Nagarjuna's "Mulamadhyamakakarikas" is the foundational text of the Madhyamaka school of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy. Its 27 chapters contain a wide variety of arguments meant to support the central Mahayana doctrine of emptiness. This translation uses the four surviving Indian commentaries to try to arrive at an understanding that comes as close as possible to what was originally intended. The verses are accompanied by a running commentary that tries to explain their content without straying far beyond the consensus among the original commentators. The aim has been to produce a translation that balances the demands of historical fidelity, accessibility, and philosophical intelligibility. It is the product of a collaboration between scholars with overlapping but distinct and complementary areas of expertise: one is a renowned Buddhologist well known for his work on Sanskrit texts, the other is a philosopher who looks to both contemporary philosophy and classical Indian philosophy for insightful arguments. The translation and commentary are preceded by a brief introduction laying out the historical context and describing some of the common argumentative strategies Nagarjuna will employ in the defense of his interesting and novel stance.
Industry Reviews
At last! At last we have a translation of the Mulamadhyamakakarika that can be enthusiastically recommended to students! This translation has the authentic flavour of Nagarjuna. It should certainly become the first translation of choice for all English language work on the Madhyamakakarika in the foreseeable future. It is highly recommended. Bravo - I am delighted!--Paul Williams, Emeritus Professor of Indian and Tibetan Philosophy, University of Bristol, author of Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition
Mark Siderits and Shoryu Katsura have produced a masterful translation that is both philologically precise and philosophically sophisticated and sets extremely high standards for further work on the Mulamadhyamakarika. Based on the four extant Indian commentaries their explanations of Nagarjuna's concise verses are a paragon of conceptual clarity. Every student of Buddhist philosophy will want to own a copy of this book.----Jan Westerhoff, Oxford University, author of Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka: A Philosophical Introduction
Mark Siderits and Shoryu Katsura have produced what will justly be received as the go-to translation of one of the most important works of the Indian Buddhist philosophical tradition. The authors' comments--based on sensitive attention to all the available Indian commentaries on Nagarjuna's magnum opus--clarify Nagarjuna's verses with admirable concision, while yet permitting a range of interpretations of Nagarjuna's purport. Siderits and Katsura have thus achieved something remarkable -- a rendering of Nagarjuna's foundational text that is clear and concise, but that nevertheless lets us see how Nagarjuna can have been so variously read by interpreters both traditional and modern.--Dan Arnold, University of Chicago Divinity School, author of Buddhists, Brahmins, and Belief: Epistemology in South Asian Philosophy of Religion
Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyakamakarika has long been one of the most important works in the Asian philosophical traditions, but access to it is difficult for Western philosophers and scholars. Katsura and Siderits' translation and commentary renders the work accessible in an outstanding fashion. The scholarship is of the very highest quality, the translation is authoritative, and the commentary provides a picture that is vivid and illuminating.--Graham Priest, author of Logic: A Very Short Introduction
This is an amazing book. It provides a refined translation of Nagarjuna's text and creates a lucid synthesis of the traditional commentaries, pointing us on our way, challenging every step and at the same time pushing us to our own intimate insight into the fundamental matter. If a book could ever be a Zen teacher, this comes as close as we're likely to find. Every Zen student should read it, return to the pillow, then return to the text, again, and again. And again.--James Ishmael Ford, coauthor of The Book of MU
This new translation by Shoryu Katsura and Mark Siderits is accurate, faithful to the Indian interpreters, and clear. These two scholars have rendered the Madhyamakakarikas with an exemplary combination of philological and philosophical rigor, making this the translation of choice for Nagarjuna's seminal verses.--Tom Tillemans, Professor Emeritus, University of Lausanne
