Nāgārjuna | |
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नागार्जुन | |
![]() Painting of Nāgārjuna | |
Born | c. 150 CE |
Died | c. 250 CE India |
Occupation(s) | Buddhist teacher, monk and philosopher |
Notable work | Mūlamadhyamakakārikā |
Era | Ancient philosophy |
Region | Eastern philosophy |
School | |
Notable ideas |
Nagarjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन/ Nāgārjuna) (c. 150 – c. 250 CE) was an Indian monk and Mahāyāna Buddhist philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school.[2] He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.[3] Jan Westerhoff considers him to be "one of the greatest thinkers in the history of Asian philosophy."[4]
Nāgārjuna is widely considered to be the founder of the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist philosophy and a defender of the Mahāyāna movement.[3][5] His Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (Root Verses on Madhyamaka, MMK) is the most important text on the Madhyamaka philosophy of emptiness. The MMK inspired a large number of commentaries in Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan, Korean and Japanese and continues to be studied today.[6]