Aryadeva

Aryadeva is the principal disciple of Nagarjuna and second patriarch of Madhyamaka, whose Four Hundred Verses (Chatuhshataka) first weaponized emptiness for public debate.

Life

Tradition makes him a Sinhalese prince (Kanha? — of Ceylon’s royal line) who renounced the throne for Nalanda’s tradition and Nagarjuna’s teaching. The biographies — Tibetan and Chinese — surround him with debate legends: his defeat of the Brahmin Matrceta, his restoration of eyes he had won in controversy and then, warned of the karmic cost, given back. History knows him through his text’s citation and the commentaries it drew.

Teachings/Works

The Chatuhshataka’s sixteen chapters of 400 verses proceed through refutation of the passions, of permanence, of self — the first half for students, the second for opponents (the Brahmins’ Veda, the Sankhyas, the Vaisheshikas). Candrakirti’s commentary (Catuhshatakavritti? — in Tibetan tradition) made it central; the text’s practical turn — emptiness as medicine for attachment — is Aryadeva’s signature.

Legacy

Madhyamaka counts him its second voice after Nagarjuna; the Four Hundred Verses is core curriculum in Tibetan monasteries, and his name guards the lineage transmission in the Gelug and Sakya syllabi.

Verification notes

• His Ceylonese origin is traditional; dating follows Nagarjuna’s (c. 150–250 CE) with a generation’s offset.
• Audited against Wikipedia (September 2026).