Reflections on Nāgārjuna’s “Two Truth Doctrine” (Saṃvṛti-Satya and Paramārtha-Satya)

Abstract

Based on an exegetical and hermeneutical reading of Nāgārjuna’s Mūlamādhyamaka-Kārikā, the article postulates that the entirety of the Buddha’s teachings  are peculiarly distinguished by the fact that they combine and articulate, in a unique manner, saṃvṛti-satya (conventional truth) e paramārtha-satya (supreme truth). In other words, the Buddha’s teachings constitute – and for that only they are defined as such – a re-orientation, a re-signification, a “subversion”, an expansion of the original meaning of saṃvṛti-satya, meant to suit the requirements of the meta-conceptual level of paramārtha-satya. Such a re-orientation constitutes an atypical, extraordinary, and unusual instrumentalization of saṃvṛti-satya, marked by a double fold dynamics: (i) it’s an instrumentalization aptly manipulated  by a being in the plenitude of self-realization (Buddha/bodhisattva) and (ii) an instrumentalization which constitutes itself a suitable adjustment to the specific soteriological requirements of the aspirants to nirvāṇa