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Completed Research Projects

The employees of our institute have acquired numerous research projects funded by third parties. Find out about the completed projects and the contributors here.

enlarge the image: Water jug with flowers, photo: Katrin Querl
Water jug with flowers, photo: Katrin Querl

Yamāri's Pramāṇavārttikālaṅkāraṭīkā Supariśuddhā (diplomatic and critical editions, partial translation, and studies)

Yamāri's extensive commentary on the Pramāṇavārttikālaṅkāra (hereafter PVA) of Prajñākaragupta (c. 750 – 810), the Pramāṇavārttikālaṅkāraṭīkā Supariśuddhā (hereafter Supariśuddhā), written around 1050 CE. was long considered lost in the Sanskrit original and was accessible only in a Tibetan translation, whose comprehensibility was marred by sometimes insurmountable philological problems. Only recently has it become known that a manuscript of this work has been preserved after all, and is kept at the China Tibetology Research Center (CTRC) in Beijing.  Thanks to an agreement between the Institute of Indology and Central Asian Studies at the Leipzig University and the CTRC, the applicant and the two intended project collaborators will have access to this sensational find. The manuscript contains the commentary on the extensive Pramāṇasiddhi chapter of the PVA, which we intend to edit both diplomatically and critically, along with a translation and study of selected passages on Buddhist philosophy of religion. The testimony of the manuscript will not only allow us to study for the first time the oeuvre of the eminent Buddhist commentator and philosopher, Yamāri, but will also contribute significantly to the testimony for the Prajñākaragupta PVA text.

The project will therefore serve a threefold purpose: It will 1) provide a new basis for understanding the work of an important Buddhist commentator and philosopher through the editio princeps of the Sanskrit original of the Supariśuddhā, 2) represent the first attempt to reconstruct a portion of Yamāri's thought structure, by translating and examining those selected passages in which Yamāri goes significantly beyond the literal explanation of the PVA, and 3) provide a much-needed, long-missing tool for understanding one of the most important works in the Buddhist epistemological tradition, namely the PVA.

Additionally, the project represents a significant step in international cooperation with the CTRC. The CTRC's openness to such cooperation is crucial for the development of Buddhist studies in the coming decades, insofar as access to the CTRC's unique Sanskrit manuscripts is extremely important for understanding the history of Buddhism in South Asia, especially in its later and final stages.

Secular Life Description in Early Modern Tibet: A Study Kalon Tenzin Paljor's Autobiography 'Music of Frank Speech'

  • Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
    Duration: 3 years
    Start: 16.07.2017 (leave of absence for replacements from 1.1.2019 and from 11.10.2020 for 6 months each, extension until 31.3.2022)
    Project leader: Dr. Franz Xaver Erhard

This research project examines the emergence and development of Tibetan secular biographies in the 18th century. Tibetan biographies and autobiographies as a predominantly religious genre largely followed Indian models. The secularization of the genre in the 18th century was accompanied by profound social and political upheavals in Tibetan society and culture, as well as the dawn of modernity. This comprehensive philological study will analyze the autobiography "Dga' bzhi ba'i mi rabs kyi byung ba brjod pa zol med gtam gyi rol mo [History of the Gabzhi Family: A Music of Revealing Speech]" written by Tibetan cabinet minister and intellectual Tenzin Paljor (1760- ca.1808) in its entirety for the first time. Comparison of the autobiographical text with outstanding earlier and contemporary examples of Tibetan biographies will reveal how social and literary conventions shaped the biographical genre. Furthermore, the political and social developments that stimulated the shift from an exclusively religious genre dominated by hagiographies to secular life descriptions will be discussed. The research project will thus contribute not only to a deeper understanding of Tibetan society in the 18th century, but also in particular to the history of Tibetan life description in the early modern period.

