Back Nagarjuna Afrikaans Nāgārjuna AN ناجارجونا Arabic Naqarcuna Azerbaijani Нагарджуна Bashkir Nagardžuna BAT-SMG Нагарджуна Byelorussian Нагарджуна BE-X-OLD Нагарджуна Bulgarian नागार्जुन Bihari
Nāgārjuna | |
|---|---|
 Painting of Nāgārjuna | |
| Born | c. 150 CE (date disputed); |
| Died | c. 250 CE India |
| Occupation(s) | Buddhist teacher, monk and philosopher |
| Notable work | Mūlamadhyamakakārikā |
| Era | Ancient philosophy |
| Region | Eastern philosophy |
| School | |
Notable ideas | |
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Nāgārjuna [c. 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)] was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist philosopher monk 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]