Nagarjuniana: Studies in the Writings and Philosophy of Nāgārjuna
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Nagarjuniana: Studies in the Writings and Philosophy of Nāgārjuna
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Description
The author deals with the thirteen works attributed to Nāgārjuna. The first six are mainly dialectical works such as Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, Śūnyatāsaptati, Vigrahavyāvartanī, Vaidalyaprakaraṇa, Vyavahārasiddhi, Yuktiṣaṣṭikā followed by the remaining seven which are chiefly didactic texts - Catuḥstava, Ratnāvali, Pratītyasamutpādahṛdayakārikā, Sūtrasamuccaya, Bodhicittavivaraṇa, Suhṛllekha, and Bodhisaṃbhāra (ka). Thus he roughly follows the prescriptive distinction between Yukti and Agama.
Citation
Lindtner, Chr, trans. and ed. Nāgārjuniana: Studies in the Writings and Philosophy of Nāgārjuna. Indiske Studier 4. Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag, 1982.
Table of contents
- Contents5
- Preface7
- INTRODUCTION
- 1) Spurious and dubious9
- 2) A preliminary summary18
- THE AUTHENTIC WRITINGS
- I Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (MK)
- a) Contents, scope and method24
- II Śūnyatāsaptati (SS)
- a) Authenticity and synopsis31
- b) Tibetan text and a translation34
- III Vigrahavyāvartanī (VV)
- a) Authenticity and analysis70
- b) Sanskrit text with the Tibetan version76
- IV Vaidalyaprakaraṇa (VP)
- a) Authenticity and analysis87
- V *Vyavahārasiddhi (VS)
- a) Authenticity94
- b) A fragment edited with a translation96
- VI Yuktiṣaṣtikā (YS)
- a) Authenticity100
- b) Tibetan version, Sanskrit fragments, translation102
- VII Catuḥstava (CS)
- a) Authenticity121
- b) Conspectus testium124
- c) Lokātītastava: Sanskrit text, Tibetan version, translation128
- d) Acintyastava: Sanskrit text, Tibetan version, translation140
- VIII Ratnāvalī (RA)
- a) Authenticity, critical analysis163
- b) The saptapañcāśaddoṣāḥ, Tibetan and Sanskrit167
- IX Pratītyasamutpādahṛdayakārikā (PK)
- a) Authenticity and analysis170
- X Sūtrasamuccaya (SS)
- a) Authenticity and synopsis172
- b) Fontes175
- XI Bodhicittavivaraṇa (BV)
- a) Authenticity and synopsis180
- b) Tibetan version, Sanskrit fragments, translation184
- XII Suhṛllekha (SL)
- a) Authenticity and sources218
- XIII *Bodhisaṃbhāra[ka] (BS)
- a) Authenticity and contents225
- b) Translation of the Chinese version228
- I Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (MK)
- THE UNITY OF NAGARJUNA'S THOUGHT
- I Background
- a) Non-Buddhist250
- b) Buddhist: The Tripiṭaka251
- c) Buddhist: Mahayana260
- II Nāgārjuna's philosophical system264
- III Vestiges of influence278
- I Background
- Bibliography282
- Dansk resume287
- Appendix: The Nepalese Ms of Catuḥstava with Akāriṭīkā290
Interconnections
All 11Articles 1Classical Works 10
1 Recension of
The Bodhicittavivaraṇa (Tib. བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་ཀྱི་འགྲེལ་པ།, Eng. Commentary on the Awakening Mind) is a foundational Mahāyāna text comprising 112 verses, originally composed in Sanskrit, preceded by a prose introduction, traditionally attributed to the second-century master Nāgārjuna. This work serves as both a comprehensive Madhyamaka analysis and a practical guide for cultivating bodhicitta in its two dimensions: conventional bodhicitta as the compassionate aspiration for all beings' enlightenment, and ultimate bodhicitta as the direct realization of emptiness (śūnyatā). The text grounds ethical aspiration in ontological analysis, demonstrating how understanding the empty nature of phenomena naturally generates universal compassion, while also refuting competing philosophical positions including Vijñānavāda idealism, the tīrthika conception of self, and the śrāvaka understanding of the skandhas. Although scholarly questions persist regarding its authorship—particularly given the text’s apparent tantric elements, critique of Vijñānavāda, and absence of citation by Nāgārjuna’s principal commentators Buddhapālita, Candrakīrti, and Bhāvaviveka—the Bodhicittavivaraṇa has exerted profound influence across Indian and Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Its remarkable interpretive flexibility has allowed it to serve as a scriptural foundation for diverse philosophical schools and contemplative practices, from strict Prāsaṅgika philosophy to mahāmudrā and mind training (lojong), making it an essential text for both monastic and lay bodhisattvas throughout the history of Mahāyāna Buddhism.