Tibetan Genealogy, Kinship Lineage and Reincarnation Succession: a religious-political study of the Bar 'Brug-pa bKa'-brgyud-pa sect between the 15th and 16th centuries

The project deals with a religio-political history of the Bar 'Brug-pa sect between the 15th and 16th centuries. The case study focuses on the intense competition and increasing rivalries between the two lineages, namely the institution of the so-called rGyal-dbang 'Brug-chen reincarnation and the traditional abbot succession represented by the ruling rGya family of Rwa-lung. The two lineage split the sect led to the relocation of the ruling house of Rwa-lung to the "Southern Land" (lho mon/lho kha bzhi) and the emergence of a unitary state, Bhutan, in the 17th century. Tibetan sources, which have been little studied so far, constitute the main object of investigation. Especially the (auto-)biographies of the Bar 'Brug-pa masters who belonged to the two competing lineages of the 13th Rwa-lung throne holder rGyal-dbang 'Brug-chen II Kun-dga' dpal-'byor (1428-1476), the 14th Rwa-lung throne holder Ngag-dbang chos-rgyal (1465-1540), rGyal-dbang 'Brug-chen III 'Jam-dbyangs Chos kyi grags-pa (1478-1523), rGyal-dbang 'Brug-chen IV Padma dkar-po (1527-1592), and rGya-dbang 'Brug-chen V dPag-bsam dbang-po (1593-1653), have received little attention.  Based on historical and philological methodologies, the research project conducts a thorough investigation of the selected Tibetan sources and aims to present a full-fledged study of the history of the Bar 'Brug-pa school over the course of those two hundred years. By doing so, the project aims to describe in more detail the themes at the center of contemporary Tibetan studies, namely the role of the clan and the regional ruling house in the formation and shaping of Tibetan medieval history and the increasing prevalence of the institution of incarnation (yang srid) that characterized Tibetan theocracy from the fifteenth century onward, and to explore the function of writing hagiographies in the formation of a Buddhist school's identity and the creation of a social community.

Digital Critical Edition of the Nyāyabhāṣya

  • Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
    Duration 9(3) Jahre, Start: 1.7.2016
    1st project phase
    Project leader: Prof. Dr. Eli Franco
    Research associates: Dr. Philipp André Maas und Tyler Graham Neill

The Nyaya ("Logic") is one of the most important traditions of classical Indian philosophy. Its basic scripture, the Nyayasutra, consists of five chapters and is attributed to the sage Aksapada. In the second half of the 4th century, the text was largely fixed by anonymous editors and shortly thereafter commented upon by Paksilasvamin Vatsyayana. Vatsyayana's commentary, the Nyayabhasya, is extremely important to our understanding of the early phase of Nyaya philosophy and the reconstruction of the earliest form of the Nyayasutra. Furthermore, it expands our knowledge of the other philosophical traditions of the classical period whose literature is only partially extant. Despite this great importance for the study of the history of Indian philosophy, the Nyayabhasya has not yet been critically edited. The need for a critical edition has been adequately documented by a DFG-funded pilot project on Chapter 5 and three FWF-funded projects on Chapters 1-2 at the University of Vienna. The DFG long-term project aims at the critical edition of chapters 3-4, which deal with central metaphysical, epistemological, theological, and soteriological questions in a dialectical form. To produce the critical text, 15 manuscripts will be used, selected from 41 available from a stemmatic point of view. They will be supplemented by a number of other manuscripts, after philological evaluation of their readings and the performance of various phylogenetic analyses of their texts. Surrogates of the relevant manuscripts, mainly from India, are already available. In addition to the printed critical edition of the two chapters, a major goal of the project is the digital publication, in accordance with the latest standards, and thus wide dissemination of a novel critical edition of their text, accompanied by documentation of the textual versions of all primary and secondary witnesses and selected printed editions, and with the addition of detailed manuscript descriptions. It will be published on the innovative web platform Brucheion, which was developed for the project and will provide free access to the texts as well as the possibility to study the diversity of the textual tradition. The critical text will be a reliable, well-argued comprehensive source for future studies of classical Nyaya philosophy and will provide the basis for a new philologically informed translation of the text. The project will make a substantial contribution to the introduction of digital humanities and digital philology into the discipline, with the establishment of new approaches and methods in stemmatics and representation of data that can be applied to any other humanities subject, such as classical philology, in which critical editions are undertaken on the basis of a large number of manuscripts.

