Nagarjuna’s Letter to King Gautamiputra

Title: Nagarjuna’s Letter to King Gautamiputra: With Explanatory Notes Based on Tibetan Commentaries

Author: Nagarjuna

Translated from the Tibetan by: Lozang Jamspal, Ngawang Samten Chophel and Peter Della Santina

Preface: His Holiness Sakya Trizin

Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass

Place of Publication: Delhi

Publication History: First edition, 1978; reprinted 1983, 1996 and 2004

Edition Held: 2004 reprint

Languages: English and Tibetan, with Sanskrit equivalents in the glossary

Binding: Hardcover

Pages: xxii, 118, plus 5 leaves of plates

ISBN-10: 81-208-1375-8

ISBN-13: 978-81-208-1375-5

India Club BC: 13018

Description

Nagarjuna’s Letter to King Gautamiputra, traditionally known by its Sanskrit title Suhrllekha, is a concise presentation of Buddhist doctrine, ethics and the path to liberation. Composed in 123 verses and addressed to a royal friend and patron, the work became influential in India and subsequently occupied an important place in Tibetan Buddhist literary and educational traditions.

The Sanskrit original is no longer extant. This edition presents an English translation made from the version preserved in the Tibetan Buddhist canon. The translation is accompanied by explanatory notes based on three authoritative Tibetan commentaries, providing historical, doctrinal and interpretive context for the verses.

The work addresses moral discipline, karma, impermanence, suffering, rebirth, the cultivation of wisdom and compassion, the stages of the Buddhist path and the responsibilities of ethical governance. Its epistolary form makes it significant both as a Buddhist instructional text and as an example of religious counsel addressed to a ruler.

The volume includes the complete Tibetan text in calligraphic script, an English translation, detailed explanatory notes, illustrations and a glossary giving Tibetan and Sanskrit equivalents for important English terms. It is particularly valuable for Buddhist studies, Tibetan studies, Indian philosophy, Buddhist ethics, textual studies and the comparative study of Sanskrit and Tibetan Buddhist literature.

Contents

Preface by His Holiness Sakya Trizin

List of Illustrations

Foreword by the Translators

Introduction

General Outline of Nagarjuna’s Letter to King Gautamiputra

Nagarjuna’s Letter to King Gautamiputra with Explanatory Notes

Appendix I: The Tibetan Text of Nagarjuna’s Letter to King Gautamiputra

Appendix II: Glossary of English Terms Used in the Text with Tibetan and Sanskrit Equivalents

Index

Condition

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