Kalupahana, David J. Nāgājuna: The Philosophy of the Middle Way. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1986.

Abstract

This is a completely new translation of Nāgārjuna's major work, the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, accompanied by a detailed annotation of each of the verses. The annotation identifies the metaphysical theories of the scholastics criticized by Nāgārjuna, and traces the source material and the arguments utilized in his refutation back to the early discourses of the Buddha. The Introduction presents a completely new hypothesis about the nature of the treatise. The work is a grand commentary on the Buddha's "Discourse to Katyayana" (Kaccāyanaqotta-sutta). The concluding part of the Introduction compares the teachings of the Buddha and Nāgārjuna in regard to epistemology, ontology, ethics, and philosophy of language indicating how the latter was making a determined attempt to reconstruct the Buddha's teachings in a very faithful manner, avoiding the substantialist metaphysics of the scholastics. The book shows that Nāgārjuna's ideas are neither original nor are they an an advancement from the early Buddhist period. Nāgārjuna is not a Mahayanist.