Ancient Nalanda University
Ancient Nalanda University is one of the centres of learning in ancient India. Students all over the world came to Nalanda in search of higher knowledge. It is regarded as the first University in the recorded history of the world. The University of Paris, Bologna and Oxford were much recent and were founded in the 12th Century after the destruction of Nalanda.
Naalanda was probably founded in 230 B.C. E, as a Buddhist monastery in Asoka’s reign. It was the time when Buddhist monks travelled across India determined to provide religious education to the masses. During the rainy season, they had to take shelter in protected places. They also needed a place for meditation, study and discussion. Caves gave them this shelter. These caves eventually grew into Viharas. The viharas became the places of education. In contrast to the oral tradition of learning as attentive listening, memorizing and reproducing Viharas stressed writing and literary education. They taught the alphabet to the children of seven years. Unlike Brahmin Gurukulas, Buddhist Viharas opened doors of education to all, irrespective of caste.
Prof. S.K.Ramachandra Rao, says that there was a considerable difference between Gurukulas and Viharas of Buddhists. Gurukuls were run by a single Guru. The students lived in the Guru’s home. They were constantly in personal contact with the Guru. The education was not secular and was to teach Vedas and other Hindu scriptures. Whereas Viharas were the places in which Gurus and students lived for one particular cause, i.e.learning. Viharas had many Gurus. These Gurus were monks and therefore they did not have any personal contact with their students. The Viharas provided a secular education and taught weaving, spinning, tailoring etc. on large scale.
As Buddhism became more and more popular, more and more viharas were opened and many became educated. As many became educated the thirst for higher knowledge increased. This resulted in big Universities near towns and cities. These Universities became the seats of higher knowledge. Students from all over the world like China, Mongolia, Java, Greece, Persia, Korea and Sri Lanka visited India in pursuit of higher knowledge.
Nalanda, which was only a Buddhist Monastery, might have reached the state of University in 415 C.E. by Kumara Gupta the first. Students all over the world came to Nalanda in search of higher knowledge. Among them were the Chinese pilgrims Hiuen Tsang and I-Tsing. The purpose of their visit was to collect the Buddhist Manuscripts. Hiuen Tsang travelled to India for 17 years and lived in Nalanda for three years. I-Tsing studied in Nalanda for 10 years.
Hiuen Tsang vividly describes the admission procedure in Nalanda. He says that it was not easy to get admission to Nalanda. The students who wanted admission to the university had to answer the questions of the Dwarapala. The questions were so tough that only one or two out of ten were able to get admission. The minimum age of admission was 20 years. There were 10,000 students and 2000 teachers in Nalanda. It was completely a residential university. The education, accommodation, food was free for all the students and teachers. There were 6 halls and 300 dormitories. The Nalanda was maintained by 200 villages given by the Kings.
The medium of instruction was Pali. The education was mainly through lectures and discussions. The subjects offered were works of the Mahayana sect, Vedas, Hetuvidya, Sabdavidya, Chiktsavidya, Sankya and Adhyatmavidya. He talks about three ranks of teachers. The first rank of teachers were those who had mastered 50 sutras and Shastras. H iune Tsang was one of them. The second rank teachers were those who had mastered 30 sutras and rank three were those who had mastered 20 sutras and shastras. He talks about Sheelabhadra who was the Vice-Chancellor could recite all sutras and shastras. Ancient Nalanda was basically a research centre.
The library of Nalanda was called Dharma Ganj, meaning Mountain of Truth. It consisted of three main buildings of nine stories. They were called Ratnasagara, Ratnodadhi and Ratnaranjka. There were hundreds and thousands of books in the library, in a time when there were no printers. Hiuen Tsang copied 500 manuscripts while I –Tsing copied 400 manuscripts during their stay at Nalanda. They carried all these manuscripts while returning to China on twenty horses each.
Such an institution came to an end by the invasion of Bhaktiya Khilji in 1193 C.E. Nalanda was burnt to ashes and the monks and students were slaughtered. Minhaj –I-Siraj a Persian Historian says that the smoke from the burning manuscripts hung for days like a dark pall over the low hills. At present Naalanda stands majestically amidst the ruins as proof of our rich cultur[i]e in Bihar. After Nalanda no University was established, no ruler was interested in learning.
Dr Abdul Kalam a great scholar raised the idea of reviving Nalanda University. This motivated scholars around the world to join in the endeavour of rebuilding the ancient legacy. A mentor group of eleven members comprising the Nobel Laureate Amartya sen has been formed. They have thought of forming a new university in the name of Nalanda International University, which is basically a post-graduate residential university catering to different disciplines. it is a billion-dollar project with six schools one of them in Delhi, a highly equipped university for the study of science, philosophy, mathematics, management, spiritualism, Buddhist subjects and language and literature. Nalanda International University rises from the ashes as a phoenix in 2010.
Let us protect the light lighted
Reference
- “Cultural History of India” Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Ancient Indian Education: Brahmanical and Buddhist” By Radhakumud Mookerji
- “Education Through Ages” by Dr. Jyotsna Kamat
- “The memories of Chinese Buddhist Scholars in connection with Nalanda Monastic International University in India in the 7th century AD” by R.H.I.S.Ranasinghe, Sri Lanka.
- “Hiouen-Tsang in India” by J. Barthelemy Sanit-Hilaire
- “The teaching of Buddha” by Prof. S.K.Ramachandra Rao
- CNN and ND, TV News Channels
- Times of India News Paper