Nagarjuna
Nagarjuna was an Indian Buddhist monk and philosopher in the Mahayana tradition and the founder of the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist Philosophy.[1] [2]He is highly regarded as one of the most important Buddhist Philosophers.
His key work is the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (Root Verses on Madhyamaka), and is a important text explaining the philosophy of emptiness in Madhyamaka. Jan Westerhoff considers Nagarjuna to be among the greatest thinkers in the history of Eastern Philosophy.[3]
Early life
We have limited reliable information about Nagarjuna's life, and historians disagree on when and where he lived (possibly 1st to 3rd century CE in various places in India).[4] The earliest surviving accounts were written in Chinese and Tibetan centuries after his death and are mostly hagiographical accounts that are historically unverifiable.[4] The earliest accounts were written centuries later in Chinese and Tibetan, mainly offering hagiographical, unverifiable details.[5]
Some scholars, like Joseph Walser, suggest Nagarjuna served as an advisor to a king of the Satavahana dynasty in the 2nd century, possibly Yajna Sri Satakarni, based on archaeological findings at Amaravati. This places Nagarjuna around 150–250 CE.[5]
Nagarjuna Media
A map of the Satavahana Kingdom, showing the location of Amaravathi (where Nāgārjuna may have lived and worked according to Walser) and Vidarbha (the birthplace of Nāgārjuna according to Kumārajīva)
A model of the Amaravati Stupa
Nicholas Roerich "Nagarjuna Conqueror of the Serpent" (1925)
Golden statue of Nāgārjuna at Kagyu Samye Ling Monastery, Scotland
References
- ↑ Nagarjuna - Greatest Buddhist Philosopher | Founder of Madhyamaka School (in en). Original Buddhas. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
- ↑ Nagarjuna | Biography, Philosophy, & Works | Britannica (in en). www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
- ↑ Westerhoff, Jan Christoph. Nāgārjuna. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2022)Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Walser (2005), p. 60.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Walser (2005), p. 61.
Other websites
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Wikisource has original writing related to this article: |
Thomas William Rhys Davids. Nāgārjuna 19 (1911)Cambridge University Press. p. 151.- Online version of the Ratnāvalī (Precious Garland) in English Translated by Prof. Vidyakaraprabha and Bel-dzek
- Online version of the Suhṛllekha (Letter to a Friend) in English Translated by Alexander Berzin
- Lua error in Module:Internet_Archive at line 573: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Works by Nagarjuna at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Nārāgjuna vis-à-vis the Āgama-s and Nikāya-s Byoma Kusuma Nepalese Dharmasangha (archived)
- ZenEssays: Nagarjuna and the Madhyamika
- Mula madhyamaka karika online Tibetan and English version translated by Stephen Batchelor (archived)
