The Number of Verses of Nāgārjuna’s Vigrahavyāvartanī

Abstract

The Vigrahavyāvartanī, one of Nāgārjuna’s main philosophical treatises, gives us an insight into Nāgārjuna’s theory of emptiness as well as his dialectical methods. The first Sanskrit edition was published by K. P. Jayaswal and R. Sāṇkṛtyāyana in 1937, in which they count the number of verses as 72. However, in 1951 when E. H. Johnston and A. Kunst published their edition, which is most widely used today, they reduced the number of verses to 70. Thus, Johnston’s interpretation has become the standard statement of this problem for scholars. However, if we look into this issue more carefully, there are several factors that may not support Johnston’s position. In this article, I will detail three arguments against Johnston’s interpretation.