Yamāri’s Pramāṇavārttikālaṅkāraṭīkā Supariśuddhā (diplomatic and critical editions, partial translation and studies)

Yamāri's extensive commentary on the Pramāṇavārttikālaṅkāra (hereafter PVA) of Prajñākaragupta (c. 750-810), the Pramāṇavārttikālaṅkāraṭīkā Supariśuddhā (hereafter Supariśuddhā), written around 1050 CE. was long considered lost in the Sanskrit original and was accessible only in a Tibetan translation, whose comprehensibility was marred by sometimes insurmountable philological problems. Only recently has it become known that a manuscript of this work has been preserved after all, and is kept at the China Tibetology Research Center (CTRC) in Beijing. (The manuscript itself was returned to Lhasa and is currently not accessible. For brevity, we will refer to "manuscript" in what follows, rather than repeating "the photocopy of the manuscript" each time. The same applies to all other "manuscripts" of the CTRC. On the CTRC collection, see Ernst Steinkellner, A Tale of Leaves: On Sanskrit Manuscripts in Tibet, their Past and their Future. 2003 Gonda Lecture. Amsterdam 2004: Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Institute of South and Central Asian Studies at Leipzig University signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Institute of Religious Studies at CTRC on September 6, 2012. This memorandum, which aims at joint research funding, gives us access to some of the valuable Sanskrit manuscripts). Thanks to an agreement between the Institute of South and Central Asian Studies at Leipzig University and the CTRC, the applicant and the two intended project collaborators will have access to this sensational find. The manuscript contains the commentary on the extensive Pramāṇasiddhi chapter of the PVA, which we intend to edit both diplomatically and critically, along with a translation and study of selected passages on Buddhist philosophy of religion. The testimony of the manuscript will not only allow us to study for the first time the oeuvre of the eminent Buddhist commentator and philosopher, Yamāri, but will also contribute significantly to the testimony for the Prajñākaragupta PVA text. The project will therefore serve a threefold purpose: It will 1) provide a new basis for understanding the work of an important Buddhist commentator and philosopher through the editio princeps of the Sanskrit original of the Supariśuddhā, 2) represent the first attempt to reconstruct a portion of Yamāri's thought structure, by translating and examining those selected passages in which Yamāri goes significantly beyond the literal explanation of the PVA, and 3) provide a much-needed, long-missing tool for understanding one of the most important works in the Buddhist epistemological tradition, namely the PVA. Additionally, the project represents a significant step in international cooperation with the CTRC. The CTRC's openness to such cooperation is crucial for the development of Buddhist studies in the coming decades, insofar as access to the CTRC's unique Sanskrit manuscripts is extremely important for understanding the history of Buddhism.

Visual documentation of regional topography and everyday life in the Tibetan cultural area in the mid-19th century: the Wise Collection of the British Library.

  • Funded by the Gerda-Henkel-Stiftung
    Duration: 2 years
    Start: April 1, 2013 - March 31, 2015
    Project leader: Dr. Diana Lange

Probably made in the mid-19th century by a Tibetan artist, the drawings, now part of the British Library's Wise Collection, offer a glimpse into the visual representation of regional topography and local daily life of a large part of Tibet at the time. The core of the collection consists of six large picture maps depicting the geographical area between Ladakh and eastern Tibet. The region is depicted in a length of about 1800 km (west-east) almost without interruption in different scales. The maps are complemented by 25 illustrations of ceremonies, rituals and ethnographic details of Tibet.

The aim of the proposed project is to explore the Wise Collection in the context of its creation. Based on the examination of the content of the drawings, it will be documented in which form regional topography and everyday knowledge of the Tibetan cultural area from a Tibetan perspective were represented in a visual manner in the mid-nineteenth century, and which conclusions can be drawn as a result with regard to the selection, perception and representation of geographical spaces and of everyday knowledge. Furthermore, the collection as a visual source will be contrasted in critical form with literary Tibetan sources that date from the same period and compared with them in terms of their informative value.

