Nāgārjuna, Condition, and Deconstruction

Reading Nāgārjuna’s “Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way” #9

I would like to continue my commentary on Nāgārjuna’s Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way. As a reminder, you can find the previous posts here: Articles on Nāgārjuna.

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Sanskrit

anārambaṇa evāyaṃ san dharma upadiśyate |
athānārambaṇe dharme kuta ārambaṇaṃ punaḥ ||

Chinese (by Kumārajīva)

如諸佛所說 真實微妙法
於此無緣法 云何有緣緣

English (my tentative translation from the Sanskrit)

Without being an object, the entity is indeed taught. And if the entity is not an object, how can there again be an object?

Commentary

Nāgārjuna poses a question about the nature of entity (dharma). His reasoning is simple. Any entity is considered to have no intrinsic nature. If an entity is taken as an object of thought, it is impossible to grasp it perfectly.

Nāgārjuna’s argument is not to deny the existence of entities, but to critique our conceptualizations of entities as fixed and obvious. He attempts to deconstruct the categories and assumptions that underlie our perceptions of reality.

The Chinese notes:

As the Buddhas have taught, the true and subtle entity, regarding this entity without conditions, how can there be an object condition?

I explained the terminology used in more detail in a previous post:

Nāgārjuna’s Four Conditions

I have nothing to add here, so let’s look at the next verses.

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Sanskrit

anutpanneṣu dharmeṣu nirodho nopapadyate |
nānantaram ato yuktaṃ niruddhe pratyayaś ca kaḥ ||

Chinese (by Kumārajīva)

果若未生時 則不應有滅
滅法何能緣 故無次第緣

English (my tentative translation from the Sanskrit)

In entities that have not arisen, cessation does not occur. Since there is no continuity, how can there be a condition in cessation?

Commentary

This is a very common argument made by Nāgārjuna. There is neither an entity that is born nor an entity that is destroyed. If there is no such continuum, then there are no conditions under which the destruction of anything occurs.

The Chinese notes:

If the effect has not arisen, then it should not have cessation. How can the entity that ceases have an effective condition? Therefore, there is no sequential condition.

Philosophical Meaning