Dharmakirti was born in the kingdom of Chudamani,1 south India, in the 7th century CE. Being intelligent and competitive from a young age, he learned crafts, rituals, vedas, medical examination, grammar and all the non-Buddhist tenets of his day. Dharmakirti became proficient in all of these tenets by the age of eighteen, and he was praised by the brahmins. During that time he happened to read some Buddhist scriptures and found that the treatises he had learned were full of flaws and were illogical when compared to the Buddha’s teachings. Having realized this, an extreme faith and devotion towards the Buddha and his teachings arose in him and he became Buddhist. When he became a lay devotee, the brahmins asked him the reason for this and he praised the Buddha for which he was expelled from the Brahmin community.
After that, Dharmakirti went to Magadha2 and took monastic vows from the abbot Dharmapala. There, he became skilled in the tripitaka (the ‘three baskets’ of the Buddha’s teachings) and he could recite various sutras, and five hundred dharanis and mantras from his exalted mind. Even though he listened to many wayward logical treatises, he was not satisfied with them and went to receive Acharya Dignaga’s Compendium of Valid Cognition (Skt. Pramanasamuchaya). As Dignaga had passed away, Dharmakirti received the teachings from Ishvarasena, a direct disciple of Dignaga. During the first hearing, he became equal to his teacher, Ishvarasena, and on the second, he became equal to Dignaga. Upon hearing them a third time, he came to know about a misunderstanding that Ishvarasena was having, points which were not valid according to what Dignaga actually meant. Recounting this, Ishvarasena was so delighted and praised him: “You have become equal to Dignaga. Compose a commentary on the Pramanasamuchaya, pointing out all the erroneous views.”
Then Dharmakirti received the secret empowerments from his tantric masters, and upon accomplishing the practices, the supreme deity Heruka appeared in front of him and asked, “What do you want?” Dharmakirti replied, “I seek complete victory in all directions.” At this, Heruka recited “Ha Ha Hung!” and disappeared, uttering continuous praise. Dharmakirti was said to have practiced under many tantric masters and written various tantric scriptures. Shri Chakrasamvara is one of the tantra treatises he wrote.
Dharmakirti intended to learn the secret teachings of the tirthikas and he headed south disguised as a servant. Upon reaching there, he asked, “Who is the most eminent scholar among the brahmins?” He was told that the Brahmin Kumaralila3 was the most eminent scholar of all the tenet systems without any rival. Brahmin Kumaralila had the powerful backing of the king, and was given abundant rice fields, an enormous number of cows and buffaloes, five hundred male and female servants, and a handsome wage, which constituted as the entirety of his means of subsistence. Dharmakirti did both external and internal work and performed the work of fifty male and fifty female servants alone, about which Kumaralila and his wife were impressed.
When Kumaralila asked Dharmakirti what he desired, he said, “I seek to listen to your tenets.” So Dharmakirti learned whatever Kumaralila taught to his disciples. He was often praised for his generosity and intelligence, because of which he also acquired the secret teachings which were shared only among the family members. Dharmakirti watched what the other disciples offered to their teacher as thanksgiving. Upon calculating the knowledge he gained, he thought it wouldn’t be fair if an offering was not made to repay his kindness; also, Kumaralila was so attached to wealth. Therefore, he offered seven thousand gold coins that he had received from a yaksha who resided in that locale. He left that same night after augmenting a feast to the brahmins by five hundred pana that he earned as wages from the service he had rendered.
From there, Dharmakirti went to Kakaguhya, a kingdom ruled by King Drumaripu. There he put up a notice on the door of his house asking, “Who wants to debate with me?” Brahmin Kanagupta, a follower of kanada’s view, and five hundred experts in the six tenet systems of philosophy assembled there and they all wrangled for three months. Gradually Dharmakirti refuted all of them and converted them to Buddhism. Under the governance of the king, around fifty prosperous brahmins were also established into Buddhism.
When Kumaralila heard this story, he became furious and came with five hundred brahmins to debate Dharmakirti. He pleaded with King Drumaripu saying thus: “If I win, kill Dharmakirti and if I lose, kill me.” But Dharmakirti requested the king, “In case Kumaralila wins, the king should decide himself whether to convert me to a tirthika or to kill me. But if I win, please do not kill Kumaralila. Instead of that he should be converted to Buddhism.”
