Letter to a Friend

Nagarjuna, depicted in thangka by Shawo Thar, 2003

Letter to a Friend (Skt. Suhṛllekha; T. bshes pa'i spring yig བཤེས་པའི་སྤྲིང་ཡིག་; C. Longshu push quanjie wang song 龍樹菩薩勸誡王頌) is a commentary by the Indian pandit Nagarjuna written in the form of advice to a king; scholars speculate this may have been King Gautamiputra.^[1] This text belongs to Nagarjuna’s Collection of Advice.

Despite its short length, this text covers the whole Mahayana path with unusual clarity and memorable imagery; thus it is widely quoted by Tibetan Buddhist scholars in the many commentaries they have written on the Buddhist path.

The text provides advice for both householders and the ordained onto the path leading to liberation. The instructions are considered especially useful to those who wish to take up spiritual activity while continuing to live and work in society; they are meant to convey the whole meaning of the Dharma to the ordinary person in a language and style that are easy to understand.

Translations

Translations with commentary:

Nagarjuna and Lama Mipham, Golden Zephyr: Instructions from a Spiritual Friend, translated by Leslie Kawamura, Dharma Publishing, 1975
Nāgārjuna's Letter with Commentary by Venerable Rendawa Zhön-nu Lo-drö, translated by Geshe Lobsang Tharchin and Artemus B. Engle, Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, 1979
Nāgārjuna's Letter to King Gautamīputra, with Explanatory Notes Based on Tibetan Commentaries, tr. by Ven Lozang Jamspal, Ven. Ngawang Samten Chophel and Peter Della Santina, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1996
Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend: with Commentary by Kyabje Kangyur Rinpoche, Snow Lion Publications, translated by Padmakara Translation Group, 2006
Letter to a Friend: Nagarjuna's Classic Text, by Traleg Kyabgon, Shogam Publications (July 1, 2017)
Advice from a Spiritual Friend: A Commentary on Nagarjuna’s Letter to a Friend by Ven. Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche, Dharma Samudra (April 14, 2019)

Translations without commentary:

Letter to a Friend, StudyBuddhism (translation by Alexander Berzin)
Letter to a Friend by Arya Nagarjuna, Sakya center translation

Tibetan text

Sakya Library

Videos

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Selected videos:

Khandro Rinpoche's teachings on Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend

Description: Khandro Rinpoche's teachings on Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend
Vice and Virtue in Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend - Teaching by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Description: In this Teaching, His Holiness imparts his knowledge to Vidyaloke Shishyas on humanity's plight in the 21st Century, while also discussing the confluence of Eastern and Western modes of thought. He also elaborates on Buddhism as a spiritual science. His Holiness spoke on the Nalanda masters, their texts, Indian heritage and their relation to the Buddha’s teachings and Madhyamika philosophy.
Session 1 of Nagarjuna's 'Letter to a Friend' by Thrangu Rinpoche

Description: Session 1 of Nagarjuna's 'Letter to a Friend' by Thrangu Rinpoche