Madhyanta-vibhaga-karika


The Madhyāntavibhāgakārikā, or Verses Distinguishing the Middle and the Extremes is a key work in Buddhist philosophy of the Yogacara school attributed in the Tibetan tradition to Maitreya-nātha and in other traditions to Asanga.

Text

The Madhyānta-vibhāga-kārikā consists of 112 verses which delineate the distinctions and relationship between the middle view and the extremes ; it contains five chapters: Attributes, Obscurations, Reality, Cultivation of Antidotes and the Supreme Way. Along with Chinese, Tibetan and Mongolian translations, the text survives in a single Sanskrit manuscript discovered in Tibet by the Indian Buddhologist and explorer, Rahul Sankrityayan. The Sanskrit version also included a commentary by Vasubandhu. An important sub-commentary by Sthiramati also survives in Sanskrit as well as a Tibetan version.

Editions and translations

A Sanskrit edition was prepared by Gadjin M. Nagao in 1964. The Madhyāntavibhāga-kārikā has been translated into English at least nine times, often with the Indian commentaries, in the following volumes: