response to remarks by dalai lama on abc news

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Note on Rev. 2: Text added as shown in teal color

RESPONSE TO OFF‐HANDED REMARKS BY DALAI LAMA ON ABC NEWS

By Han Maung Initial Publication: April 24, 2013

http://abcnews.go.com/International/dalai‐lama‐pleads‐myanmar‐monks‐end‐violence‐amid/story?id=19013148#.UXiAxMrSyHc The following is my response to ABC News report prepared by Muhammad Lila on April 22, 2013. The esteemed Dalai Lama was bushwhacked into making an offhanded comment by none other than MUHAMMAD LILA of ABC News. Though, all that the Dalai Lama said was "All the major religions teach us the practice of love, compassion and forgiveness. So a genuine practitioner among these different religious traditions would not indulge in such violence and bullying of other people." It was written up in the ABC News report as if it was a “message” for the monks in Myanmar to end violence, forgetting the fact the monks have no hand in it at all. This report was a propaganda piece to justify the false claims being propagated by the Muslims around the world. The Dalai Lama was only making a case for universal love, compassion and forgiveness. However, can any Islamic leader officially state that Islam teaches universal love, compassion and forgiveness irrespective whether the other person in muslim or non‐muslim and whether men or women? If so, will Saudi Arabia and other Sharia muslim countries change their laws to allow non‐muslim to practice their religion in public and without fear of being beheaded? Even if Dalai Lama had intended his remarks for the monks, we need to examine it carefully. After all, Dalai Lama had always quoted "My followers should not accept my teachings out of faith and devotion, but after investigation and experimentation.'” Again, according to Dalai Lama “The so‐called ‘Tibetan Buddhism’, has entirely been borrowed from India, more precisely from Nalanda.” Nalanda, in the ancient Magadha country, was a place visited by the Buddha and Lord Mahavira several times. It is the home town of Ven. Sariputra; and where King Asoka, one of India's greatest emperors, had erected a Stupa at the spot where he was cremated. However, history revealed genocide had occurred at Nalanda and where once there was a great Buddhist university, and now none of these great universities exist. These were the earliest universities in the world, predating Oxford and Cambridge, not only devoted to religion but also to sciences and mathematics and attracted scholars and students from as far

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away as Tibet, China, Greece, and Persia. The residential Nalanda University had up to 30,000 students but it was totally destroyed and burned down by Muslim invaders under a small but barbaric army led by Bakhtiyar Khalji in 1193. The university was so large that it took over three months to burn. Instead of taking arms or conversion to Islam, the Buddhists opted to be slain by the invaders and thousands were burned alive. The brightest and the best minds of the time and countless books were lost, and the country side was laid to waste. Similarly, Buddhism that was once a predominant religion in countries as far as Afghanistan, Maldives, India, Indonesia have completely disappeared due to relentless attacks by barbaric Islamic forces and the pacifist nature of Buddhism. By comparison, the damage to Tibet by communist China was far less than those inflicted by the barbaric Islamic forces. Let us also examine the case of Tibet, which was once an independent country headed by the Dalai Lama, and now a part of China. The Dalai Lama, with his vast wisdom and compassion was unable to stop the Chinese annexation of Tibet. He and his retinue of followers with the help of US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had to flee Tibet and are currently living in exile in Dharamshala, India, with very little hope of returning to their ancestral homeland. If Myanmar or other Buddhist countries were to follow the Tibetan way against foreign infiltration and invasion or violence by an alien barbaric culture, the indigenous Buddhist people in those countries would either become refugees in a third country or be annihilated as in the case of Nalanda. Buddhism can only exist if the other party is willing to reason and discuss. Like Bakhtiyar Khalji who issued a Fatwah to annihilate Buddhists, according to Muslim Sharia law, Buddhists are non‐believers and it is the duty of all muslims to kill them. Hence, in Rakhine state in 2012, the riot was caused after several muslim men raped, sodomized and murdered a young Buddhist girl. Similarly, in Meikhtila 2013, the violence started after an innocent Buddhist monk who was riding behind a motorcycle through the muslim part of the town was hacked, dragged alive ‐ INTO a MOSQUE ‐ and tortured, brutalized, burned and executed by a bunch of muslim men; while the rest of the towns people cheered on. Thus, all violence and assault in Myanmar were initiated by the muslims, and if the Buddhists lay people had not been the majority and willing to take up arms, it would be akin to suicide and they would have suffered the same fate as the Nalanda University. When needed, even Asoka “The Great” was not absolutely non‐violent after his conversion to Buddhism. Therefore, I am sad to inform the esteemed Dalai Lama, per your own guidance, your off handed remarks if intended to the monks in Myanmar, have been tested and found wanting. LET NOT THE HISTORY OF NALANDA REPEAT ITSELF AGAIN.

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Instead, please help form an international organization of predominantly Buddhist nations such as ASSOCIATION OF BUDDHIST NATIONS (ABC) or ORGANIZATION OF BUDDHIST NATIONS (OBN) (starting with Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Bhutan, Japan and Mongolia) not only to counter the threat from Muslim fundamentalism and other forms of terrorism but also to have a united voice in world affairs. The question regarding China and Tibet will need to be sorted out. Countries with minority Buddhist population can be admitted on observer status on a case by case basis. FINALLY, ALL BUDDHISTS MUST “REMEMBER NALANDA” AND PLEDGE “NEVER AGAIN”

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LIST OF ATTACHMENTS

A ABC New Report (2 pages)

B Nalanda Wikipedia (12pages)

C Nalanda The Pursuit of Science (3 pages)

D The last lesson at Nalanda (2 pages)

E The Six Buddhist Universities of Ancient India (7 pages)

Prior to invasion by the barbaric Islamic forces the PĀLA EMPIRE was an Indian imperial power,

during the Classical period of India, that existed from 750–1174 CE. It was ruled by a Buddhist

dynasty from Bengal in the eastern region of the Indian subcontinent, all the rulers bearing names

ending with the suffix Pala (Modern Bengali: পাল pāl), which means protector.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pala_Empire

http://abcnews.go.com/International/dalai-lama-pleads-myanmar-monks-end-violence-amid/story?id=19013148#.UXkrs0rhdx5

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Dalai Lama Pleads for Myanmar Monks to End Violence Amid Damning RightsReportBy MUHAMMAD LILADHARAMSALA, India, April 22, 2013— abcnews.go.com

The Dalai Lama Condemns the Buddhist-Led Violence in Myanmar

Amid a damning new report showing official Myanmar complicity in ethnically cleansing entire Muslim towns andvillages, the world's foremost Buddhist leader has a message to the Buddhist monks accused of spearheading theviolence.

Please stop.

The recent remarks, made by the Dalai Lama during an exclusive interview with ABC News from his home-in-exilein Dharamsala, India, represent his most public condemnation of the Buddhist-led violence that has left hundredsdead and an estimated hundreds of thousands homeless.

"It's very sad," the Dalai Lama said.

"All the major religions teach us the practice of love, compassion and forgiveness. So a genuine practitioner amongthese different religious traditions would not indulge in such violence and bullying of other people."

When asked what he would say if he could speak directly with Buddhist monks in Myanmar, who stand accused ofexhorting followers to attack Myanmar's minority Muslims, the Tibetan leader made a personal plea.

"We are religious people," he said earlier this month, gesturing to his Saffron colored robes.

"Buddha always teaches us about forgiveness, tolerance, compassion.

"If from one corner of your mind, some emotion makes you want to hit, or want to kill, then please rememberBuddha's faith. We are followers of Buddha."

It's unclear how much weight the Dalai Lama's words will carry in violence-stricken areas of Myanmar (formerlyknown as Burma), where a new report accuses Buddhist monks, political party operatives, and ordinary Myanmarresidents of committing brutal acts of violence against the country's tiny Rohingya minority.

The report, issued by Human Rights Watch, shows a pre-planned pattern of violence in the Southeast Asian country,including entire villages razed to the ground and the bodies of men, women and children buried in mass graves, somewith their hands bound behind their backs. In another village, 70 people, including 28 children, were allegedlyhacked to death.

It's unclear whether Myanmar has responded to the report.

The violence, which began during the summer of 2012 as a series of small skirmishes between Buddhists andMuslims in central Myanmar, has spread considerably. Nearly all the violence has been directed toward Myanmar'sminority Rohingya Muslims, a small ethnic group that represents no more than 3 to 5 percent of Myanmar's totalpopulation.

The Myanmar government classifies the Rohingyas as Bangladeshi immigrants, denying them official citizenship.Burmese laws prevent them from travelling without permission and owning land.

Recent satellite photos released by Human Rights Watch show a huge scale of destruction: During a three-day periodin March, more than 800 buildings in a single Burmese village, mostly in Rohingya neighborhoods, were completelydestroyed.

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Several residences were also reduced to ash, suggesting arson as a widespread tactic. Many of those who fled nowlive in overcrowded camps where they lack sufficient access to water, food, shelter and medicine.

Human Rights Watch accuses Burmese authorities of turning a blind eye, and in some cases participating in theviolence. It accuses the government of "systematically restricting humanitarian aid" and "imposing discriminatorypolicies" on its Muslim minority, warning of a humanitarian crisis if the violence isn't brought to an end.

During his interview with ABC News, the Dalai Lama's tone and mood noticeably changed when the issue ofMyanmar's ongoing violence was raised. While parts of the interview were jovial and filled with laughter, the DalaiLama's tone became slow and somber when discussing Buddhist violence.

"We're in the 21st century" the Dalai Lama, 77, said.

"All problems must be solved through dialogue, through talk. The use of violence is outdated, and never solvesproblems."

Born Tenzin Gyatso in China's Qinghai province in 1935, the Dalai Lama has millions of followers spread primarilythroughout China, Mongolia, India and the Himalayan mountain range. He does not have official contact withBurmese authorities, and unlike other religious leaders, does not have the power to issue an edict, or fatwa,demanding the violence come to an end.

Tibetan Buddhism flows from the Theravada school of Buddhism, the same denomination that is widely practiced inMyanmar, Thailand and much of Southeast Asia, though many of the rituals are different.

The Dalai Lama revealed that at the outset of the violence, he had spoken directly to Burmese pro-democracy activistand Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Ski, asking her to intervene to help quell the violence.

Suu Kyi has been harshly criticized for failing to speak out on behalf of the Rohingyas. In April, critics pouncedafter she told a conference in Japan, "we must learn to accommodate those with different views from ours," sayingthe words amounted to lip service that were, in effect, too little too late.

Despite the criticism, the Dalai Lama remains hopeful that Suu Kyi can still intervene to solve the crisis.

"As a fellow Nobel laureate, I'm quite sure that behind the scenes, she can help," he said.

"I'm quite sure."

Copyright © 2013 ABC News Internet Ventures

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Nalandaनालदा

— city —

Ruins of Nalanda University

Coordinates: 25.1367959°N 85.4438281°E

Country India

State Bihar

District Nalanda

Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)

PIN 803115

Telephone code +91-6112

Vehicle registration BR 21

Nearest city Rajgir

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nālandā was an ancient center of higher

learning in Bihar, India.[1] The site is locatedabout 88 kilometres south east of Patna, andwas a religious center of learning from the

fifth century CE to 1197 CE.[2][3] Nalandaflourished between the reign of the Śakrāditya(whose identity is uncertain and who mighthave been either Kumara Gupta I or KumaraGupta II) and 1197 CE, supported bypatronage from the Hindu Gupta rulers aswell as Buddhist emperors like Harsha and

later emperors from the Pala Empire.[4]

The complex was built with red bricks and itsruins occupy an area of 14 hectares. At itspeak, the university attracted scholars andstudents from as far away as Tibet, China,

Greece, and Persia.[5] Nalanda was ransackedand destroyed by an army under BakhtiyarKhilji in 1193. The great library of NalandaUniversity was so vast that it is reported tohave burned for three months after theinvaders set fire to it, ransacked anddestroyed the monasteries, and drove themonks from the site. In 2006, Singapore,China, India, Japan, and other nations,announced a proposed plan to restore andrevive the ancient site as NalandaInternational University.

1 Etymology2 History

2.1 History of the university andthe Gupta heyday2.2 Nalanda in the Pāla era2.3 Decline and end

Coordinates: 25.1367959°N 85.4438281°E

Nalanda

Nalanda - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nalanda

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Lok Sabha constituency Nalanda

Vidhan Sabha constituency Nalanda

Replica of the seal of

Nalanda University set in

terracotta on display in the

ASI Museum in Nalanda

3 Overview3.1 Libraries3.2 Curriculum3.3 Influence on Buddhism

4 Excavations5 Ruins6 Plans for revival7 Institutions8 Railway Station9 In popular culture10 See also11 References12 Further reading13 External links

The Chinese pilgrim-monk Xuanzang[6] gives several explanations of the name Nālandā. One isthat it was named after the Nāga who lived in a tank in the middle of the mango grove. Another, theone he accepted, is that Shakyamuni Buddha once had his capital here and gave "alms withoutintermission", hence the name.

