Nāgārjuna’s Middle Way

The volume contains a new translation of all twenty-seven chapters of

Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, from the La Vallée Poussin Sanskrit

edition, with reference to Ye’s more recent edition where it differs

significantly from the former. The Sanskrit verses are provided in Roman

characters alongside their English translation for ease of reference. The

translators have provided a running commentary to the translated verses of MMK

based on the four classical Indian commentaries: the Akutobhayā (author

unknown), the Madhyamakavṛtti by Buddhapālita, the Prajñāpradīpa by

Bhāviveka, and the Prasannapadā by Candrakīrti. A brief, ten page

introduction outlines Nāgārjuna’s goals and strategies in the work, and

includes a précis of Abhidharma philosophical presuppositions and of the

patterns of reasoning employed within the MMK.

Professors Siderits and Katsura open each of the twenty-seven chapters with a

short paragraph in which chapter themes are introduced, followed by a list that

thematically summarizes the verses of the chapter and clearly identifies their

roles as assertions, objections from opponents, refutations, reasons,

summaries, etc. Bracketed terms are kept to a minimum throughout the work and

footnotes have been avoided altogether, which allows for uncluttered reading of

the text, focused solely on the Madhyamaka philosophy of Nāgārjuna and his

Indian commentators.