Pulse diagnosis in Tibetan medical texts

Pulse diagnosis is the most important diagnostic method in Tibetan medicine. To date, there are a number of summary accounts that almost exclusively reflect the view of the most important work of Tibetan medicine, the Rgyud bzhi. The underlying pulse chapter of the Rgyud bzhi is also available in some translations. However, there has been no scientific research to date that comprehensively examines pulse diagnosis. During the two-year project, based on a broad source-critical analysis, a comprehensive study of pulse diagnosis in Tibetan medicine will be developed for the first time, showing the development of the ideas of this diagnostic method both in terms of its systematic representations and its concrete execution in application-related texts as handed down in Tibetan medical literature. These two main aspects, the evaluation of the theoretical and the practical views, as well as their hybrid forms in texts that combine both, will be brought together to form a historical-critical treatise that also includes the background of the political-historical and ideological-historical process of Tibetan medicine. This therefore also includes an assessment of pulse diagnosis in relation to the different phases of development of Tibetan medicine and the different schools of Tibetan medicine.

Basically, the treatment of the material is divided into two thematic foci:

  • the analysis of the medicine treatises with systematic representations of pulse diagnosis and
  • the analysis of pulse diagnostic statements in application-oriented texts.

The latter of the two foci can be further divided into the study of those treatises that, in addition to the clinically oriented part, also have their own systematic exposition, and those exclusively application-oriented texts without any systematic exposition of theoretical concepts.

It seems to be useful to start the following periods in the study of the selected medical texts, which at the same time is the periodization of the material to be assumed for the time being:

1. Earliest evidence – Dunhuang-Material and the Zla ba’i rgyal po (ca. 8th-10th centuries)
2. New influences – Nāgārjuna und Skyes bu Me lha (11th century)
3. The formation of Tibetan medicine – the Rgyud bzhi of G.yu thog Yon tan mgon po and the ’Bum bzhi of Dpyad bu khri shes (12th century)
4. the commentaries on the Rgyud bzhi and treatises influenced by it:
4.1. Family tradition– the commentary of the Brang ti-Medizinschule (14th centruy)
4.2. The diversity of opinions – the commentaries and treatises of the Gong sman-, Byang lugs- and Zur lugs schools of medicine (15th–16th century)
4.3. The standardization of diversity – The commentaries of the Dga’ ldan pho brang-Regierung and the ’Bri gung pa schools of medicine (17th century)
4.4. the implementation of the standard I – the commentaries and treatises of the 18th century
4.5. the implementation of the standard II – the commentaries and treatises of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century

The aim of the project is a comprehensive monographic presentation of pulse diagnosis, which includes not only an in-depth analysis of pulse diagnostic views, but also the editing and translation of a selection of relevant texts.

These texts to be edited and translated include:

1. Zla ba’i rgyal po von Nāgārjuna
2. Ti ka rnam drug von Nāgārjuna
3. Rtsa yig nyi zer sgron me von Nāgārjuna
4. Snyan brgyud be’u bum nag po von Skyes bu Me lha
5. Rgyud bzhi von G.yu thog Yon tan mgon po
6. Phyi rgyud kyi dka’ ’grel dgos ’dod ’byung ba von Byang ba Rnam rgyal grags bzang
7. Phyi rgyud kyi ’grel pa tshig don rab tu gsal ba yid bzhin nor bu von Byar po pan chen Rdo rje pha lam
8. Phyi ma ’phrin las rgyud kyi dka’ ba’i gnad gsal ’grel chen don gsal sgron me
von Mtsho smad mkhan chen alias Ska ba Shakya dbang phyug
9. Rtsa brtag (*Nāḍīparīkṣā) von Dānendra
10. Rgya nag lugs kyi reg pa rtsa brtag pa gsar ’gyur von Chos kyi ’byung gnas; hrsg. von Karma tshe dbang kun khyab

The results of the analysis, the texts to be edited, and the translations are to be summarized and published in an English-language monograph.

