Through only a "minor work" in form, as regards its contents the Vigrahavyavartani is a fundamental text of Madhyamaka, as well as of the early Indian dialectical tradition. Not only does it admirably illustrate the dialectical method followed by Nagarjuna, the founder of the school, but it also clarifies the idea of Voidness (Sunyata) which has been so often misunderstood, not only in modern times and abroad, but in India itself and in Nagarjuna's own time. Written after Nagarjuna's major work, the Madhyamakakarikas, the Vigrahavyavartani is undoubtedly "one of his best works and shows him in all that is peculiar of him, above all in his imperturbable consistency", as E. Frauwallner said. Long lost in India, this text was fortunately discovered by Rahula Sankrtyayana in a Tibetan monastery. The book includes the text both in Devanagari and Roman scripts edited by E. H. Johnston and Arnold Kunst along with an English translation which follows the text closely and as literally as possible, and Notes that clarify its technicalities.

Dialectical Method of Nagarjuna: Vigrahavyartani, E.H. Johnston & Arnold Kunst, Motilal Banarsidass, Hardcover, 1978/2005, 143 pages, $19.00

Kamaleswar Bhattacharya, Docteur es Letters (Paris), has taught at the University of Paris, at Brown University (USA), at the University of Toronto (Canada), and at the Visva-BharatiUniversity(Santiniketan). His publications include Les Religions brahamaniques dans l'ancien Cambodge, Recherches sur le vocabulaire des inscriptions sanskrites du Cambodge, L'Brahman dans le Bouddhisme ancien, and Le Siddhantalaksanaprakarana du Tattvachintamani de Gangesa avec la Didhiti de Raghunatha Siromaniet la Tika de Jagadisa Tarkalamkara.

	Contents: The Dialectical Method of Nagarjuna
	Preface to the Fourth Edition	v
	Preface to the Third Edition	v
	Preface to the Second Edition	vi
	Preface to the First Edition	vi
	Part I
	Sanskrit Text in Devanagari Script	1
	Part II
	Sanskrit Text in Roman Script	33
	Preface	33
	Introduction	36
	The Vigrahavyavartani	42
	Index of Karikas	86
	Part III
	English Translation	89
	Introduction	89
	Translation and Notes	95
	Abbreviations and Bibliographical References	139
	Index of the Significant Nyaya Technical Terms Used in the Vigrahavyavartani	141
	Index of Uncommon Words	141
	Index of the Ancient Authorities Quoted in the Introduction and in the Notes	142