Bhavaviveka

Bhavaviveka, also spelled Bhāva Vīveka, was an Indian Buddhist philosopher and monk active in the late Gupta period, roughly the 5th to 6th century CE. He is regarded as a prominent exponent of the Svātantrika branch of Madhyamaka within Mahayana Buddhism, a school that emphasizes the use of independent logical syllogisms (svatantra) in establishing the emptiness of phenomena.

His best-known work is the Tarkasaṃgraha (Tarkasangraha), a concise treatise on logic, epistemology, and philosophical method. The work defends a Svātantrika approach to Madhyamaka, contrasted with other strands that rely more heavily on reductio arguments. Bhavaviveka’s writings also include commentaries and shorter treatises aimed at clarifying how to apply logical reasoning to Buddhist critiques of other systems and to the analysis of emptiness.

Philosophically, Bhavaviveka argued that valid cognition can proceed through independent syllogisms and that such reasoning can be used to establish Madhyamaka conclusions about emptiness and dependent origination. He maintained that conventional phenomena possess conventional realities for purposes of designation and discourse, while their ultimate nature is emptiness in the sense of lacking intrinsic existence.

Legacy and influence: Bhavaviveka’s Svātantrika approach influenced later Indian Madhyamaka scholars, including Kamalasila, and shaped the scholastic dialogue within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. His works were transmitted to Tibet, where they were studied alongside other Madhyamaka positions. Bhavaviveka’s contributions are frequently contrasted with Chandrakirti’s Prāsaṅgika interpretation, which emphasizes reductio arguments derived from dependence rather than independent syllogisms.