Svātantrika-Madhyamaka

(Sanskrit; Tib., rang-rgyud-pa). One of the two main schools of Madhyamaka Buddhism, whose main representatives were Bhāvaviveka and the later Śāntarakṣita. The school was defined by its use of a syllogism-based (svatantra) method that aimed to establish true and valid propositions, in contrast to the reductio ad absurdum dialectic of the Prāsaṇgikas (identified with Nāgārjuna, Buddhapālita, and Candrakīrti) that sought only to reveal the contradictions in the postulates of their opponents. According to Tsongkhapa, the difference between the two groups is that the Svātantrikas accept inherent existence (svabhāva) in the conventional sense (see saṃvṛti-satya), whereas the Prāsaṇgikas deny it both at the levels of conventional and absolute truth (see paramārtha-satya). It should be noted that the term Svātantrika-Madhyamaka itself is not attested in Indian Buddhist texts and has been created by modern scholars on the basis of the Tibetan exegetical tradition.