2 Full translation of
The Bodhicittavivaraṇa (Tib. བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་ཀྱི་འགྲེལ་པ།, Eng. Commentary on the Awakening Mind) is a foundational Mahāyāna text comprising 112 verses, originally composed in Sanskrit, preceded by a prose introduction, traditionally attributed to the second-century master Nāgārjuna. This work serves as both a comprehensive Madhyamaka analysis and a practical guide for cultivating bodhicitta in its two dimensions: conventional bodhicitta as the compassionate aspiration for all beings' enlightenment, and ultimate bodhicitta as the direct realization of emptiness (śūnyatā). The text grounds ethical aspiration in ontological analysis, demonstrating how understanding the empty nature of phenomena naturally generates universal compassion, while also refuting competing philosophical positions including Vijñānavāda idealism, the tīrthika conception of self, and the śrāvaka understanding of the skandhas. Although scholarly questions persist regarding its authorship—particularly given the text’s apparent tantric elements, critique of Vijñānavāda, and absence of citation by Nāgārjuna’s principal commentators Buddhapālita, Candrakīrti, and Bhāvaviveka—the Bodhicittavivaraṇa has exerted profound influence across Indian and Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Its remarkable interpretive flexibility has allowed it to serve as a scriptural foundation for diverse philosophical schools and contemplative practices, from strict Prāsaṅgika philosophy to mahāmudrā and mind training (lojong), making it an essential text for both monastic and lay bodhisattvas throughout the history of Mahāyāna Buddhism.
In Sanskrit, "collection" of, or "equipment" (saṃbhāra) for,"enlightenment" (bodhi); the term refers to specific sets of spiritual requisites (also called "accumulations") necessary for the attainment of awakening. The bodhisattva becomes equipped with these factors during his progress along the path (mārga) leading to the attainment of buddhahood. In a buddha, the amount of this "enlightenment-collection" is understood to be infinite. These factors are often divided into two major groups: the collection of merit (puṇyasaṃbhāra) and the collection of knowledge (jñānasaṃbhāra). The collection of merit (puṇya) entails the strengthening of four perfections (pāramitā): generosity (dāna), morality (śīla), patience (kṣānti), and energy (vīrya). The collection of knowledge entails the cultivation of meditative states leading to the realization that emptiness (śūnyatā) is the ultimate nature of all things.
The bodhisaṃbhāra were expounded in the *Bodhisaṃbhāraka, attributed to the Madhyamaka exegete Nāgārjuna, which is now extant only in Dharmagupta's 609 CE Chinese translation, titled the Puti ziliang lun. In this treatise, Nāgārjuna explains that the acquisition, development, and fruition of these factors is an essentially interminable process: enlightenment will be achieved when these factors have been developed for as many eons as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River. The text also emphasizes the importance of compassion (karuṇā), calling it the mother of perfect wisdom (prajñāpāramitā). The perfection of wisdom sūtras stress that pariṇāmanā (turning over [merit]) and anumodana (rejoicing [in the good deeds of others]) are necessary to amass the collection necessary to reach the final goal. (Source: "bodhisaṃbhāra." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 134. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
1 Contains chapter or part
A study and English translation of the Bodhicittavivaraṇa (BV), attributed to Nāgārjuna. Contains a discussion of the text's authenticity and a synopsis. Also contains the Tibetan version and Sanskrit fragments.
