Nagarjuna in Context - Mahayana Buddhism and Early Indian Culture

Title: Nagarjuna in Context: Mahayana Buddhism and Early Indian Culture

Author: Joseph Walser

Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass

Place of Publication: Delhi

Edition: First Indian Edition

Year: 2008

Language: English

Binding: Hardcover

Pages: x, 369

ISBN-10: 81-208-3260-4

ISBN-13: 978-81-208-3260-2

India Club BC: 23919

Description

Nagarjuna is one of the most influential philosophers in the Mahayana Buddhist tradition. In this scholarly study, Joseph Walser examines Nagarjuna’s life and writings within the social, religious and institutional setting of early Indian Buddhism, moving beyond a purely philosophical interpretation of his works.

Walser situates Nagarjuna’s writings at a critical stage in the development of Mahayana Buddhism. He investigates how Mahayana teachings established authority in relation to existing Buddhist scriptures and monastic institutions and how Nagarjuna’s arguments helped secure a place for Mahayana texts within Buddhist intellectual and disciplinary traditions.

The study draws upon close readings of Nagarjuna’s works, particularly the Mulamadhyamakakarika and Ratnavali, and examines their relationship to the three divisions of the Buddhist canon: Vinaya, Sutra and Abhidharma. Walser also considers monastic law, sectarian identity, relations with lay communities and the institutional strategies that supported the preservation and transmission of Mahayana teachings.

In addition to Buddhist and non-Buddhist textual sources, the author uses art-historical and epigraphic evidence to reconstruct the cultural world in which Nagarjuna worked. The volume is an important resource for Buddhist studies, Indian philosophy, Mahayana studies, early Indian religious history and the social history of Buddhist institutions.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Locating Mahayana

Locating Nagarjuna

Mahayana and the Constraints of Monastic Law

Mahayana Sutras as Monastic Property

On the Parasitic Strategies of Mahayana

Abhidharma and Sectarian Identity

Nagarjuna and the Abhidharma

Conclusion

Appendix: Toward the Outline of a Career

The Authorship of the Ratnavali

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Condition

New and unused hardcover copy from India Club’s preserved inventory. Stored securely in a protective plastic covering.