Nagarjuna in Context: Mahayana Buddhism and Early Indian Culture
ISBN: 9780231506236
Platform/Publisher: JSTOR / Columbia University Press
Digital rights: Users: unlimited; Printing: chapter; Download: chapter
Subjects: Nāgārjuna 2nd cent; Mādhyamika (Buddhism); Mahāyāna Buddhism;

Joseph Walser provides the first examination of Nagarjuna's 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 Nagarjuna's writings and other Buddhist and non-Buddhist sources, Walser offers an original contribution to the understanding of Nagarjuna and the early history of Buddhism.


Joseph Walser is associate professor and department chair of comparative religion at Tufts University.
hidden image for function call