04 Dependent Origination in Nagarjuna’s Philosophy - by Prof. Asanga Tilakaratne

Problem of Interpretation of Nagarjuna

- If prasangika interpretation of Nagarjuna is correct then N cannot have any of his own theories accepted. He can have only what he considers to be the ultimate truth.
- A svatantrika way of understanding N would be to hold that he accepts the basic philosophical standpoint of the Buddha, and that he is making use of the Buddhist conceptual framework in order to accomplish his task.
- When we examine N from this point of view, we can see that he makes use of Pratitya Samutpada (PS) /Dependent Origination as his main philosophical tool.

PS in Dedicatory Verses:

Anirodham anutpādam – anucchedam aśāsvatam
Anekārtham anānārtham – anāgamam anirgamam
Yaḥ pratītyasamutpādam – prapañcopaśamam śivam
Deśayāmāsa sambuddhas- tam vande vadatām varam

I salute him the fully enlightened, the best of speakers, who taught Pratitya Samutpada which is non-ceasing and non-arising, non-annihilation and non-eternal, non-identity and non-deference, non-approach and non-departure; appeasement of obsessions, and auspicious

Concluding Verse

Sarva drṣti prahānāya – yaḥ saddharmam adeśayat
Anukampām upādāya – tam namaśyāmi gautamam (27:30)


I pay homage to Gautama who, out of compassion, taught the Dhamma in order to relinquish all views.

Here, N highlights the main purpose of his own work by highlighting the purpose of the Buddha’s teaching the Dhamma. In the dedicatory verses, N referred to four pairs of binary opposite views.

PS as a Means to Avoid Extremes

- In many discourses of the Samyutta-nikaya (Nidana-vagga) the Buddha says that he teaches his Dhamma ‘by the middle’ (majjhena tathagato dhammam deseti…) without getting to extreme views [dualistic views] by means of PS.
- It is clear that the Buddha described PS as his way of teaching by the middle.
- The only one discourse N refers to by name, Kaccāyanagotta-sutta is an example for this.

Kātyāyanāvavāde cāstīti nāstīti cobhayam
Pratiṣiddham bhagavatā – bhāvābhāva vibhāvinā (15:7)

In the ‘Advice to Katyayana’ the both ‘is’ and ‘is not’ (exists and does not exist) have been refuted by the Buddha who analysed existence and non-existence.
Dvaya nissito kho kaccāna loko yebhuyyena atthitañca natthitañca. … sabbam atthīti kho kaccāna ayam eko anto. Sabbam natthīti ayam dutiyo anto. Ete te kaccāna ubho ante anupagamma majjhena tathāgato dhammam deseti avijjā paccayā saṅkhāra…

Identity of PS, Sunayata and Madhyama Pratipad

Yaḥ pratītya samutpādam – śunyatām tam pracakśmahe
Sā prajñaptir upādāya – pratipat saiva madhayamā
Apratītya samutpanno – dharmaḥ kaścin navidyate
Yasmā tasmād aśunyopi – dharmaḥ kaścin navidyate (24: 18, 19)

We will call that which is pratitya samutpada, emptiness. It is a dependent concept. It is the middle path.
There is not any dharma that is not dependently arisen. Therefore, there is not any dharma that is not empty. [All the dharmas are dependently arise; all the dharmas are empty.]

Nagarjuna’s Exposition of PS

The penultimate chapter of MMK is Dvādasānga Parikṣā [examination of twelve aspects (of PS)].

All chapters of N are called ‘pariksa’ and they are not expositions, but examinations.

The only exception to this is his chapter on the 12 aspects of PS. In this chapter we find an exposition, not examination, of PS indicating that N accepts the doctrine of PS as his main philosophical method.

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