Editing Nagarjuna (section)

=== Traditional hagiography ===
According to Walser, "the earliest extant legends about Nāgārjuna are compiled into [[Kumārajīva]]’s biography of Nāgārjuna, which he translated into Chinese in about 405 CE."<ref name=":3">Walser (2005), p. 66.</ref> According to this biography, Nāgārjuna was born into a [[Brahmin]] family<ref>"Notes on the Nagarjunikonda Inscriptions", Dutt, Nalinaksha. ''The Indian Historical Quarterly'' 7:3 1931.09 pp. 633–53 "..Tibetan tradition which says that Nāgārjuna was born of a brahmin family of [[Amaravati]]."</ref><ref>Geri Hockfield Malandra, ''Unfolding A Mandala: The Buddhist Cave Temples at Ellora'', SUNY Press, 1993, p. 17</ref><ref>Shōhei Ichimura, ''Buddhist Critical Spirituality: Prajñā and Śūnyatā'', Motilal Banarsidass Publishers (2001), p. 67</ref><ref>Bkra-śis-rnam-rgyal (Dwags-po Paṇ-chen), Takpo Tashi Namgyal, ''Mahamudra: The Quintessence of Mind and Meditation'', Motilal Banarsidass Publishers (1993), p. 443</ref> and later became a Buddhist. The traditional religious hagiographies place Nāgārjuna in various regions of India (Kumārajīva and Candrakirti place him in [[Vidarbha]] region of South India,<ref>{{cite book |author=Buddhist Text & Research Society |title=Journal |date=1895 |volume=3-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ubwoAAAAYAAJ |page=16}}</ref><ref>Transaction - Indian Institute of World Culture, Issue 73, Indian Institute of World Culture, 1987, p. 5</ref> [[Xuanzang]] in south [[Kosala Kingdom|Kosala]])<ref name=":3" />

Traditional religious hagiographies credit Nāgārjuna with being associated with the teaching of the [[Prajnaparamita|Prajñāpāramitā]] sūtras as well as with having revealed these scriptures to the world after they had remained hidden for some time. The sources differ on where this happened and how Nāgārjuna retrieved the sutras. Some sources say he retrieved the sutras from the land of the [[nāga]]s.<ref>Walser (2005), pp. 69, 74.</ref>  
[[File:Nagarjuna%2C_Tibet%2C_1644-1911_AD_-_Sichuan_Provincial_Museum_-_Chengdu%2C_China_-_DSC04486.jpg|thumb|A Tibetan depiction of Nagarjuna; the snakes are depicted as protectors around Nagarjuna's head and the [[Nāga|nagas]] rising out of the water are offering Buddhist sutras.]]
[[File:Nagarjuna_Conqueror_of_the_Serpent.jpg|right|thumb|[[Nicholas Roerich]] "Nagarjuna Conqueror of the Serpent" (1925)]]

Nāgārjuna himself is often depicted in composite form comprising human and [[nāga]] characteristics. Nāgas are snake-like supernatural beings of great magical power that feature in [[Hindu mythology|Hindu]], [[Buddhist mythology|Buddhist]] and [[Jainism|Jain mythology]].<ref>Walser (2005), p. 74.</ref> Nāgas are found throughout Indian religious culture, and typically signify intelligent serpents or dragons that are responsible for rain, lakes, and other bodies of water. In Buddhism, a naga can be a symbol of a realised [[arhat]] or wise person.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Berger|first=Douglas|title=Nagarjuna (c. 150—c. 250)|url=http://www.iep.utm.edu/nagarjun/|access-date=2 May 2017|website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy}}</ref>

Traditional sources also claim that Nāgārjuna practised [[Ayurveda|ayurvedic]] alchemy ([[Rasayana|rasayāna]]). Kumārajīva's biography for example, has Nāgārjuna making an elixir of invisibility, and [[Buton Rinchen Drub]], [[Taranatha]] and [[Xuanzang]] all state that he could turn rocks into gold.<ref>Walser (2005), pp. 75-76.</ref>

Tibetan hagiographies also state that Nāgārjuna studied at Nālanda University. However, according to Walser, this university was not a strong monastic center until about 425. Also, as Walser notes, "Xuanzang and Yijing both spent considerable time at Nālanda and studied Nāgārjuna’s texts there. It is strange that they would have spent so much time there and yet chose not to report any local tales of a man whose works played such an important part in the curriculum."<ref>Walser (2005), p. 78</ref>

Some sources ([[Buton Rinchen Drub]] and the other Tibetan historians) claim that in his later years, Nāgārjuna lived on the mountain of Śrīparvata near the city that would later be called [[Nagarjunakonda|Nāgārjunakoṇḍa]] ("Hill of Nāgārjuna").<ref name="hirakawa">Hirakawa, Akira. Groner, Paul. ''A History of Indian Buddhism: From Śākyamuni to Early Mahāyāna.'' 2007. p. 242</ref><ref>Walser (2005), p. 72.</ref> The ruins of Nāgārjunakoṇḍa are located in [[Guntur district]], [[Andhra Pradesh]]. The [[Caitika]] and [[Bahuśrutīya]] nikāyas are known to have had [[vihara|monasteries]] in Nāgārjunakoṇḍa.<ref name="hirakawa" /> The archaeological finds at Nāgārjunakoṇḍa have not resulted in any evidence that the site was associated with Nagarjuna. The name "Nāgārjunakoṇḍa" dates from the medieval period, and the 3rd-4th century inscriptions found at the site make it clear that it was known as "Vijayapuri" in the ancient period.<ref>{{cite book |author = K. Krishna Murthy |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4gBSWyLTSzkC&pg=PA1 |title = Nāgārjunakoṇḍā: A Cultural Study |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |year=1977|page=1|oclc=4541213 }}</ref>