“Buddhapalita’s commentary on Nagarjuna’s Mulamadhyamakakarika is of the first importance among Indian Madhyamaka texts. It is not only the earliest detailed treatment of Nagarjuna’s masterpiece, but it is the foundation of the entire Prasangika tradition that represents the pinnacle of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist philosophical thought. Buddhapalita opens the structure of Nagarjuna’s arguments and shows us just how to read this difficult verse treatise. Dr. Coghlan offers this Indian classic to the contemporary Western reader through an elegant translation, at once lexically precise, philosophically sensitive, and immediately accessible.”

– Jay Garfield, Smith College

“The Indian commentarial literature is an indispensable key to Nagarjuna’s masterpiece, the Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way. Buddhapalita’s commentary occupies a central place amongst the early works on this foundational Madhyamaka text. I am delighted to see that Ian Coghlan’s lucid translation opens a door to the entirety of Buddhapalita’s profound explanations of the intricacies of Nagarjuna’s thought to an English-speaking audience for the first time. This is a major milestone in the Western study of Madhyamaka and will be an essential resource for students of the Asian philosophical tradition.”

– Jan Westerhoff, University of Oxford

“Ian Coghlan provides a welcome introduction to Buddhapalita, an important Buddhist philosopher whose work influenced the much better known Madhyamaka commentator, Chandrakirti. Coghlan’s work, Buddhapalita’s Commentary on Nagarjuna’s Middle Way, delivers a clear, concise, and accessible English translation of Buddhapalita’s interpretive commentary on Nagarjuna’s terse and sometimes enigmatic verses. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in Madhyamaka arguments against Nagarjuna’s Abhidharma opponents’ views and interested in these Madhyamaka proponents’ persuasive arguments for cultivating insight into emptiness.”

– Karen Lang, University of Virginia (emeritus)