Śāriputra died at the village called 'Nalaka,' which is also identified as Nalanda by many scholars.[citation needed]

Some historical studies suggest that the University of Nalanda wasestablished during the reign of a king called Śakrāditya, of the

Gupta Dynasty.[7] Both Xuanzang and Prajñavarman cite him as

the founder, as does a seal discovered at the site.[4]

As historian Sukumar Dutt describes it, the history of Nalandauniversity "falls into two main divisions—first, one of growth,development and fruition from the sixth century to the ninth, whenit was dominated by the liberal cultural traditions inherited fromthe Gupta age; the second, one of gradual decline and finaldissolution from the ninth century to the thirteen—a period whenthe tantric developments of Buddhism became most pronounced in


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eastern India."[8]???

A number of monasteries grew up during the Pāla period in ancient Bengal and Magadha.According to Tibetan sources, five great Mahaviharas stood out: Vikramashila, the premieruniversity of the era; Nalanda, past its prime but still illustrious, Somapura, Odantapurā, and

Jaggadala.[9] The five monasteries formed a network; "all of them were under state supervision" andthere existed "a system of co-ordination among them . . it seems from the evidence that the differentseats of Buddhist learning that functioned in eastern India under the Pāla were regarded together asforming a network, an interlinked group of institutions," and it was common for great scholars to

move easily from position to position among them.[10]

During the Pālā period, the Nālānda was less singularly outstanding, as other Pāla establishments"must have drawn away a number of learned monks from Nālānda when all of them . . came under

the aegis of the Pālās."[8]

Evidence in literature suggests that in 1193, the Nalanda University was sacked by[11] the fanatic

Bakhtiyar Khilji, a Turk.[12] Muslim conquest in India is seen by scholars as one of the reasons ofthe decline of Buddhism in India. The Persian historian Minhaj-i-Siraj, in his chronicle theTabaqat-I-Nasiri, reported that thousands of monks were burned alive and thousands beheaded as

Khilji tried his best to uproot Buddhism[13] 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."[14]

The last throne-holder of Nalanda, Shakyashribhadra, fled to Tibet in 1204 CE at the invitation ofthe Tibetan translator Tropu Lotsawa (Khro-phu Lo-tsa-ba Byams-pa dpal). In Tibet, he started anordination lineage of the Mulasarvastivadin lineage to complement the two existing ones.

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 70 students.[15][16] During Chag Lotsawa's time there an incursion by Turkish soldierscaused the remaining students to flee. Despite all this, "remnants of the debilitated Buddhistcommunity continued to struggle on under scarce resources until c. 1400 CE when Chagalaraja was

reportedly the last king to have patronized Nalanda."[17]

Ahir considers the destruction of the temples, monasteries, centres of learning at Nalanda andnorthern India to be responsible for the demise of ancient Indian scientific thought in mathematics,

astronomy, alchemy, and anatomy.[18]


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Pilgrimage to

Buddha'sHoly Sites

The Four Main Sites

Lumbini · Bodh Gaya

Sarnath · Kushinagar

Four Additional Sites

Sravasti · Rajgir

Sankissa · Vaishali

Other Sites

Pataliputra · Gaya · Kosambi

Kapilavastu · Devadaha

Kesariya · Pava

Nalanda · Varanasi

Later Sites

Sanchi · Mathura

Ellora · Ajanta · Vikramshila

Ratnagiri · Udayagiri · Lalitgiri

Bharhut · Barabar Caves

view · talk · edit (//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:BuddhasHolySites&action=edit)

Nalanda wasone of theworld's firstresidentialuniversities,i.e., it haddormitoriesfor students.It is also oneof the mostfamousuniversities.In its heyday,it

accommodated over 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers. The university was considered anarchitectural masterpiece, and was marked by a lofty wall and one gate. Nalanda had eight separatecompounds and ten temples, along with many other meditation halls and classrooms. On thegrounds were lakes and parks. The library was located in a nine storied building where meticulouscopies of texts were produced. The subjects taught at Nalanda University covered every field oflearning, and it attracted pupils and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and

Turkey.[3] During the period of Harsha, the monastery is reported to have owned 200 villages givenas grants.