Jitāri: A critical edition, translation and historical-philosophical study on the basis of a new Sanskrit manuscript at the China Tibetology Research Center (Beijing)

It has been known for some time that a large number of rare Sanskrit manuscripts are preserved in Lhasa. In 1961 a collection of 250 manuscripts was sent to the library of the Palace of National Minorities, Beijing. Most of the manuscripts were returned to Lhasa in 1993, but photocopies and microfilms of them were made in 1987 and are kept now in the China Tibetology Research Center (CTRC), Beijing. Recent agreement between the CTRC and the Austrian Academy of Sciences has already enabled two major publications: Jenendrabuddhi’s Pramāṇasamuccayaṭīkā (ch. 1) and Dharmakīrti’s Pramāṇaviniścaya (ch. 1 & 2). (see also Steinkellner 2004, Franco 2006). Further publications on the basis of these precious materials are now under preparation. However, access to these rare documents remains highly restricted. We (my colleague Dr. Chu and myself) are therefore fortunate to have been granted access to a major manuscript (218 leafs, see also the Report in Attachment 2) containing several works, some hitherto completely unknown, of the philosopher Jitāri (ca. A.D. 940-980).
Jitāri is a renowned Buddhist philosopher who exercised a strong influence in the later period of the history of South Asian Buddhist philosophy. However, until recently our knowledge about Jitāri has been very limited. A preliminary partial reading has confirmed that at least eleven works are contained in this manuscript:

1. Jātinirākti
2. Sāmānyanirārkṛti
3. Īśvaravādimataparīkṣā
4. Avayavinirākaraṇa
5. Vedaprāmāṇyanirākṛti
6. Vijñaptimātratāsasiddhi
7. Apohasiddhi
8. Kṣaṇabhaṅgasiddhi
9. Dvijātidūṣaṇa
10. Bhāvikāraṇavāda
11. Śrutikartṛsiddhi

The value of these newly available materials cannot be overstated; they will substantially enrich our knowledge not only of Jitāri's thought, but also of his historical and philosophical relationship to other authors. It will thus allow for a better understanding of the later period of Buddhist philosophy in South Asia.
The goal of the proposed project is to prepare an overall survey of the entire manuscript, prepare critical editions and translations of some of treatises listed above together with a historical-philosophical study.

Logic, Dialectics and Epistemology of the Nyāya Tradition: A Critical Edition of the Fifth Chapter of the Nyāyasūtra and Nyāyabhāṣya

The Nyāya (“methodical thinking,” “logic”) is one of the most important traditions of 1
classical Indian philosophy. With much emphasis on logic, epistemology and metaphysics, its systematization as a full-fledged philosophical tradition progressed during the Kuṣāṇa dynasty (first to third centuries) and crystallized during the time of Gupta rule in South Asia (fourth to sixth centuries). Its authoritative foundational treatise, the Nyāyasūtra, consists of five chapters ascribed to the sage Akṣapāda of the Gotama clan. It must have been finalized by anonymous redactors towards the middle of the fifth century and was commented upon by Pakṣilasvāmin Vātsyāyana in the second half of the fifth century. Vātsyāyana’s commentary, the Nyāyabhāṣya, is of crucial importance not only for our understanding of the early phase of Nyāya philosophy and the earliest form of the Nyāyasūtra, but also for expanding our knowledge of other dialectical and philosophical traditions, especially with respect to the earlier traditions of ānvīkṣikī (“methodic investigation”) and vāda (“argumentation,” “disputation”). In spite of its undisputed significance, the NBh has not yet been critically edited. The need for a new, truly critical edition of the work has been amply demonstrated by a FWF project that has been conducted in Vienna since 2004 (see § 2.1.4). The project proposed here has been conceived as a complement to the Vienna project, which has been limited to the first three chapters of the work. The proposed project aims to establish a critical text of the fifth chapter, which deals with jāti (“sophisticated rejoinder”) and nigrahasthāna (“points of defeat” in public debate). If successful, a subsequent project for the critical edition of chapter four will be undertaken, so that a complete critical edition of the Nyāyasūtra and the Nyāyabhāṣya will be available to the scholarly world.
To establish a historical and critical text, some thirty-five manuscripts of the Nyāyabhāṣya, copies of most of which have already been procured, will be used. Further effort will be made to obtain copies of a few other known manuscripts and to locate still unknown exemplars in the Indian subcontinent. Secondary testimonia will also be systematically explored (cf. § 3.1). Special software that can handle the complex and extensive data and perform the genealogical analysis of the manuscripts will be used for the collation and establishment of the critical edition as well as the establishment of a stemma codicum (cf. § 2.2.2, no. 2 and § 3.1). The text that results will form a reliable and well-founded tool that can serve as a source for future studies on Nyāya philosophy, as well as the basis for a new translation that can be supplemented by in-depth philological and historical annotations.

