Arya Nagarjuna received the Mahamudra transmission from Saraha and numerous other teachers.   Kapimala, a great meditation master, also taught Nagarjuna.  Nagarjuna was predicted by the Buddha Shakyamuni in the Lankavatara sutra:

“In Vedaili, in the southern part, a monk most illustrious and distinguished will be born; his name is Nagahvaya. He is the destroyer of one-sided views based on being and non-being.  He will declare my vehicle, the unsurpassed Mahayana, to the world; attaining the stage of Joy, live for over six hundred years and he will go to the Land of Bliss.”

Nagarjuna and his teachings are the forefront of Mahayana Buddhism. He is considered a patriarch in all the Mahayana schools.  He commentated on the Prajnaparamita Sutras, and elucidated the Middle Way rejecting all opposites and dualistic views.  He is credited with rediscovering the hidden treasures of the Buddha, which included the Prajna Paramita and Avatsamsaka Sutras. These sutras were under the protection of the nagas, serpent like dragons.

Nagarjuna also had many extraordinary abilities, such as changing ordinary phenomena into gold. He perfected longevity practice, thereby living for many centuries in India.