Letter to a Friend
Letter to a Friend (Skt. Suhṛllekha; Tib. བཤེས་པའི་སྤྲིང་ཡིག་, shepé tring yik, Wyl. bshes pa'i spring yig) is a commentary by the Indian pandit Nagarjuna written in the form of advice to his friend King Gautamiputra/Satavahana. This text belongs to Nagarjuna’s Collection of Advice.
Despite its short length (only 123 verses), 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.
Tibetan Text
Translations
English
- 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
- Template:SB citation (translation by Alexander Berzin)
- Letter to a Friend by Arya Nagarjuna, Sakya center translation
- 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 Friendby Ven. Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche, Dharma Samudra (April 14, 2019)
German
- Suhṛllekha: Brief des Nāgārjuna an König Udayana / aus dem Tibetischen übersetzt von H. Wenzel. - Leipzig : Voss' Sortiment, 1886 Available for free download here
Videos
External Links
- Template:SB citation (translated by Alexander Berzin)
- Template:RW citation
- Karmapa's teaching on Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend