About Buddhapālita

Buddhapālita, बुद्धपालित, (470–550) was a commentator on the works of Nagarjuna and Aryadeva. His works were criticised by his contemporary Bhāviveka, and then he was defended by the later Candrakīrti, whose terms differentiating the two scholars led to the rise of the Prasaṅgika and Svatantrika schools of Madhyamaka. In this sense, Buddhapālita can be said to have been the founder of the Prasaṅgika Madhyamaka School.
Nāgārjuna (right) and Āryadeva (middle).

Madhyamaka – Buddhist philosophy and practices

Madhyamaka also known as Śūnyavāda and Niḥsvabhāvavāda refers to a tradition of Buddhist philosophy and practice founded by the Indian philosopher Nāgārjuna. The foundational text of the Mādhyamaka tradition is Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. More broadly, Madhyamaka also refers to the ultimate nature of phenomena and the realization of this in meditative equipoise. According to the classical madhyamaka thinkers, all phenomena () are empty (śūnya) of "nature," a "substance" or "" (svabhāva) which gives them "solid and .