical methods adopted and philosophical issues treated by these two authors through an examination of Devendrabuddhi’s notion of the unmediated (avyavahita) instrumental effect (pramāṇaphala) and Śākyabuddhi’s discussion of reflexive awareness (svasaṃvedana).