By K K Khullar: Nalanda, like Rome, was not built in a day. It took several centuries to evolve, diversify and extend its civilising reach to the rest of the country and in distant lands.
In its existence of nearly a thousand years, while it kept the lamp of learning alive at home, the radiation of its scholarship shone in China, Japan, Malaysia, Java, Sumatra, Korea, Nepal and Tibet.
Originally a mango-grove called Pavarika in the village Bargaon in Bihar, the place is sanctified by the presence of Sakymuni himself when the Enlightened broke his journey to halt and rest at Nalanda, not once but several times. It is said that Mahavira spent fourteen rainy seasons there. Ashoka built a Vihara here and Harsha made it possible for thousand scholars to delve deep into a hundred disciplines everyday in its numerous halls and more numerous temples.
The eye-witness accounts that there were so many Viharas around Nalanda, Rajgriha and Vikramsila that the whole area was called Bihara which later changed into Bihar. How Nalanda Vihara became Nalanda University is a story of centuries of scholarship and culture in and around the main monastery. In other words Nalanda had a rich heritage as Vihara before it become an international centre of education and culture. In the words of Dr H D Sankalia, India’s foremost Nalanda expert: ‘Nalanda University’ in this respect was very fortunate. Unlike the medieval European Universities of Salerno, Bologn and Paris, the period that preceded the rise of Nalanda university was characterised by intellectual fervour/unknown to the history of any country’.
A study of the history of any advanced civilisation will reveal that every country had its ‘dark ages’ except India before the invasions in the 11th-12th centuries AD. It is true that even before the Afghan inroads and the Turkish invasions, the Greeks had over-run Punjab. So did the Hunas and the Yuechis. But they were all indianised. Instead of destroying our heritage these invasions enriched it. Nalanda had, therefore, an extremely rich and profound heritage to draw upon. In the words of the poet:
The east bowed low before the blast
In patient. deep disdain;
She let the legions thunder past
And plunged in thought again.
Yet the urge to freedom was irrestible, the desire to look beyond the present was always there. That was the spirit of Nalanda which always resisted the alien domination. That was the quest of Nalanda which stood for freedom in learning, freedom in thought, expression and action.
The heritage of Nalanda was two-folds, the non-Budhist and the Budhist. While the former included the Vedas, the Puranas, the later consisted of works such as ‘Vinay Pitaka’, ‘Dharampada’, ‘Abhidhamma’ and ‘Majhima Nikaya’. Besides there are excellent commentraies on Budhism by Nalanda scholars themselves such as Nagarujna, Maiteriya, Asanga, Vasubhandu and Dinnaga who defined and refined Budhism in its various facets and dispensations. Nalanda, therefore, honoured thought and men of thought in the best of Indian traditions.
Nalanda was a residential university like so many other residential universities in India such as Taxila, Ujjaini, Vallabhi, Vikramsila and Amravati. Yet it was a university with a difference. The Gate-keepers of Nalanda were scholars of highest repute well versed in their subject. They were drawn from the best in the country who examined the fresh entrants to the university at the Gate itself. This was a novel method of Entrance Examination which won the admiration of the whole world. All tests were oral and discussion was thought-provoking. Scholars waited for months, sometimes years, to be admitted there.
According to I-Tsing, the minimum age for admission in Nalanda was twenty years, ie those scholars who had already passed out from some other university and sought admission for higher knowledge. ‘For this reason’, says Sankalia, ‘we would consider Nalanda as a University of Universities, the Premier and the Pioneer National University of India’. Hiuen Tsang, the Chinese pilgrim, who came to Nalanda in the days of the Good King Harsha says: ‘Learned men from different cities who desire quickly to acquire renown in discussion came here in multitudes, to settle their doubts and the stream of their wisdom spread far and wide’. The Gate-Keepers of Nalanda were, in fact, the Gate-Keepers of India’s knowledge, its culture, its heritage. Any one was welcome for an open discussion on any aspect of religion philosophy, law and life.
