Kaspars Eihmanis

Refutation Without Vitaṇḍā: Dialectical Burdens in the Fangbian Xin Lun (*Upāyahṛdaya)

The Fangbian Xin Lun 方便心論 (*Upāyahṛdaya, T 1632), rendered into Chinese in 472, is the earliest extant Buddhist manual of debate. Because it trains its reader chiefly to object, it is readily read as instruction in refutation alone. This paper argues that the treatise instead distributes distinct burdens and entitl...