The first of the Seventeen. The great teacher Nagarjuna

Today, continuing  our column “The 17 Panditas of Nalanda,” we will tell you about the outstanding thinker Arya Nagarjuna. His appearance in this world was foretold by Buddha Shakyamuni himself:

“After I, the Buddha, have passed away, four hundred years will go by, and then a monk named Naga will appear. He will devote himself to the Teaching and will render it great assistance.…” 

And indeed, at precisely that time, in the family of a well-known brahmin, in southern India, in the place called Vaidarbha, a son was born. At the age of 8 his parents sent him to the monastic University of Nalanda, where the boy showed remarkable success in the general sciences and mastered all the teachings of the Mahayana and the Hinayana. Later he took full monastic vows and became known under the name Glorious Bhikshu. He studied all the systems of the teachings of Nalanda — the Tripitaka and the four divisions of Tantra.

During a great famine, as a result of which the monks of Nalanda were left without provisions, the Glorious Bhikshu, through alchemical operations, turned copper into gold, thereby saving the monks. This went on for 12 years. 

One day, while expounding the Teaching at the monastery, the Glorious Bhikshu noticed two boys listening to him attentively, from whom emanated the natural fragrance of sandalwood. They were nagas. Having asked them to impart the fragrance of sandalwood to a statue of Tara, he had to descend to them in their kingdom and give the Teaching there. He returned to this world, bringing with him the “Prajnaparamita Sutra in a hundred thousand lines.” From that time he received the name Nagarjuna. That is why he is everywhere depicted with seven nagas above his head.

It is Nagarjuna who is called the founder of the Madhyamaka — one of the leading Buddhist philosophical schools, or the school of the Middle Way.

The foundation of his philosophy is the doctrine of “emptiness,” which is recognized as the only existing principle, in contrast to the visible world, which is illusory and unreal.

During his life Nagarjuna gave many teachings, built many temples, and had many outstanding disciples. Among them the most famous was Aryadeva. After Nagarjuna’s death, Aryadeva wrote many treatises with commentaries on his works, continuing to carry on his Teaching. #kalmykia #17panditasofnalanda #centralkhurulofkalmykia #elista #buddhism