To be admitted to this great centre of learning was a matter of great pride and prestige. Known for its many-sided learning it attracted students from far off lands. Although the subject of theology was compulsory, Nalanda was not a sectarian or a religious university in the narrow sense of the term, imparting only Budhist thought. Subjects other than Budhism were taught as fervently as those of the Budhists. Almost all sciences including the science of Medicine were taught. Upnishadas were taught. So were the Vedas. Panini’s Grammar was taught. The science of pronuciation (Phonetics) was included in the curricula. The science of etymology, Indology and Yoga were taught. Hiuen Tsang himself learnt Yogasastra at Nalanda from Jayasena. When King Harsha requested Shilabhadra to send four learned scholars to Orissa to win over the heretics, Hiuen Tasang was one of them. Surprisingly even archery was taught at Nalanda.
Hiuen Tsang, the Chinese pilgrim, who stayed in the university for 17 years, first as student and later as a professor under the Master Shilabhadra, has left a vivid account of the life at the monastery as well as at the university. He come to India via Gobi desert and entered Kashmir through the Himalayas.
When the king of Kashmir learnt that the Chinese scholar was nearing his kingdom, in spite of great distance, personally went to receive him and did not go back till he was fully satisfied with the arrangements made for the honoured pilgrim in respect of his stay, rest and meditation in Kashmir. In fact he was thus honoured throughout his journey in India till he reached Nalanda.
From Kashmir Hiuen Tsang travelled through Punjab and reached Kannauj and Ayodhia. In his book ‘Siyuki’ which he wrote on his return home, he says: ‘The king of Kannauj, Harshvardhana,’ is virtuous and patriotic, all people celebrate his praises in songs. Known throughout the empire as The Good King Harsha he was the ideal of the people.
‘With respect to the ordinary people’, he says: ‘although they are naturally light-minded, yet they are upright and honourable. In money matters they are without craft, and in administrative justice they are considerate. They are not deceitful or treacherous in their conduct and are faithful in their oaths and promises. In their rules of the Government, there is remarkable rectitude, whilest in their behaviour there is much gentleness and sweetness. As the administration of the Government is founded on benign principles the executive is simple. There is no forced labour. Criminals are few in number and only occasionally troublesome’.
At Ayodhia he met hundreds of priests and saw more than a hundred temples. Ashoka had built a stupa here where Sakyamuni delivered his sermon for three months. From Ayodhia he took a boat to river Ganga and proceeded to he kingdom of Hayamukha. Here something interesting happened and the boat was capised by pirates who wanted to make a sacrifice of him. The pilgrim remained composed and said: ‘If this poor and defiled body of mine is indeed suitable for the purpose of sacrifice you propose, I, in truth, dare not grudge the offering, but as my intention in coming to this great country from a distance land is to pay reverence to the image of Bodhi tree and Gridhurakuta Mountain, and to inquire into the character of the scared books of Dharma, and as that purpose has not been accomplished, if you, my noble benefactors, kill this body of mine, I fear it will bring you misfortune instead of good fortune’. Hearing this the robbers touched the hand of the Master and fell at his feet. ‘We dare not hurt the Master, we pray you accept our repentance. Since then they became followers of the Master.
From Ayodhia the pilgrim reached Prayag. After seeing the beauty of the holy city and after several baths in the Ganga, he proceeded to the kingdom of Kapilvastu from where he went to the kingdom of Magdha. ‘The people of Madha are learned and highly virtuous. There are several Sangharamas and ten thousand priests, mostly attached to the Great Vehicle.
About Patliputra he says: ‘When men’s lives wee of immeasurable lives were of immeasurable length, in old days, this town was called Kusumpura, because of king’s palace had so many flowers, it was s- called. Afterwards when men’s lives dwindled down to a few thousand years, then it was called Patliputra, after the Patali Tree ie the Trumpet Flower Tree. One hundred years after the Nirvana, there was a king called Ashoka, the great grandson of Bindiraja who transfered his court from Rajgriha to this place. Since then many generations have passed, and now nothing but the old foundations remain, and of several hundred convents, only two or three have survived’.
At Nalanda Hiuen Tsang was received at the Gate with a thousand lamps, his erudition and reputation having travelled faster than him. Here he studied and took the degree of the Master of Law and became the Vice-Principal of this great University. The head of the University at that time was called ‘Pandita’ and Shilabhadra occupied that position when the Chinese pilgrim became its honoured student. When Shilabhadra himself received Hiuen Tsang at the Nalanda Gate, it was the meeting of the two mighty minds of those times. In no time the new entrant became the most favourite student of Shilabhadra who sent him out not only with difficult assignments but also in long and perilous journeys as in Orissa, Kumarupa. And wherever he went he brought success.
