Overview for Nagarjuna's Verses on the Great Vehicle and the Heart of Dependent Origination
No one can, perhaps, question the philosophical genius of Nagarjuna. In the dialectic of this AD second century Buddhist scholar - also acknowledged as the founder of Madhyamika school, is seen the clearest expression of Sakyamuni Buddha's profound, even the subtlest teachings. Here is, in three parts, a brilliant critical study, with readable English translations, of this time-honoured philosopher's Mahayanavimsika (Verses on the Great Vehicle), Pratiyasamutpadahrdayakarika (Verses on the Heart of Dependent Origination) and, these besides, of his prose commentary, Pratiasamutpada-hrdayavyakhyana (An Interpretation of the Heart of Dependent Origination). Part 1, comprising translation, is intended to present these Buddhist texts, is an accessible form, unencumbered by any critical apparatus. Part 2 provides text - critical material as well as other comments - for readers interested in something more than just the translation in isolation. In part 3 are incorporated, for specialists/scholars/academics, further critical comments in the light of the Dunhuang manuscripts (c. eighth-ninth centuries AD), relating to the Pratiya-samutpadahrdaya. A remarkable combination of Jamieson's Sanskrit and Tibetan scholarship, this study is invaluable to anyone seeking a better understanding of Nagarjuna: the Buddhist philosopher and patriarch.
R.C. Jamieson (Author)
R.C. Jamieson is Keeper or Sanskrit Manuscripts at the University of Cambridge, a member of the faculty of Oriental Studies, and a member of King's College. His new book, on the earliest dated illustrated Sanskrit manuscripts in the world, the Perfection of Wisdom, (New York, Penguin Viking, ISBN 0670889342/London, Frances Lincoln, 2000 ISBN 0711215103) includes all the illustrations from that historic manuscript (www.edlis.org/pow).
Bagchee
