Everything about Nalanda totally explained
Nālandā is the name of an ancient
university in
Bihar,
India.
The site of Nalanda is located in the
Indian state of
Bihar, about 55 miles south east of
Patna, and was a
Buddhist center of learning from 427 CE to 1197 CE partly under the
Pala Empire. It has been called "one of the first great universities in recorded history." Nalanda is located at . Nālanda was identified by
Alexander Cunningham with the village of Baragaon.
Etymology
The name is a
Sanskrit word that means
giver of knowledge, (possibly from
nalam,
lotus, a symbol of knowledge and
da,
to give). The Chinese pilgrim-monk
Xuanzang gives several explanations of the name Nālandā. One is that it was named after the
Nāga who lived in a tank in the middle of the mango grove. Another - and accepted by him - is that
Shakyamuni Buddha once had his capital here and gave "alms without intermission," hence the name.
Nalanda in the time of the Buddha (500 BC)
The Buddha is mentioned as having several times stayed at Nalanda. When he visited Nalanda he'd usually reside in Pāvārika's mango grove, and while there he'd discussions with Upāli-Gahapati and Dīghatapassī, with Kevatta, and also several conversations with Asibandhakaputta.
The Buddha visited Nālandā during his last tour through
Magadha, and it was there that
Sariputta uttered his "lion's roar," affirming his faith in the Buddha, shortly before his death. The road from
Rājagaha to Nālandā passed through Ambalatthikā, and from Nālandā it went on to
Pātaligāma. Between Rājagaha and Nālandā was situated the
Bahuputta cetiya.
According to the
Kevatta Sutta, in the Buddha's time Nālandā was already an influential and prosperous town, thickly populated, though it wasn't until later that it became the centre of learning for which it afterwards became famous. There is a record in the
Samyutta Nikaya, of the town having been the victim of a severe famine during the Buddha's time.
Sāriputta, the right hand disciple of the Buddha, was born and died in Nālandā..
Mahavira is several times mentioned as staying at Nālandā, which was evidently a centre of activity of the
Jains.
Mahavira is believed to have attained
Moksha at
Pavapuri, which is located in Nalanda (also according to one sect of Jainism he was born in the nearby village called Kundalpur).
King
Asoka (250 BC) is said to have built a temple there.
Arising and establishment of Nalanda University
Historical studies indicate that the University of Nalanda was established 450 CE under the patronage of the Gupta emperors, notably
Kumaragupta. The
Tang Dynasty Chinese pilgrim
Xuanzang left detailed accounts of the university in the
7th century.
Curriculum
In an unattributed article of the
Dharma Fellowship (2005), the curriculum of Nalanda University at the time of
Mañjuśrīmitra contained:
...virtually the entire range of world knowledge then available. Courses were drawn from every field of learning, Buddhist and Hindu, sacred and secular, foreign and native. Students studied science, astronomy, medicine, and logic as diligently as they applied themselves to metaphysics, philosophy, Samkhya, Yoga-shastra, the Veda, and the scriptures of Buddhism. They studied foreign philosophy likewise.
Berzin (2002) outlines the 'four systems of Buddhist tenets' or 'four
doxographies' (Tibetan:
grub-mtha’) taught at Nalanda, the
Vaibhashika (Tibetan:
bye-brag smra-ba) and
Sautrantika (Tibetan:
mdo-sde-pa) of the
Sarvastivada (Tibetan:
thams-cad yod-par smra-ba); and the
Chittamatra (Sanskrit:
sems-tsam-pa) and
Madhyamaka (Tibetan:
dbu-ma-pa) of the
Mahayana:
In the Indian Mahayana Buddhist monasteries, such as Nalanda, monks studied four systems of Buddhist tenets. Two – Vaibhashika and Sautrantika – were subdivisions of the Sarvastivada school within Hinayana. The other two – Chittamatra and Madhyamaka – were subdivisions within Mahayana.
Influence on Buddhism
A vast amount of what is considered to be
Tibetan Buddhism (
Vajrayana) actually stems from the late (9th-12th century) Nalanda teachers and traditions. The scholar
Dharmakirti (circa 7th century), one of the Buddhist founders of Indian
philosophical logic, as well as and one of the primary theorists of
Buddhist atomism, taught at Nalanda.
Other forms of Buddhism, like the
Mahayana followed in
Vietnam,
China,
Korea and
Japan, found their genesis within the walls of the ancient university.
Also
Theravada Buddhism was taught at Nalanda University. But the teachings of Theravada were not developed further in Nalanda, as Nalanda wasn't a strong center of Theravada.
Decline and end
In
1193, the Nalanda University was sacked by
Bakhtiyar Khilji; this event is arguably seen by modern Brahiminist scholars as a milestone in the
decline of Buddhism in India. Legend has that the only thing Khilji asked was if there was a copy of the Koran at Nalanda before he sacked it. The Persian historian Minhaz, in his chronicle the
Tabaquat-I-Nasiri, reported that thousands of monks were burned alive and thousands beheaded, and the burning of the library continued for several months and "smoke from the burning manuscripts hung for days like a dark pall over the low hills.". When the Tibetan translator
Chag Lotsawa (
Chag Lo-tsa-ba, 1197 - 1264) visited the site in 1235, he found it damaged and looted, with a 90 year-old teacher, Rahula Shribhadra, instructing a class of about seventy students, apparently with the support of a local Brahmin..
Ahir considers the destruction of the temples, monasteries, centers of learning at Nalanda and northern India to be responsible for the demise of ancient Indian scientific thought in mathematics, astronomy, alchemy, and anatomy. Ling and Scott, however, point out that centres of learning were already declining, before the presence of Muslims.
On May 28, 2007, Merinews reported that the revived university's enrollment will be 1,137 in its first year, and 4,530 by the fifth. In the 'second phase', enrolment will reach 5,812.
On June 12, 2007, News Post India reported that the Japanese diplomat Noro Motoyasu said that "Japan will fund the setting up an international university in Nalanda in Bihar". The report goes on to say that "The proposed university will be fully residential, like the ancient seat of learning at Nalanda. In the first phase of the project, seven schools with 46 foreign faculty members and over 400 Indian academics would come up." ... "The university will impart courses in science, philosophy and spiritualism along with other subjects. A renowned international scholar will be its chancellor."
On August 15, 2007, The Times of India reported that Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has accepted the offer to join the revived Nalanda International University sometime in September 2007."
NDTV reported on May 5 2008 that, according to Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, The foundation of University would likely be in the year 2009 and the first teaching class could begin in a few years from then. Sen, who heads the Nalanda Mentor Group, said the final report in this regard, is expected to be presented to the East Asia Summit in December 2008.
On May 11, 2008, The Times of India reported that host nation India and a consortium of East Asian countries met in New York to further discuss Nalanda plans. It was decided that Nalanda would largely be a post-graduate research university, with the following schools: School of Buddhist studies, philosophy, and comparative religion; School of historical studies; School of International Relations and Peace; School of Business Management and Development; School of Languages and Literature; and, School of Ecology and Environmental Studies. The objective of the school was claimed to be "aimed at advancing the concept of an Asian community...and rediscovering old relationships."Further Information
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