7 Scholarship on
Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. (T. Dbu ma rtsa bai tshig le'u byas pa; C. Zhong lun; J. Chüron; K. Chung non 中論). In Sanskrit, "Root Verses on the Middle Way"; the magnum opus of the second-century Indian master Nāgārjuna ; also known as the Prajñānāmamūlamadhyamakakārikā and the Madhyamakaśāstra. (The Chinese analogue of this text is the Zhong lun, which renders the title as Madhyamakaśāstra. This Chinese version was edited and translated by Kumārajīva . Kumārajīva's edition, however, includes not only Nāgārjuna's verses but also Piṅgala's commentary to the verses.) The most widely cited and commented upon of Nāgārjuna's works in India, the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, was the subject of detailed commentaries by such figures as Buddhapālita, Bhāvaviveka, and Candrakīrti (with Candrakīrti's critique of Bhāvaviveka's criticism of a passage in Buddhapālita's commentary providing the locus classicus for the later Tibetan division of Madhyamaka into *Svātantrika and *Prāsaṅgika). In East Asia, it was one of the three basic texts of the "Three Treatises" school (C. San lun zong), and was central to Tiantai philosophy. Although lost in the original Sanskrit as an independent work, the entire work is preserved within the Sanskrit text of Candrakīrti's commentary, the Prasannapadā (serving as one reason for the influence of Candrakīrti's commentary in the European reception of the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā). The work is composed of 448 verses in twenty-seven chapters. The topics of the chapters (as provided by Candrakīrti) are the analysis of: (1) conditions (pratyaya), (2) motion, (3) the eye and the other sense faculties (indriya), (4) aggregates (skandha), (5) elements (dhātu), (6) passion and the passionate, (7) the conditioned (in the sense of production, abiding, disintegration), (8) action and agent, (9) prior existence, (10) fire and fuel, (11) the past and future limits of saṃsāra, (12) suffering, (13) the conditioned (saṃskāra), (14) contact (saṃsarga), (15) intrinsic nature (svabhāva), (16) bondage and liberation, (17) action and effect, (18) self, (19) time, (20) assemblage (sāmagrī), (21) arising and dissolving, (22) the tathāgata, (23) error, (24) the four noble truths, (25) nirvāṇa, (26), the twelve links of dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda), and (27) views. (Source: "Mūlamadhyamakakārikā." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 553. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
Sūtrasamuccaya. (T. Mdo kun las btus pa; C. Dasheng baoyaoyi lun; J. Daijō hōyōgiron; K. Taesŭng poyoŭi non 大乘寶要義論. In Sanskrit, "Compendium of Sūtras," a work attributed to Nāgārjuna, an anthology of passages from sixty-eight mainly Mahāyāna sūtras (or collections of sūtras), organized under thirteen topics. These topics extol the bodhisattva and the Mahāyāna path, noting the rarity and hence precious nature of such things as faith in the Buddha, great compassion, and laymen who are able to follow the bodhisattva path. The text is of historical interest because it provides evidence of the Mahāyāna sūtras that were extant at the time of Nāgārjuna. These include, in addition to various prajñāpāramitā sūtras, such famous works as the Laṅkāvatārasūtra, the Daśabhūmikasūtra, the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra, and the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa. The Chinese translation was made by Dharmarakṣa (c. 1018-1058) during the Northern Song dynasty and was among the last stratum of Indian materials to be entered into the Chinese Buddhist canon (C. Dazangjing). (Source: "Sūtrasamuccaya." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 876. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
The Bodhicittavivaraṇa (Tib. བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་ཀྱི་འགྲེལ་པ།, Eng. Commentary on the Awakening Mind) is a foundational Mahāyāna text comprising 112 verses, originally composed in Sanskrit, preceded by a prose introduction, traditionally attributed to the second-century master Nāgārjuna. This work serves as both a comprehensive Madhyamaka analysis and a practical guide for cultivating bodhicitta in its two dimensions: conventional bodhicitta as the compassionate aspiration for all beings' enlightenment, and ultimate bodhicitta as the direct realization of emptiness (śūnyatā). The text grounds ethical aspiration in ontological analysis, demonstrating how understanding the empty nature of phenomena naturally generates universal compassion, while also refuting competing philosophical positions including Vijñānavāda idealism, the tīrthika conception of self, and the śrāvaka understanding of the skandhas. Although scholarly questions persist regarding its authorship—particularly given the text’s apparent tantric elements, critique of Vijñānavāda, and absence of citation by Nāgārjuna’s principal commentators Buddhapālita, Candrakīrti, and Bhāvaviveka—the Bodhicittavivaraṇa has exerted profound influence across Indian and Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Its remarkable interpretive flexibility has allowed it to serve as a scriptural foundation for diverse philosophical schools and contemplative practices, from strict Prāsaṅgika philosophy to mahāmudrā and mind training (lojong), making it an essential text for both monastic and lay bodhisattvas throughout the history of Mahāyāna Buddhism.
