In his articles, Prof. KAJIYAMA Yuichi refers to the theory of the Buddha-body in the Mādhyamikā school, which originates with Nāgārjuna and includes Bhāviveka, Candrakīrti, and ?āntideva. It is a double body theory, comprised of dharmakāya and rūpakāya. Here, "dharmakāya" refers to truth (emptiness), which is calm, and transcends conceptual and linguistic activity. "Rūpakāya" refers to the historical buddha, who possesses a physical body, and is equivalent to the nirmā?akāya in Yogācāra's triple body theory. He finds that a double body theory is insufficient to explain the body of the Buddha, because of the problem of how the dharmakāya of emptiness can manifest nirmā?akāyas. Therefore, there needs to be a "saṃbhogakāya emerging from the dharmakāya" (which is the dharmadhātuni?yanda) to serve as their medium. It is the goal of this paper first, to determine whether Candrakīrti's Madhyamakāvatāra-bhā?ya includes a clear presentation of triple body thought. Second, it explores what appears on the surface to be a double body theory in the works of Bhāviveka, but which may actually be a triple body theory. More precisely, this paper explores whether he uses an equivalent of the concept saṃbhogakāya. Through a study of the works by those two thinkers, I have come to the followig conclusion. In his Prajñāpradīpa and Madhyamaka-h?dāyakārika, Bhāviveka never formally uses the word saṃbhogakāya, a term associated with the triple body theory. However, in terms of the content of his thought, Bhāviveka's term "tathāgatakāya" ought to include the concepts of dharmakāya and saṃbhogakāya. More simply, except for some minor differences wiht Candrakīrti in his understanding of dharmakāya, Bhāviveka generally seems to support and employ a triple body theory structure. As for Candrakīrti, he indeed applies a triple body theory in his systematic description of Buddhas. Additionally, we can conclude that thinkers in the middle period of Mādhyamikā thought (mainly Bhaaviveka and Candrakīrti), as well as thinkers after them are consistent with Yogācāra in terms of their buddha-body view: they all employ a trple body theory.
