Candrakīrti

Candrakīrti was the great systematizer of the 'consequentialist' (Prāsaṅgika) reading of Madhyamaka, active in roughly the 7th century CE. His Prasannapadā (a commentary on Nāgārjuna) and Madhyamakāvatāra ('Entry into the Middle Way') defended Buddhapālita's reductio method against Bhāviveka and became, many centuries later, the central authorities for Madhyamaka study in Tibet. His historical importance is firm; his dates and life-details are traditional.