 Even though legendary accounts abound, very little can be said precisely about Nāgārjuna’s life. That Nāgārjuna was a Buddhist monk who lived some time between 150 and 250 CE, probably mainly in southern India is rarely disputed. If we want to go beyond these bare facts, however, intricate historical detective work is required. Some interesting connections have been discovered by this but they are of limited importance in the present context which is primarily aimed at providing information about Nāgārjuna’s philosophical works. The interested reader is referred to Mabbett 1998 and Walser 2005 for further discussion.