LIFE AND WORKS OF NAGARJUNA

Life of Acharya Nagarjuna: There have been various findings on the exact date of

the well known Buddhist scholar – Nagarjuna. Earlier texts claim that Nagarjuna

was born 400-500 years after the Buddha’s Mahaparinirvana. This means

Nagarjuna should belong to 2nd to 1st B.C. Western scholars have put the dates 2nd

– 3rd A.D. Max Muller also quotes the same dates. Buston works out the birth

years 2nd -1st B.C. Whatever the confusion over the period of Nagarjuna’s date of

birth, one thing is conclusively proved that this great Buddhist scholar born in

Southern India had a great friend in King Satavahana. The Satavahana line of

Andhra, the king, Gautamiputra Satakarni, son of queen Balashri, was the only

one of his line to embrace Buddhism, and it was for him that Acharya Nagarjuna

wrote The Good Hearted Letter (Suhalekha) and The Jewel Garland (Ratnavali).

That the king in question reigned at about the time indicated is certain from the

evidence of present archaeological discoveries. The traditional biographers agree

that the Nagarjuna was born in a Brahmin family of South India. The Tibetan

accounts state that at his birth, astrologers prophesied that the child would not

live beyond the age of seven. Unable to bear the sight of his premature death, the

accounts tell us, his parents sent the boy to a Buddhist monastery, whereby

reciting the Aparamitayudharani, he succeeded in escaping his fate. The account

given by Kumarajiva of Acharya Nagarjuna’s early life differ substantially from that

of the Tibetan biographers. Kumarajiva writes that in his youth Acharya Nagarjuna

was overcome with lust and through the art of invisibility seduced women in the

royal palace. Once, however, he narrowly escaped death at the hands of the

guards, an experience which led him to dwell upon the Buddha's teaching that

desire is the foremost cause of suffering. As a result, according to Kumarajiva, the

Acharya entered the Buddhist Order. Thereafter, the Tibetan accounts state,

Nagarjuna became a student of Rahulabhadra who was then the abbot of the

great university at Nalanda. Virtually all the traditional biographers agree that

Acharya Nagarjuna procured some Pradnyaparamita Sutras from the world of the

Nagas. Finally, Acharya Nagarjuna seems to have spent the latter part of his life at

the monastery built for him by his friend and patron, King Gautamiputra at

Shriparvata. Although the accounts given of the manner of the Acharya’s death

differ with regard to detail, they agree in that Nagarjuna consented to his own

death at the hands of the son of King Gautamiputra.

Works of Acharya Nagarjuna: Acharya Nagarjuna was an accomplished master of

Buddhist doctrine. He wrote voluminously on almost every aspect of Buddhist

philosophy and religion. Although Acharya Nagarjuna has rightly won widespread

acclaim as the foremost exponent of the 'middle way', or Madhyamapratipada,

and as a master of dialectic, his writings also include works on Vinaya, on Tantra,

on the career of the Bodhisattva, and on the practice of the Paramitayana. Among

the latter are counted the Sutrasamuccaya and others. Acharya Nagarjuna also

wrote works of a highly devotional character, such as the Catuhastava.

Nagarjuna ushered a revolution in Buddhism, in its philosophy, religion and

spiritual discipline. He is a celebrated founder of the Madhyamika system

advocating “sunyata”. Sunyata is the pivotal conception on which the entire

Buddhism thought turned. Madhyamika philosophy is reflective awareness of the

philosophical consciousness of its own doing. Being a criticism of philosophy,

Madhyamika is a philosophy of philosophies.

Nagarjuna’s death: The Kathasaritasagar written by Somadeva is the only extant

Indian text which details Nagarjuna’s life as a pious Buddhist, an expert in

medicine and alchemy and also informs about he being a house-holder having

several sons and also working as a minister to the King. Nagarjuna allowed

Jivahara, the son of King Udana to kill him without any resistance is quite in

keeping with the Bodhisatva ideal.

Atul Bhosekar

M.A – Part I

References:

Philosophy of Nagarjuna; T.R.V.Murti; CIHTS, Varanasi; 1977

Nagarjuna; Wikipedia