NÃÂgÃÂrjuna () () is considered one of the most important Buddhism philosophers. In some traditions, the name "NÃÂgÃÂrjuna" is known as an Indian metallurgist and alchemist in 10th-century.
There are conflicting traditions of Nagarjuna as a founder of the Mahayana sect of Buddhism, and Nagarjuna the alchemist. Chinese and Tibetan literature suggests NÃÂgÃÂrjuna was born in Vidarbha, and later migrated to the nearby Satavahana dynasty. One tradition is that rasasiddha Nagarjuna was born in Gujarat and was a Jain in his past life. He later travelled to various places in South India and established many laboratories. There are evidences found of his experimental laboratory in village Nagalwadi in Maharashtra state. According to some evidences he was working on immortality and knew the extraction of iron and mercury. There is much confusion about this author in the secondary literature. A 1984 study of manuscripts and printed editions connected with the alchemist NÃÂgÃÂrjuna found that his name is associated with a work titled Rasendramaá¹ gala but that the manuscripts of the RasaratnÃÂkara are uniformly ascribed to a different author, NityanÃÂtha Siddha.
Because many historical authors have written under the name NÃÂgÃÂrjuna, and many works on medicine and alchemy have been ascribed to this figure, scholars recommend distinguishing the alchemical NÃÂgÃÂrjuna from the second-century Buddhist philosopher of the same name. Manuscript works with the claimed authorship of NÃÂgÃÂrjuna include: Jëvasà «tra, Rasavaià Âeá¹£ikasà «tra, Yogaà Âataka, Kaká¹£apuá¹Âa, YogaratnamÃÂlàand several other works (Meulenbeld lists over fifty).
Traditional accounts hold that NÃÂgÃÂrjuna practiced ayurvedic alchemy (rasayÃÂna). KumÃÂrajëva's biography for example, describes NÃÂgÃÂrjuna making an elixir of invisibility, and Bus-ton, Taranatha and Xuanzang all recount that he could turn rocks into gold. The most recent comprehensive discussion of the complicated text-historical issues connected with the name NÃÂgÃÂrjuna is given in the History of Indian Medical Literature.