Drigung ('Bri-gung) in the period between the 11th and 17th centuries

Final Report

The research project investigated the monastic order of the 'Bri gung pa, which decisively shaped and influenced religious and political events in the Tibetan Middle Ages. By means of the processing of a large number of textual sources, the political history of the impact of this Tibetan school was to be traced and assessed.

In evaluating and assessing the numerous sources on the 'Bri gung pa monastic order, a two-pronged approach has proved expedient. On the one hand, a chronological sequence, based on the succession of abbots of 'Bri gung thel, is used as a 'golden thread' to follow the change and also the tradition always newly found and reformulated by the representatives of this order over the centuries. On the other hand, thematic-contentual emphases were set to illuminate and help understand the special features of the 'Bri gung pa. Both are detailed below.

The genealogical roots of the Skyu ra clan have been studied in detail and will be pointed out at the beginning of the planned publication. It has been found that it is important to understand these because with the founder 'Jig rten mgon po, an uncle-nephew succession was also established for the post of head of this monastic order. Various decisions, especially in the early stages, can only be fully understood if this fact is included in the evaluation. They also remained an influential factor for later developments up to the 18th century and were closely linked to the system(s) of power transition developed by the 'Bri gung pa. Three phases could be distinguished. At the beginning, the uncle-nephew succession, as already mentioned, was formative, but later it was partially replaced by a father-son succession, finally leading to an abbot succession of incarnations, which was also favored by other monastic orders. The causes for these developments could be analyzed and the 'Bri gung pa-specific advantages and disadvantages could be pointed out. A detailed examination of the early period of the 'Bri gung pa focuses on the founding figure 'Jig rten mgon po and his numerous disciples. It could be shown that they laid the foundation for the development of the order in the following centuries.

The special relationship between the 'Bri gung pa and the Phag mo gru pa formed a focal point for the scholarly assessment of the 'Bri gung pa in the early period of the Tibetan Middle Ages, here especially in the period of the 13th and 14th centuries. It could be shown that the initial period, in which both were connected religious-politically as well as in terms of personnel and institutions, developed cracks at the latest under Byang chub rgyal mtshan. The subsequent rise of Byang chub rgyal mtshan as the most powerful political leader was accompanied by a decline of the 'Bri gung pa as a supraregional power.

However, these limitations, it can be shown, were used to good effect in some cases. Existing religious-political connections and relationships were strengthened, and in some cases new ones were even established. On the other hand, though, it would be misleading to portray this period as exclusively prosperous. Rather, it is also characterized by fierce internal rivalries, both political and religious, that led to lasting changes. For example, the post of secular administrator, the sgom pa, was abolished in favor of a combined secular-religious rule (bla dpon). Also to be noted in this context was the attempt to establish a father-son succession in place of the previously preferred uncle-nephew succession for securing rulership. Although at first glance this concentration of secular and clerical power in one person suggests a strengthening of the 'Bri gung pa order, an evaluation of historical sources revealed that this process was accompanied by a deep rift and continuing tensions within the 'Bri gung pa. Generally speaking, this period can be seen as one of decline or sustained weakening of the 'Bri gung pa.

In the 15th century, efforts were made to revive and renew the doctrinal edifice of the 'Bri gung pa, which in the meantime had shown signs of decay. This circumstance is highly significant, since such renewal became a recurring feature in the religious identity of this order, as can be seen especially in Kun dga' rin chen (1475-1527) and Chos kyi grags pa (1595-1659). The first decades of the 16th century were then entirely under the influence of Kun dga' rin chen for the 'Bri gung pa. The source material for this period proved to be very rich, so that this period could be studied in detail. Of course, the emerging relationship of the 'Bri gung pa with the ruling house of the Rin spungs pa, which began with the meeting of the 'Bri gung pa abbot with the Rin spungs pa ruler Don yod rdo rje (1463-1512) in 1500 and lasted for the entire period until the end of this noble house, should be emphasized. Because of the outstanding importance of the Rin spungs pa to this phase of Tibetan history, their political decisions and those of the 'Bri gung pa have been studied in detail.

