Nāgārjuna (Sanskrit: from Nāga + Arjuna; Chinese: Lóngshù, 龍樹; Tibetan: Klu sgrub; c. 150 – c. 250 CE) was an Indian philosopher and Mahāyāna Buddhist monk from South India, traditionally regarded as the founder of the Madhyamaka (Centrism or Middle Way) school of Buddhist philosophy. He is widely considered the most important Buddhist philosopher after the Buddha himself, and in Tibetan Buddhism is honoured as the "second Buddha".
| Name | Nāgārjuna |
|---|---|
| Sanskrit etymology | Nāga + Arjuna |
| Chinese name | Lóngshù (龍樹) |
| Tibetan name | Klu sgrub |
| Period | c. 150 – c. 250 CE |
| Region | South India |
| Religious tradition | Mahāyāna Buddhism |
| School founded | Madhyamaka (Middle Way) |
| Principal doctrine | Śūnyatā (emptiness) |
| Major work | Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (Root Verses on Madhyamaka) |
Nāgārjuna lived in South India around the second and third centuries CE. He was a Mahāyāna Buddhist monk and a leading defender of the Mahāyāna movement during its formative period. His treatises (śāstras) became the foundational texts of the philosophical view of emptiness, also known as Śūnyatāvāda or Madhyamaka.
Nāgārjuna is associated above all with the doctrine of śūnyatā ("emptiness"), which he developed systematically in his writings. His thought provided the doctrinal framework for the Madhyamaka school, one of the two principal philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism.
The Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (MMK), or Root Verses on Madhyamaka, is Nāgārjuna's most important and widely studied work, and is regarded as the central text of Madhyamaka philosophy. The MMK inspired a large body of commentaries in Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan, Korean and Japanese, and it continues to be studied in academic and monastic contexts today.
Nāgārjuna's philosophical writings on emptiness influenced Indian philosophy for roughly a millennium. He remains a key figure in all contemporary traditions of Mahāyāna Buddhism, and his works are an indispensable doctrinal source for both East Asian Buddhism and Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. The reverence accorded to him in Tibetan Buddhism, where he is described as the "second Buddha", reflects the central place of his thought across the Mahāyāna world.