Dates: Prabhaakara, Kumaarila, Dharmakiirti

[kellner at ue.ipc.hiroshima-u.ac.jp]

I would like to gather opinions on the relative chronology
of Prabhaakara, Kumaarila and Dharmakiirti, or,
even better, on that of their respective texts.

I am well aware of debates on the relationship between
Dharmakiirti and Kumaarila, and personally opt for
Frauwallner's hypothesis (S.lokavaartika - Dharmakiirti -
Br.hat.t.iikaa).

The question is, where does Prabhaakara exactly come in?
The immediate cause for this question is that I am
working on Kumaarila's abhaavapramaana, again,
and what the Br.hat.ii has to say on the matter is
simply inconclusive for the question whether Prabhaakara
knew the Shlokavaartika (i.e. the abhaavavaada) or not. He
refers to some who assume the abhaava to be a distinct
pramaana, but gives no further information on the
specific assumptions of those opponents (so it may
well have been somebody else but Kumaarila).

Answers I dream of would amount to rather
specific textual examples of the type
"dealing with subject x in the Br.hat.ii, Prabhaakara
does/does not explicitly allude to idea y,
which is known to occur in Shlokavaartika verse z."

TIA,

Birgit Kellner
Institute for Indian Philosophy
University of Hiroshima