NAGARJUNA  , a celebrated Buddhist philosopher and writer . He is constantly quoted in the literature of the later

schools of Buddhism, and a very large number of works in Sanskrit is attributed to him . None of these has been critically edited or translated; and there is much uncertainty as to the exact date of his tamer, and as to his opinions . The most probable date seems to be the early part of the 3rd century A.D . He seems to have been born in the south of India, and to have lived under the patronage of a king of southern Kosala, the modern Chattisgarh . Chinese and Tibetan authorities differ as to the name of this monarch; but it apparently is meant to represent an Indian name Satavahana, which is a dynastic title, not a personal name . Of the works he probably wrote one was a treatise advocating the Madhyamaka views of which he is the reputed founder; another a long and poetical prose work on the stages of the Bodhisattva career; and a third a voluminous commentary on the Alahaprajnad-paramita Sutra . Chinese tradition ascribes to him special knowledge of herbs, of astrology, of alchemy and of medicine . Two medical treatises, one on prescriptions in general, the other on the treatment of eye-disease, are said, by Chinese writers, to be by him . Several poems of a didactic character are also ascribed to him . The best known of these poems is The Friendly Epistle addressed to King Udayana . A translation into English of a Tibetan version of this piece has been published by Dr Wenzel .