Buddhist Philosophy in India and Ceylon c19.s2.44

c19.s2.44

Of later works importance attaches to the *Madhyamākavatāra*² of Candrakīrti (sixth century A. D.) the commentator on Nāgārjuna’s Kārikās, and to the *Çikṣāsamuccaya*³ and *Bodhicaryāvatāra*⁴ of Çāntideva, who lived probably in the seventh century A. D. The former of Çāntideva’s works is in the main a mass of citations, often of some length, from texts not otherwise available to us in Sanskrit form; the latter is a poem of great religious merit, worthy of comparison in its own way with the *Imitatio Christi*. In a sense it is a *tour de force*, for the author is devoutly convinced of the nothingness of things, but his philosophy does not forbid him to exhibit a fervour of pious devotion. It is accompanied by a comment by Prajñākaramati, which contains valuable notices bearing on the text.