The Tang Dynasty Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang left detailed accounts of the university in the 7thcentury. He described how the regularly laid-out towers, forest of pavilions, harmikas and templesseemed to "soar above the mists in the sky" so that from their cells the monks "might witness the

birth of the winds and clouds."[19] The pilgrim states: "An azure pool winds around themonasteries, adorned with the full-blown cups of the blue lotus; the dazzling red flowers of thelovely kanaka hang here and there, and outside groves of mango trees offer the inhabitants their


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dense and protective shade."[20]

The entrance of many of the viharas in the Nalanda University ruins can be seen with a bow markedfloor; the bow was the royal sign of the Guptas.

Structure The library at Nalanda University was an immense complex. Called the Dharmaganja, orPiety Mart, it was separated into three large buildings: the Ratnasagara, the Ratnadadhi, and theRatnaranjaka. The Ratnadadhi, meaning the Ocean of Gems, was nine stories high and housed the

most sacred manuscripts including the Prajnaparamita Sutra and the Samajguhya.[21] The towers

were supposedly immense, bejewelled and gilded to reflect the rays of the sun.[22] According tothe Bhaskara Samhita, an ancient text on organizational practices, the library was to be built in a“finely built stone building” and each manuscript would have been placed on iron shelves or stackand covered with cloth and tied up. Furthermore, the librarian in charge, according to the text, was

not only responsible for maintaining the materials but also for guiding readers in their studies[23]

The exact number of volumes of the Nalanda University Library is not known but it is estimated to

have been in the hundreds of thousands.[24] The library not only collected religious manuscriptsbut also had texts on such subjects as grammar, logic, literature, astrology, astronomy, and

medicine[25]

Classification It is clear that Nalanda University library had a classification scheme[26] which was

possibly based on a text classification scheme developed by the great Sanskrit linguist Panini.[27]

Buddhists texts were most likely divided in three classes based on the Tripitaka’s three main

divisions: the Vinaya, Sutra, and the Abhidamma.[28] Like most other Indian ancient and medievalperiod libraries, Nalanda would have used a basic catalogue to help patrons find materials. Thisbibliography, or Anukamanikas, would have listed the books by hymns, authors, form of sutras,

Rishi’s name, and the hymnal metre.[29]

Destruction The library was destroyed in 1197–1203 during the Muslim invasion in which

Bakhtiyar Khalji sacked it and set it to flames.[30] According to Tibetan legend, the university andlibrary were reportedly repaired shortly after by Muditabhadra, a Buddhist sage. Unfortunately, the

library was again burned by Tirthaka medicants.[31]

In nalanda university,the Tibetan tradition holds that there were "four doxographies" (Tibetan:

grub-mtha’) which were taught at Nālandā, and Alexander Berzin specifies these as:[32]

Sarvāstivāda Vaibhāṣika1.Sarvāstivāda Sautrāntika2.Mādhyamaka, the Mahāyāna philosophy of Nāgārjuna3.


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Cittamatra, the Mahāyāna philosophy of Asaṅga and Vasubandhu4.

According to an unattributed article of the Dharma Fellowship (2005), the curriculum of NalandaUniversity at the time of Mañjuśrīmitra contained:

...virtually the entire range of world knowledge then available. Courses were drawn fromevery field of learning, Buddhist and Hindu, sacred and secular, foreign and native.Students studied science, astronomy, medicine, and logic as diligently as they appliedthemselves to metaphysics, philosophy, Samkhya, Yoga-shastra, the Veda, and thescriptures of Buddhism. They studied foreign philosophy likewise.

In the 7th century, Xuanzang records the number of teachers at Nālandā as being around 1510.[33]

Of these, approximately 1000 were able to explain 20 collections of sūtras and śāstras, 500 were

able to explain 30 collections, and only 10 teachers were able to explain 50 collections.[33]

Xuanzang was among the few who were able to explain 50 collections or more.[33] At this time,

only the abbot Śīlabhadra had studied all the major collections of sūtras and śāstras at Nālandā.[33]

Yijing wrote that matters of discussion and administration at Nālandā would require assembly and

consensus on decisions by all those at the assembly, as well as resident monks:[34]

If the monks had some business, they would assemble to discuss the matter. Then theyordered the officer, Vihārapāla, to circulate and report the matter to the resident monksone by one with folded hands. With the objection of a single monk, it would not pass.There was no use of beating or thumping to announce his case. In case a monk didsomething without consent of all the residents, he would be forced to leave themonastery. If there was a difference of opinion on a certain issue, they would give reasonto convince (the other group). No force or coercion was used to convince.