Since Rin chen phun tshogs (1509-1557) was of great importance for the further development of the 'Bri gung pa, the assessment of his personality formed another focus of this work. A detailed description and evaluation of his activities was elaborated, which deals with his relatively short time on the abbot's throne and the longer period that followed until his death. In 1534, he was forced to abdicate in favor of Rin chen rnam rgyal, who represents the Phag mo rtse alias Khang gsar nang so, a side branch of the 'Bri gung ruling family. This points to the most serious internal conflict that accompanied the 'Bri gung pa for a long time - the competition between the Phag mo rtse and the Spro lung alias Thog kha nang so. This strife overlaid, or rather influenced, almost all major decisions made by the 'Bri gung pa dignitaries in the 16th century. An attempt has therefore been made to show the background and course of this dispute.

The middle decades of the 16th century were dominated by Rin chen rnam rgyal (1519-1576). Supported by his predecessor Rin chen phun tshogs, Rin chen rnam rgyal actively intervened in the events surrounding the forced abdication of the Phag mo gru pa ruler Ngag dbang bkra shis grags pa (1488-1563/64) and the subsequent installation of Ngag dbang grags pa (1532/38-1603/04), one of the most important events of the 16th century, in favor of the former. With this decision and related developments, he laid the foundation for a certain, albeit limited and far from dominant, supremacy in the central Tibetan region. This can be seen as the realization of the power politics whose beginnings were laid by Kun dga' rin chen. The details of how this occurred, such as the military conflicts, alliance politics, and the like, will be presented in the final publication.

While this phase was dominated by representatives of the Phag mo rtse line, Chos rgyal Phun tshogs bkra shis (1547-1602), representing the Spro lung line, came to power after fierce disputes. It could be shown that, by and large, he continued the alliance policy of his predecessors, which certainly found a special expression in the identifications of one of his sons as the 6th Zhva dmar Chos kyi dbang phyug (1584-1630). Internally, however, he set numerous new accents that continued the conflict with the Phag mo rtse lineage.

Like his father Rin chen phun tshogs, Phun tshogs bkra shis had a strong spiritual attachment to Rnying ma pa teachings. This peculiarity in the 'bri gung pa tradition was particularly studied because it became of profound importance to the religious identity of this Tibetan schooling. An attempt was made to show the process by which Rnying ma pa teachings found their way within the 'Bri gung pa, and likewise the scope, which was not limited to an identity-forming function within the 'Bri gung Bka' brgyud pa, but also helped to determine its entrenchment in Tibetan political life. The study was able to show that this process was gradual and took place in several phases.

The victory of the Dge lugs pa and its allies was accompanied by a fundamental reorganization of the political situation in central Tibet. It has been shown how the 'Bri gung pa positioned themselves religiously and politically and to a certain extent 'reinvented' themselves in the transitional period and in the subsequent phase of consolidation of this new hegemonic power. This process, which began under Chos kyi grags pa (1595-1659/1660) and was continued by his successor Dkon mchog 'phrin las bzang po (1656-1718), forms the basis for the internal and external appearance of this monastic order in the eighteenth century, as the present study argues.

In this context, geopolitical aspects have also been elaborated, showing above all the vital links with the 'Bri gung pa branches in eastern Tibet. These were not only the traditional ties based on Skyu ra clan relations, but also broader ones that needed to be continuously renewed and realigned, as exemplified by the 2nd Mgar chen Dkon mchog bstan 'dzin phun tshogs alias Bstan 'dzin phun tshogs. This represents a significant aspect of this work that revealed itself more and more in its importance during the course of the investigation and therefore became an important part of the study.