Ratnāvalī. (T. Rin chen phreng ba; C. Baoxingwang zheng lun; J. Hōgyō ō shöron; K. Pohaengwang chöng non 寶行王正論). In Sanskrit, "Garland of Jewels," a Sanskrit work by the Madhyamaka philosopher Nāgārjuna. The work consists of five hundred verses arranged in five chapters. While the Ratnāvalī contains many of Nāgārjuna's fundamental philosophical ideas, grounded primarily in the notion of emptiness (śūnyatā), the work is more focused on issues of ethics. The Ratnāvalī is addressed to King Gautamīputra of Āndhra, a friend and patron of Nāgārjuna, and much of the text discusses the proper conduct of the laity, particularly those in administrative positions such as ministers and kings. In particular, the fourth chapter is devoted to an exploration of kingship and the proper management of a kingdom. The work also contains a defense of the Mahāyāna as the word of the Buddha (buddhavacana), an exposition of the collection of merit (puṇyasaṃbhāra) and the collection of wisdom (jñānasaṃbhāra), a description of the ten bodhisattva stages (bhūmi) based on the Daśabhūmikasūtra, and a correlation of the practice of specific virtues with the achievement of the thirty-two marks of a superman (mahāpuruṣalakṣaṇa). There are complete versions of the work extant in Tibetan and Chinese translations, but only parts survive in the original Sanskrit. (Source: "Ratnāvalī." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 704. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
Pratītyasamutpādahṛdayakārikā. (T. Rten cing 'brel bar 'byung ba'i snying po'i tshig le'ur byas pa; C. Shi'er yinyuan lun; J. Jūniinnenrǒn; K. Sibi inyön non. In Sanskrit, "Verses on the Essence of Dependent Origination," a work attributed to Nāgārjuna by Bhāvaviveka. The work seeks to reconcile the two major meanings of pratītyasamutpāda: that of a twelvefold sequence of cause and effect and a more general sense of phenomena arising in dependence on causes, which he sets forth in his Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. Nāgārjuna qualifies the twelve links in the chain of causation under three headings, with ignorance (avidyā), attachment (tṛṣṇā), and grasping (upādāna) classified as afflictions (kleśa); predispositions (saṃskāra) and existence (bhava) as action (karman); and the remaining seven as forms of suffering (duhkha). Those five that are classified as kleśa and karman are also causes; the remaining seven are effects. The "essence" of pratītyasamutpāda in the title is the lack of self in both the person (pudgala) and the aggregates (skandha). (Source: "Pratītyasamutpādahṛdayakārikā." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 670-71. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
Letter to a Friend (Skt. Suhṛllekha; Tib. བཤེས་པའི་སྤྲིང་ཡིག་, shepé tring yik, Wyl. bshes pa'i spring yig) — a śāstra by Nāgārjuna, which belongs to his Collection of Advice.
Nāgārjuna (1st-2nd century A.D.) wrote this celebrated poem as a letter of advice to his friend King Gautamiputra/Satavahana.
This advice gives a concise and comprehensive introduction to the entire path and practice of Buddhism. It guides both householders and the ordained onto the path leading to liberation and enlightenment. The instructions are of special interest to those who wish to take up spiritual activity while continuing to live and work in society; they are meant to convey the whole meaning of the Dharma to the ordinary person in a language and style that are easy to understand.
Despite its short length (123 verses), it covers the whole Mahāyāna path with unusual clarity and memorable imagery; thus it is widely quoted by Tibet's great masters and scholars in the many commentaries they have written on the Buddhist path. (Source Accessed Feb 13, 2026)In Sanskrit, "collection" of, or "equipment" (saṃbhāra) for,"enlightenment" (bodhi); the term refers to specific sets of spiritual requisites (also called "accumulations") necessary for the attainment of awakening. The bodhisattva becomes equipped with these factors during his progress along the path (mārga) leading to the attainment of buddhahood. In a buddha, the amount of this "enlightenment-collection" is understood to be infinite. These factors are often divided into two major groups: the collection of merit (puṇyasaṃbhāra) and the collection of knowledge (jñānasaṃbhāra). The collection of merit (puṇya) entails the strengthening of four perfections (pāramitā): generosity (dāna), morality (śīla), patience (kṣānti), and energy (vīrya). The collection of knowledge entails the cultivation of meditative states leading to the realization that emptiness (śūnyatā) is the ultimate nature of all things.
The bodhisaṃbhāra were expounded in the *Bodhisaṃbhāraka, attributed to the Madhyamaka exegete Nāgārjuna, which is now extant only in Dharmagupta's 609 CE Chinese translation, titled the Puti ziliang lun. In this treatise, Nāgārjuna explains that the acquisition, development, and fruition of these factors is an essentially interminable process: enlightenment will be achieved when these factors have been developed for as many eons as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River. The text also emphasizes the importance of compassion (karuṇā), calling it the mother of perfect wisdom (prajñāpāramitā). The perfection of wisdom sūtras stress that pariṇāmanā (turning over [merit]) and anumodana (rejoicing [in the good deeds of others]) are necessary to amass the collection necessary to reach the final goal. (Source: "bodhisaṃbhāra." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 134. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
