PHILOSOPHER

Nagarjuna

150 - 250

Photo of Nagarjuna

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Nagarjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन/ Nāgārjuna) (c. 150 – c. 250 CE) was an Indian monk and Mahāyāna Buddhist philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers. Jan Westerhoff considers him to be "one of the greatest thinkers in the history of Asian philosophy." Nāgārjuna is widely considered to be the founder of the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist philosophy and a defender of the Mahāyāna movement. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Nagarjuna has received more than 1,806,161 page views. His biography is available in 99 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 89 in 2019). Nagarjuna is the 78th most popular philosopher (up from 83rd in 2019), the 14th most popular biography from India (down from 13th in 2019) and the 3rd most popular Indian Philosopher.

Nagarjuna is most famous for his Madhyamaka philosophy. He was a Buddhist monk who lived in the second century CE and is considered to be the founder of the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist philosophy.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.8M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 75.72

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 99

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 9.88

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.36

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among PHILOSOPHERS

Among philosophers, Nagarjuna ranks 78 out of 1,267. Before him are Karl Jaspers, Rudolf Steiner, George Berkeley, Ramakrishna, Jürgen Habermas, and Xenophanes. After him are Carl von Clausewitz, Nicholas of Cusa, Gregory of Nazianzus, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Mencius, and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 150, Nagarjuna ranks 1. After him are Shapur I, Clement of Alexandria, Pope Zephyrinus, Clodius Albinus, Lucilla, Vologases IV, Zhang Zhongjing, Aristides of Athens, Dian Wei, Terentianus, and Gaius Fulvius Plautianus. Among people deceased in 250, Nagarjuna ranks 1. After him are Pope Fabian, Denis, Philostratus, Herodian, Cai Yan, Saint Mercurius, Aryadeva, Aristides Quintilianus, Censorinus, and Licinianus.

Others Born in 150

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Others Deceased in 250

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In India

Among people born in India, Nagarjuna ranks 14 out of 1,861. Before him are A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1931), Jawaharlal Nehru (1889), B. R. Ambedkar (1891), Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887), Ramakrishna (1836), and Vivien Leigh (1913). After him are Shivaji (1627), Mahavira (-599), Shah Rukh Khan (1965), Indira Gandhi (1917), Rudyard Kipling (1865), and Ānanda (-600).

Others born in India

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Among PHILOSOPHERS In India

Among philosophers born in India, Nagarjuna ranks 3. Before him are Rajneesh (1931), and Ramakrishna (1836). After him are Swami Vivekananda (1863), Adi Shankara (788), Kabir (1440), Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895), Vyasa (-390), Aśvaghoṣa (80), Padmasambhava (717), Sri Aurobindo (1872), and Paramahansa Yogananda (1893).

Indian born Philosophers

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