Nāgārjuna
Rasaratnākara (alchemical treatise)
Traditional attribution
Rasaratnākara (alchemical treatise)
रसरत्नाकर (Rasaratnākara)
A treatise of rasaśāstra, the Indian alchemy of mercury, with procedures for purifying and "killing" metals, fixing mercury and preparing elixirs of longevity. It is one of the sources of the image of Nāgārjuna the alchemist that the Tibetan tradition incorporated into the philosopher's life.
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Authorship note
Ascribed to a medieval alchemist Nāgārjuna; nothing links it to the 2nd–3rd-century philosopher, although the legend of alchemy passed into his Tibetan biography.
Editions and translations
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Other works by Nāgārjuna
- Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way · 190
- The Dispeller of Disputes (Vigrahavyāvartanī)
- Seventy Verses on Emptiness
- Sixty Verses on Reasoning
- Crushing the Categories (Vaidalyaprakaraṇa)
- Proof of Convention (lost)
- Precious Garland (Ratnāvalī)
- Letter to a Friend (Suhṛllekha)
- The Four Hymns (Catuḥstava)
- Verses on the Heart of Dependent Origination
- Compendium of Sūtras
- Treatise on the Requisites of Awakening
- Commentary on the Awakening Mind
- Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom
- Commentary on the Ten Stages
- Twelve Gate Treatise
- Akutobhayā ("Fearless" commentary on the Verses)
- Twenty Verses on the Great Vehicle
- Treatise of One Verse
- Heart of Means Treatise
- Hymn to the Dharmadhātu
- Treatise on Transition between Existences
- The Staff of Wisdom (maxims)
- Compendium of Doctrinal Terms
- The Five Stages (Pañcakrama)
- Yogaśataka (a hundred medical formulas)
Sources
- Westerhoff, Jan. «Nāgārjuna». En Edward N. Zalta y Uri Nodelman (eds.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, primera publicación 10 de febrero de 2010; revisión sustancial 31 de mayo de 2026.
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