When did Nagarjuna live and where was he from?
Nagarjuna is conventionally placed at around 150 to 250 CE. Some scholars argue that Nagarjuna was an advisor to a king of the Satavahana dynasty which ruled the Deccan Plateau in the second century.
Questions about Nagarjuna
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What are the authentic works attributed to Nagarjuna?
Scholars such as Jan Westerhoff rely on six works including MMK, Vigrahavyavartani, Sunyatassaptati, Ratnavali, Pratityasamutpadahridaya, and Sutrasamuccaya. The Mulamadhyamakakarika is Nagarjuna's best-known work and available in three Sanskrit manuscripts and numerous translations.
How does Nagarjuna define emptiness in his philosophy?
For Nagarjuna all phenomena dhammas are without any svabhava literally own-being self-nature or inherent existence and thus without any underlying essence. They are empty of being independently existent so heterodox theories of svabhava circulating at the time were refuted on the basis of early Buddhist doctrines.
What is the two truths doctrine according to Nagarjuna?
The two truths doctrine claims that there are two levels of truth in Buddhist teaching the ultimate truth paramartha satya and the conventional or superficial truth sanvrttisatya. The ultimate truth to Nagarjuna is the truth that everything is empty of essence this includes emptiness itself the emptiness of emptiness.
Why was Nagarjuna important for Mahayana Buddhism?
Nagarjuna emerged as a philosopher who would defend the nascent Mahayana movement against established orthodoxies. His Mulamadhyamakakarika Root Verses on Madhyamaka MMK is the most important text on the Madhyamaka philosophy of emptiness which inspired commentaries in Sanskrit Chinese Tibetan Korean and Japanese.