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Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way — Nāgārjuna

Written work · Essential works

Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way

मूलमध्यमककारिका (Mūlamadhyamakakārikā); tib. Dbu ma rtsa ba'i tshig le'ur byas pa shes rab; chin. 中論 Zhōnglùn

Nāgārjuna, de la serie de los patriarcas shingon de Tōji
byNāgārjuna

Some 450 verses in twenty-seven chapters examining one by one the fundamental concepts of Buddhist philosophy and of its rivals —conditions, motion, the senses, aggregates, elements, action, agent, time, the Tathāgata, the four noble truths, nirvāṇa— to show that none withstands analysis if it is assumed to have intrinsic nature. Chapter 24 identifies emptiness with dependent origination and the middle way, and chapter 25 denies any difference between saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. Commented on in India by Buddhapālita, Bhāviveka and Candrakīrti, in China by Piṅgala (via Kumārajīva) and in Tibet by Tsongkhapa, it is the base text of all Madhyamaka.

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Editions and translations · 7

EnglishChino clásicoSánscritoEspañol

Authorship note

Nāgārjuna's central and undisputed work; it is the yardstick for judging all other attributions. The Sanskrit text survives within Candrakīrti's Prasannapadā and in recently edited manuscripts (Ye Shaoyong, 2011). Authentic according to Lindtner (1982) and Ruegg (1981); the SEP counts it among the works whose ascription is "largely uncontested".

Editions and translations

Editions in your language first, without hiding the others. Each with its cover and its store.

English

  • Nāgārjuna's Middle Way: Mūlamadhyamakakārikā — Nāgārjuna

    Nāgārjuna's Middle Way: Mūlamadhyamakakārikā

    Wisdom Publications, 2013

    Translation: Mark Siderits y Shōryū Katsura

    ISBN 9781614290506

  • The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā — Nāgārjuna

    The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā

    Oxford University Press, 1995

    Translation: Jay L. Garfield

    ISBN 9780195093360

    Buy the book · Amazon (amazon.com)
  • Nāgārjuna: The Philosophy of the Middle Way — Nāgārjuna

    Nāgārjuna: The Philosophy of the Middle Way

    State University of New York Press, 1986

    Translation: David J. Kalupahana

    ISBN 9780887061493

    Con texto sánscrito

Chino clásico · 文言

  • 中論 Zhōnglùn (con el comentario de Piṅgala)

    Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō, 409

    Translation: Kumārajīva

    Traducción china antigua, T30 n.º 1564; texto en zh.wikisource.org

Sánscrito · संस्कृतम्

  • Mūlamadhyamakakārikās (Mādhyamikasūtras) de Nāgārjuna avec la Prasannapadā

    Bibliotheca Buddhica IV, San Petersburgo, 1903

    Translation: Louis de La Vallée Poussin (edición)

    Publicada en fascículos entre 1903 y 1913; dominio público

Español

  • Versos sobre los fundamentos del camino medio (Mūlamadhyamakakārikā)

    Kairós, 2003

    Translation: Abraham Vélez de Cea

    ISBN 9788472455450

    View in store · Editorial Kairós
  • Fundamentos de la vía media — Nāgārjuna

    Fundamentos de la vía media

    Siruela, 2004

    Translation: Juan Arnau

    ISBN 9788478447626

    Reedición: Alianza Editorial, 2018 (Fundamentos de la vía media. El camino budista hacia el vacío), ISBN 9788491813071.

    Buy the book · Amazon (amazon.es)

Other works by Nāgārjuna

Sources

  • La Vallée Poussin, Louis de (ed.). Mūlamadhyamakakārikās (Mādhyamikasūtras) de Nāgārjuna avec la Prasannapadā commentaire de Candrakīrti. San Petersburgo: Académie impériale des sciences, 1903–1913 (Bibliotheca Buddhica IV).

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