Prasajyapratiṣedha

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Key Term	prasajyapratiṣedha
Hover Popup Choices	nonimplicative negation; non-implicative negation; non-affirming negation; me gak; med dgag; nonaffirming negation
In Tibetan Script	མེད་དགག་
Wylie Tibetan Transliteration	med dgag
Devanagari Sanskrit Script	प्रसज्यप्रतिषेध
Romanized Sanskrit	prasajyapratiṣedha
Tibetan Phonetic Rendering	me gak
English Standard	nonimplicative negation
Karl Brunnhölzl's English Term	nonimplicative negation
Richard Barron's English Term	unqualified negation
Jeffrey Hopkin's English Term	non-affirming negation; non-affirming negative
Dan Martin's English Term	absolute negation (exclusion negation)
Gyurme Dorje's English Term	explicit negation
Ives Waldo's English Term	refuting as being nonexistent
Term Type	Noun
Source Language	Sanskrit
Basic Meaning	A negation that merely denies the existence of something without implicitly suggesting an alternative.
Has the Sense of	This is the type of negation that is associated with the classical Madhyamaka presentation of emptiness, in which that absence is taken literally. It is typical of the philosophical position that became known as self-emptiness.
Related Terms	paryudāsapratiṣedha
Definitions
Tshig mdzod Chen mo	dgag pa'i nang gses/ rang dngos su rtogs pa'i blo'am rang brjod pa'i sgras rang gi dgag bya dngos su bcad tsam gyis rtogs par bya ba ste/ gang zag gi bdag med lta bu/ bdag bkag pa'i shul du don gzhan mi 'phen pa'o/
Other Definitions	A nonimplicative negation is simply denial, like the denial of essence or identity, without implying anything else or deferring that essence to some “other.” . . . [W]hen we consider the classic example of a nonimplicative negation, “Brahmins should not drink alcohol,” we can see how the connotative force of this negation is simple denial devoid of implication. (Douglas Duckworth, "Onto-theology and Emptiness: The Nature of Buddha-Nature" [Journal of the American Academy of Religion 82, no. 4, 2014], 1075-76).

A negation that merely denies the existence of something without implicitly suggesting an alternative.

A negation that merely denies the existence of something without implicitly suggesting an alternative.

A negation that merely denies the existence of something without implicitly suggesting an alternative.

A negation that merely denies the existence of something without implicitly suggesting an alternative.

A negation that merely denies the existence of something without implicitly suggesting an alternative.

A negation that merely denies the existence of something without implicitly suggesting an alternative.

Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā.

The state of being empty of an innate nature due to a lack of independently existing characteristics.

The state of being empty of self, which references the lack of inherent existence in relative phenomena.

Though it can simply be used as the expression "I" or "me", in Indian thought the notion of self refers to a permanent, unchanging entity, such as that which passes from life to life in the case of people, or the innate essence (svabhāva) of phenomena.