369 pages : 24 cm; 1. Locating Mahayana -- 2. Locating Nagarjuna -- 3. Mahayana and the constraints of monastic law -- 4. Mahayana sutras as monastic property -- 5. On the parasitic strategies of Mahayana -- 6. Abhidharma and sectarian identity -- 7. Nagarjuna and the Abhidharma -- Conclusion : toward the outline of a career -- App. The authorship of the Ratnavali.; "Nagarjuna, one of India's greatest philosophers, is the most influential thinker in the Mahayana Buddhist tradition. While his philosophy has been the subject of numerous studies and translations, Joseph Walser provides the first examination of Nagarjuna's life and writings within the social, religious, and institutional contexts of the early history of Buddhism." "In addition to his analysis of Nagarjuna's writings, Walser explores a range of Buddhist and non-Buddhist sources, as well as art historical and epigraphic evidence to offer a creative and original contribution to the understanding of Nagarjuna and the early history of Buddhism."--Jacket.; 

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