Nagarjuna in Context

Nagarjuna, one of Indias greatest philosophers, was the most influential of all thinkers in the Mahayana Buddhist tradition, the form now dominant in Tibet, Vietnam, China, Korea, and Japan. While his philosophy has been the subject of numerous studies and translations, Joseph Walser provides the first examination of Nagarjunas life and writings in the context of the religious and monastic debates of the second century ce. Walser explores how Nagarjuna secured the canonical authority of Mahayana teachings and considers his use of rhetoric to ensure the transmission of his writings by Buddhist monks. Drawing on close textual analysis of Nagarjunas writings and other Buddhist and non-Buddhist sources, as well as on art historical and epigraphic evidence, Walser offers a creative and original contribution to the understanding of Nagarjuna and the contentious early history of Buddhism.