However, some of the numerous incarnational lines within the 'Bri gung Bka' brgyud pa possessed a pronounced supra-regional influence and formed an indispensable political-administrative network of the 'Bri gung pa. It was part of the political and economic survival strategy that the 'Bri gung pa developed in the 17th century and continuously expanded and consolidated in order not to depend only on the central Tibetan areas, which was a wise decision especially in view of the growing hegemony of the Dge lugs pa order. This network of incarnational lineages was maintained and even expanded in the following centuries.

A study on the Buddhist theory of perception based on Dharmakīrti’s Pramāṇavārttika, chapter III: A critical edition, translation and study of Pramāṇavārttika III 1-122 and 281-300

The project has been completed. The following publications resulted from the project:

  • Miyako Notake, “Dharmakīrti’s Argument over the Universal in the Third Chapter of the Pramāṇavārttika, vv. 11-50.” Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies. 2011: 171-176.
  • Eli Franco, Perception of Yogis - Some Epistemological and Metaphysical Considerations. In: H. Krasser et al. (eds.), Religion and Logic in buddhist Philosophical Analysis. Proceedings of the 4th International Dharmakīrti Conference, Vienna 2011: 81-98. [The main research on this paper was done before the project started, but the paper has been revised in 2010]
  • Eli Franco, How to Distinguish between Non-existing Entities? Dharmakīrti and Prajñākaragupta on Universals as Objects of Knowledge. Forthcoming in Rocznik Orientalistyczny 2012: 51-62 [Page numbers according to proofs]
  • Eli Franco and M. Notake, Dharmakīrti on the Duality of the Object. LIT Verlag, Berlin 2014, xv+173 pp. (Mit einem Vorwort von Pirmin Stekeler-Weithofer).

An investigation into causality in the Pratyabhijñā system. Critical edition, translation and study of Abhinavagupta's Īśvarapratyabhijñāvimarśinī , Adhikāra II, Āhnika 4.

The Pratyabhijñã system elaborated by the Kashmiri Śaiva philosophers Utpaladeva (fl. 925-950) and Abhinavagupta (fl. 975-1025) represents one of the greatest philosophical achievements in the history of Indian thought. However, while Utpaladeva's works have been superbly researched and translated by Raffaele Torella, Abhinavagupta's much more extensive work has been insufficiently and sometimes inadequately studied to date. The most extensive texts in the corpus of the Pratyabhijñã
are Abhinavagupta's Īśvarapratyabhijñāvimarśinī (ĪPV) and Īśvarapratyabhijñāvivr̥tivimarśinī (ĪPVV). They still await critical edition and reliable translation.

Understanding the ĪPV and ĪPVV requires a twofold competence: On the one hand, one needs solid knowledge in the field of the religious Śaiva tradition and, on the other, an extensive knowledge of Indian philosophy, especially Buddhist epistemiology as expounded by Dharmakīrti and his followers, but also of the brahmanical systems of Nyāya, Sāṃkhya, and Advaita Vedānta, which form an important background for Abhinavagupta's philosophical thought. These philosophical schools are the frame of reference and immediate target of Abhinavagupta's polemical argumentation and are discussed by him in much greater detail than is done in other Śaiva traditions, such as the Śaiva Siddhānta. The current project intends to achieve this dual expertise through the collaboration of two scholars, one specializing in Kashmiri Śaivism (Ratié) and the other in classical Indian philosophy (Franco).

The aim of this project is to critically edit, translate, and examine the chapter entitled "Explanation of the True Nature of Cause and Effect" (kāryakāraṇatattvanirūpaṇa ). This is a particularly dense chapter. In addition, we will use the parallel chapter of the ĪPVV to come to a better understanding of the passages and allusions in the ĪPV that are difficult to understand. Abhinavagupta reveals a precise and profound knowledge of the teachings of his opponents. Chapter 4, therefore, provides a fascinating overview of the different positions taken by Indian philosophers on causality. The study, however, aims at more than a mere philosophical panorama of the period: the proposed project will not only illustrate the constant interaction between the different philosophical traditions in India (and here especially the significant influence of the Buddhist epistemiological tradition on the Pratyabhijñã), but also set forth the distinctiveness of the concept of causality in the Pratyabhijñã and highlight the impact of this concept on the fields of epistemiology, logic, ontology, and ethics.

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