Nagarjuna
Nagarjuna is the most important Buddhist philosopher after the Buddha himself and the founder of the Madhyamaka ('Middle Way') school of Mahayana Buddhism. His masterwork, the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (Fundamental Verses of the Middle Way), uses rigorous dialectical reasoning to demonstrate that all phenomena are 'empty' (śūnya) of inherent existence — nothing possesses an independent, fixed, essential nature. This doctrine of śūnyatā (emptiness) is not nihilism but the deepest expression of the Buddha's teaching of dependent origination: precisely because everything arises in dependence on conditions, nothing has independent being. Nagarjuna's philosophy profoundly shaped all subsequent Buddhist thought and has been compared to Wittgenstein, Derrida, and other Western philosophers of anti-foundationalism.
Key Ideas
Key Contributions
- ● Developed the doctrine of śūnyatā (emptiness) — the central philosophical concept of Mahayana Buddhism
- ● Demonstrated the identity of emptiness and dependent origination — nothing has independent being
- ● Created the Madhyamaka philosophical method: systematic dialectical negation of all fixed positions
- ● Articulated the doctrine of two truths (conventional and ultimate) — foundational to Buddhist epistemology
- ● Produced the most rigorous philosophical defense of the Middle Way between existence and non-existence
Core Questions
Key Claims
- ✓ All phenomena are empty (śūnya) of inherent existence (svabhāva)
- ✓ Whatever is dependently originated, that is emptiness
- ✓ Emptiness is not nothingness — it is the very condition for things to arise and function
- ✓ The distinction between conventional truth and ultimate truth is essential to understanding emptiness
- ✓ All four positions of the tetralemma must be rejected when applied to inherent existence
- ✓ Nirvana and samsara are not ultimately different — their nature is the same (emptiness)
Biography
Life
Nagarjuna lived approximately 150–250 CE, though dates are debated. Traditional accounts place his birth in South India and associate him with the great Buddhist university of Nalanda. He is revered in the Mahayana tradition as a 'second Buddha,' and his life is surrounded by legend — including stories of retrieving the Prajñāpāramitā (Perfection of Wisdom) sutras from the underwater realm of the Nagas (serpent beings), from which his name derives.
Śūnyatā (Emptiness)
Nagarjuna's central philosophical achievement is the rigorous demonstration that all things (dharmas) are empty (śūnya) of svabhāva — 'own-being,' 'inherent existence,' or 'intrinsic nature.' A thing has svabhāva if it exists by its own power, independently of anything else. Nagarjuna argues that nothing has svabhāva: every phenomenon arises in dependence on causes, conditions, parts, and conceptual designation. This emptiness is not nothingness but the very condition of possibility for things to exist at all.
Crucially, Nagarjuna equates emptiness with dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda): 'Whatever is dependently originated, that we declare to be emptiness.' Emptiness and dependent arising are two ways of describing the same reality.
The Tetralemma (Catuṣkoṭi)
Nagarjuna's characteristic logical tool is the tetralemma — the systematic negation of four possible positions on any question:
1. X exists
2. X does not exist
3. X both exists and does not exist
4. X neither exists nor does not exist
All four positions are rejected when applied to inherent existence. This is not skeptical denial but a therapeutic technique for releasing attachment to fixed views.
The Two Truths
Nagarjuna distinguishes conventional truth (saṃvṛtisatya) from ultimate truth (paramārthasatya). Conventionally, things exist and function normally. Ultimately, they are empty of inherent existence. The relationship between these two truths is the crux of Madhyamaka philosophy: emptiness is not a rejection of conventional reality but its deepest explanation.
Legacy
Nagarjuna's philosophy is the foundation of Mahayana Buddhism as practiced in Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan. The Madhyamaka school, developed by his followers Āryadeva, Buddhapālita, Bhāviveka, and Candrakīrti, remains one of the two great philosophical traditions of Indian Buddhism (alongside Yogācāra). His influence on Tibetan Buddhism (through Tsongkhapa and others) is incalculable.
Methods
Notable Quotes
"Whatever is dependently co-arisen, that is explained to be emptiness"
"We declare that whatever is dependent arising is emptiness. It is a dependent designation and is itself the middle way"
"Emptiness wrongly grasped is like picking up a poisonous snake by the wrong end"
"Without depending on convention, the ultimate truth cannot be taught"
Major Works
- Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (Fundamental Verses of the Middle Way) Treatise (200)
- Vigrahavyāvartanī (The Dispeller of Disputes) Treatise (200)
Influenced
- Adi Shankara · influence
Influenced by
- Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) · influence
Sources
- Jay Garfield (trans.), 'The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā' (Oxford UP, 1995)
- Jan Westerhoff, 'Nāgārjuna's Madhyamaka: A Philosophical Introduction' (Oxford UP, 2009)
- Mark Siderits and Shōryū Katsura (trans.), 'Nāgārjuna's Middle Way' (Wisdom Publications, 2013)
External Links
Translations
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