Nāgārjuna’s Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (MMK), Chapter 18, verse 9, discusses the characteristics of reality (tattvasya lakṣaṇam). In the Prasannapadā (PsP), Candrakīrti comments that while the characteristics of reality for the Nobles (āryas) are taught in MMK 18.9, the characteristics of reality for ordinary people (laukika-tattvalakṣaṇa) are taught in MMK 18.10. However, it is not clear what laukika-tattva is in the contexts of the PsP ad MMK 18.10.
In this paper, I first discuss Candrakīrti’s two types of teachings of dependent arising (pratītyasamutpāda), focusing especially on the concepts of idaṃpratyayatā and idaṃpratyayatāmātra. Second, I compare the views of the Nobles and ordinary people based on the discussion of the two-truths theory in Candrakīrti’s Madhyamakāvatārabhāṣya, with respect to idaṃpratyayatā and idaṃpratyayatāmātra. Finally, I reconsider laukika-tattva in the contexts of the PsP.
