Nagarjuna

Nagarjuna (3rd century AD), Indian Buddhist philosopher, founder of the Madhyamika (Middle Path) school of Mahayana Buddhism (see Buddhism). Various dates are given for his life, but it is likely that he flourished in the mid 2nd or the 3rd century ad. Tibetan tradition identifies him with an 8th-century magician-alchemist.

Nagarjuna was born probably in southern India of Brahman (priestly) stock. He studied both the secular and religious branches of Hindu knowledge before converting to Buddhism. He spent most of his life in the great Mahayana centers of learning in southeast India. Two texts most clearly present his views: the Mula-Madhyamika Karikas (Fundamentals of the Middle Way) and the Vigrahavyavartani (Treatise on Averting the Arguments).

Madhyamika is characterized by its logical refutation of other systems, Buddhist and non-Buddhist alike, while claiming no thesis of its own. It takes a middle path, affirming neither existence nor nonexistence, permanence nor impermanence, identity nor difference. Nagarjuna stressed the concept of emptiness (sunyata) as a way of showing the relativity of all conceptions. Even the basic elements of existence (dharmas) are taken to be void of ultimate reality. Together with the Vijnanavada school (Consciousness Only), Madhyamika forms the keystone of Mahayana Buddhist philosophical thought.