The daily schedule at Nalanda was packed with rituals. The day began with call for the morning bath. According to I-Tsing who visited Nalanda later: ‘A ghanti is sounded to remind the priests of the bathing hour. Sometimes a hundred, sometimes a thousand priests leave the monastry together and proceed in all directions towards a number of great pools of water where all take a bath. It seems a morning bath was compulsory for every in-mate, atleast it was obligatory to do at the prescribed hour. After the bath ceremony was over, there used to another ‘ghanti’ for the ablution of the holy image of Budha followed by furnishing of heaps of flowers, offerings of incense. This was a fairly prolonged ritual accompanied by recitation of stators and singing of hymns. After prayers and meditation they had their meagre breakfast. Thereafter they went to their respective halls for discussion In the afternoon there was another ritual called ‘Caitya Vandana’ where assembled priests come out at the main Gate of the monastry and sing songs in praise of Sakyamuni. The evenings they go out, the night is meant for repose.
Knowledge of Sanskrit was essential for all entrants in spite of the fact that Sakyamuni delivered his sermons in Pali. Knowledge of Sanskrit meant complete mastery of Sanskrit grammar, Sanskrit literature, correct pronunciation. It may be recalled that Sanskrit was a perfect language from the beginning when the western world did not have even a proper alphabet. The first dictionary in the world was in Sanskrit with all the root-words. It is, therefore, not surprising that the knowledge ‘Shabdvidya’ of Sanskrit was a major qualification to enter the portals of the university. On the authority of Hiuen Tsang we can safely say that the entrants to Nalanda were supposed to be well-versed in ‘Beda’ ie Veda, Vedanta, Samakhya, Nyaya, Vaisesika. I-Tsing confirms it later.
The method of teaching at Nalanda was tutorial. Then there were discussions. Listening to the discussions was education at Nalanda. It is extraordinary that the discussions continued throughout the day and, indeed, the night. The Nalanda scholars were never tired of discussions, they welcomed them. Hieun Tsang was deeply impressed with the Nalanda discipline. In its existence of about 700 years at the time of his visit, there was not a single case of any strike or disburance, even commotion (Except the intellectual commotion) at the University. Besides there were discourses open to all where all subjects from life to death were discussed. According to I-Tsing: ‘They arrange every day about hundred pulpits for preaching, and the students attend these discourses without fail, even for a minute. There was no writing work for Nalanda scholars except the copying of manuscripts and texts. It may be recalled that both Hiuen Tsang and I-Tsing carried huge loads of such texts to China.
The Gate-Examination was very tough from all accounts. Seven or eight schools out of every ten were unsuccessful. So the scholars came to the Nalanda Gates again and again, till they were selected. It must have been an extra-ordinary spectacle to see scholars from all parts of the world assemble at Nalanda for admission. Merit alone was the criteria, even the Vice-Chancellor had no discretion. There are instances where scholars known to royal families were rejected in spite of the fact that Nalanda finances were met from royal grants of villages, sometimes the revenues of several villages were set aside for studies in Nalanda, the maintainence of its hostels, the administration of its temples and Viharas.
Nalanda was an example of Guru-Shishiya Parampara. The authority of the Guru was absolute and yet dissent was permitted in academic matters.
The tradition, although thousands of years old, flowered and flourished at Nalanda more than in any other university in India.
That was Nalanda which took 14 centures to build but only 14 hours to destroy. When Bakhtiar Khilji raied it to the ground, the Nalanda Bhikhus begged him to spare atleast its library which contained hundreds and thousands of rare manuscripts on all religions. The Muslim invader kicked the monks in the belly and burnt the alongwith the books.
But spirit of Nalanda remained alive. Like a phoenix it rose from its ashes to enlighten the dark world. Nalanda was not a sectrain institution, it was secular university where all religion were taught and practised. It backons all Indians and foreigners to come and join in its efforts for international peace and learning.
Nalanda is not a mere university, its a concept which later Swami Vivekananda developed into the man-made Vedic religion, also known as Vedanta. (PTI Feature)
--- PTI
