Nagarjuna in Context

Nagarjuna is the most influential thinker in the Mahayana Buddhist tradition. This book provides an examination of Nagarjuna's life and writings within the social, religious, and institutional contexts of the early history of Buddhism. It locates Nagarjuna's writings at a critical juncture in the development and spread of Mahayana Buddhism.

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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.