Pingala ［青目・賓伽羅］ (n.d.) (;  Shōmoku or Bingara): An Indian scholar of the Mādhyamika school who lived from the late third through the early fourth century and a commentator on Nāgārjuna’s Madhyamaka-kārikā, or Verses on the Middle Way. The Madhyamaka-kārikā was regarded as the principal work of the Mādhyamika (Middle Way) school, and Pingala’s commentary on it was one of a number written by Mādhyamika scholars. Though the Sanskrit original is not extant, a Chinese translation titled The Treatise on the Middle Way exists. The Treatise on the Middle Way, translated by Kumārajīva in 409, consists of Nāgārjuna’s Verses on the Middle Way and Pingala’s prose commentary on these verses. The study of Verses on the Middle Way in China and Japan developed on the basis of Pingala’s commentary.