So, establishing the doctrine as his witness, they started to debate. Soon the most extraordinary of the five hundred views of Kumaralila were refuted with one hundred enumerations of logic.
Afterwards, not only did Kumaralila enter Buddhism but five hundred brahmins also got ordained, knowing that only the Buddhist philosophy was correct. Furthermore, Nirgrantha Rahuprati, Mimamsaka Bhringaraguhya, the Brahmin Kumarananda, chief of the tirthikas Kanadaroru, and all the other rivals who lived in Vindhyachala were also defeated and entered Buddhism. Once more Dharmakirti went back to Dravali and asked publicly whether anyone had the ability to debate with him. Some ran away while others admitted that they didn’t have such capability. He rebuilt there all the older centres of the doctrine which had been damaged, and then he sat in meditation in a solitary forest.
Later, Shankaracharya, a proficient scholar from among the tirthikas, sent a message to Nalanda University to debate with the Buddhist scholars. Dharmakirti was sent from the Buddhist side. All the scholars assembled in Varanasi in front of the king Pradyota. Shankaracharya declared to the people in the presence of king, “In case of our victory, we shall decide whether to drown Dharmakirti in the Ganga or to convert him into a tirthika. In case of his victory, I shall kill myself by jumping into the Ganga.”
When the debate started, Dharmakirti defeated him repeatedly to the point where he had nothing more to say. When Shankaracharya was about to jump into the Ganga, Dharmakirti tried to stop him, but Shankaracharya instead told his own disciple Bhattacharya, “Go on arguing and defeat this man with the shaven head. Even if you do not win, I shall be reborn as your son and shall go on debating him.” Saying this he jumped into the Ganga and died.
Dharmakirti converted many of Shankaracharya’s disciples and many other tirthikas from various places into Buddhism. Many of these converted tirthikas established Buddhist philosophical centres. In this way, his fame was spread all over the country.
While wandering, he encountered the son of King Puspa called Utphullapuspa, who ruled over three hundred thousand villages. The king asked, ‘Who are you?’
He replied,
Who else would I be but the one who is victorious in all the directions—
Like Dignaga in wisdom, like Chandragomi in the purity of speech and
Skilled in prosody like the poet Sura?
The King asked, “So, are you Dharmakirti?” He responded, “Thus I am known in this world.” The king paid him respect and built many monasteries. There Dharmakirti composed seven treatises on pramana. They are:
Pramanavartika (Commentary on Valid Cognition)
Pramanavinishaya (Discernment of Valid Cognition)
Nyayabindu (A Drop of Reasoning on Valid Cognition)
Hetubindu (A Drop of Logical Reasoning)
Sambandhapariksha (Analysis of Relationship)
Santanantarisiddhi (Establishing Another Continuum)
Vadanyaya (The Science of Debate)
Composing these treatises, he wrote these words on the door of the king:
If Dharmakirti’s words ever set like the sun,
The doctrine will either fall asleep or die
And a false doctrine will replace it.
He returned to south India, removed obstacles and re-established the teachings of the Buddha that hadn’t spread or had degenerated. He converted the kings, ministers and other brahmins and led them to establish innumerable sangha communities and dharma centres. There were more than 100 Buddhist institutions constructed by him and many monasteries that others made under his guidance.
Finally, he built a temple in Kalinga, converted many people to Buddhism, and then passed away. His body was carried to the crematorium by holy persons and, when it was burnt, there came a profuse shower of flowers. Fragrance and the sweet sound of music permeated all around for seven days. His relics assumed the form of crystal balls and there was no sign of any bones left. Even now, periodic festivals are observed in honour of this.
Dharmakirti built on and reinterpreted the work of Dignaga and was very influential among Brahmin logicians as well as Buddhists. His theories have become normative in Tibetan Buddhist schools and are studied to this day as a part of the basic monastic curriculum.
Series to be continued…
By Kelzang Choden
4th year, NNNI
