Nagarjuna

Nagarjuna, a prominent philosopher and Mahāyāna Buddhist monk from South India, is revered as the founder of the Madhyamaka school, also known as Centrism or the Middle Way. His profound contributions to Buddhist philosophy have earned him the distinction of being the most significant philosopher after the Buddha himself, with Tibetan Buddhists even referring to him as the 'second Buddha.'

As a staunch defender of the Mahāyāna movement, Nagarjuna's treatises, or śāstras, form the bedrock of a philosophical school centered on the concept of emptiness, known as Śūnyatāvāda or Madhyamaka. His influence extends across all contemporary traditions of Mahāyāna Buddhism, where his writings on the doctrine of emptiness (śūnyatā) have shaped Indian philosophy for over a millennium.

Among his most notable works is the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, or Root Verses on Madhyamaka, which stands as the cornerstone text on the philosophy of emptiness. This seminal work has inspired a multitude of commentaries in various languages, including Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan, Korean, and Japanese, and continues to be a subject of study in modern times.