The University of Nalanda c7.113

c7.113

Āryadeva, another exponent of Mādhyamika philosophy and illustrious follower of Nāgārjuna, assailed Sāṃkhya, Vaiśeṣika and 20 other heretical schools in a work called "the explanation of Nirvāṇa by heretical and Hīnayāna Schools, mentioned in the Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra."² Another of his works, Śataśāstra has been recently published by Tucci. In his introduction Tucci says,³ "It is a polemical work, the scope of which is to establish the exact doctrine of the Śūnya after refuting their views. The criticism is not only directed against Vaiśeṣika and the Sāṃkhyas but also against the various Hīnayāna Schools. Together with the works of Nāgārjuna this is one of the most important texts for the study of the mādhyamika doctrine. And in fact in China and Japan it was considered as one of the fundamental authorities by the school of the "three śāstras", so called because it based its teachings upon the Mūlamādhyamikakārikā, the Dvādaśanikāyaśāstra and our têxt".