Xuanzang also writes: "The lives of all these virtuous men were naturally governed by habits of themost solemn and strictest kind. Thus in the seven hundred years of the monastery's existence noman has ever contravened the rules of the discipline. The king showers it with the signs of hisrespect and veneration and has assigned the revenue from a hundred cities to pay for the

maintenance of the religious."[20]

A vast amount of what came to comprise Tibetan Buddhism, both its Mahayana and Vajrayanatraditions, stems from the late (9th–12th century) Nalanda teachers and traditions. The scholarDharmakirti (ca. 7th century), one of the Buddhist founders of Indian philosophical logic, as wellas and one of the primary theorists of Buddhist atomism, taught at Nalanda.

Other forms of Buddhism, such as the Mahāyāna Buddhism followed in Vietnam, China, Korea andJapan, flourished within the walls of the ancient university. A number of scholars have associatedsome Mahāyāna texts such as the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, an important sūtra in East Asian Buddhism,


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with the Buddhist tradition at Nālandā.[35][36] RonEpstein also notes that the general doctrinal positionof the sūtra does indeed correspond to what is knownabout the Buddhist teachings at Nālandā toward the

end of the Gupta period when it was translated.[37]

According to Hwui-Li, a Chinese visitor, Nālandā washeld in contempt by some Sthaviras for its emphasison Mahayana philosophy. They reportedly chidedKing Harṣa for patronising Nalanda during one of hisvisits to Odisha, mocking the "sky-flower" philosophytaught there and suggesting that he might as well

patronise a Kapalika temple.[38] When this occurred,Harṣa notified the chancellor of Nālandā, who sentthe monks Sāgaramati, Prajñāraśmi, Siṃharaśmi, andXuanzang to refute the views of the monks from

Odisha.[39]

Excavations conducted by Archaeological Survey ofIndia during 1915–37 and 1974–82 have exposed theextensive remains of six major brick temples andeleven monasteries arranged on a systematic layoutand spread over an area of more than a squarekilometre. Basically a hundred feet wide passage runs north-south with the row of temples on thewest and that of the monasteries on the east of it.

The monasteries are quite identical in general layout and appearance. Central courtyard, row ofcells all around with a common verandah, a secret chamber for keeping valuables, staircase forgoing to upper stories, kitchen, well, granary, single entrance and common place for prayer ormeeting etc. are some characteristic features of almost all the monasteries at Nalanda. The maintemple site 3 is the largest and most imposing structure at southern extremity of the row of templesand is surrounded by votive stupas. Originally it had four corner towers out of which two are inexistence and decorated with rows of niches containing beautiful stucco images of Buddha andBodhisattvas which are fine specimens of Gupta art. A temple different in character and notconforming to the general layout of the remains is represented by temple site 2. The interestingfeature of this temple is the dado of two hundred and eleven sculptured panels over the mouldedplinth. Another mound called 'Sarai Tila' very close to the monastery complex has revealed ruins ofa temple with murals and feet portion of a colossal stucco image of Lord Buddha.

Other than structures, the excavations have unearthed many sculptures and images in stone, bronzeand stucco. Significant among the Buddhist sculptures are Buddha in different postures,


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Avalokitesvara, Manjusri, Tara, Prajnaparamita, Marichi, Jambhala etc. and a few images are ofBrahmanical deities like Vishnu, Siva-Parvati, Mahishasura-mardini, Ganesa, Surya etc. Othernoteworthy discoveries of excavations include the murals, copper plates, inscriptions, sealings,plaques, coins, terracottas, potteries etc. The antiquities have been exhibited for the visitors in thesite museum maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India.

A number of ruined structures survive. Nearby is the Surya Mandir, a Hindu temple. The knownand excavated ruins extend over an area of about 150,000 square metres, although if Xuanzang'saccount of Nalanda's extent is correlated with present excavations, almost 90% of it remainsunexcavated. Nālandā is no longer inhabited. Today the nearest habitation is a village calledBargaon.

In 1951, a modern centre for Pali (Theravadin) Buddhist studies was founded nearby by Bhikshu

Jagdish Kashyap, the Nava Nalanda Mahavihara (http://www.nnm.ac.in).[40] Presently, this instituteis pursuing an ambitious program of satellite imaging of the entire region.

The Nalanda Museum contains a number of manuscripts, and shows many examples of the itemsthat have been excavated. India's first Multimedia Museum (http://www.prachinbharat.com) wasopened on 26 January 2008, which recreates the history of Nalanda using a 3D animation filmnarrated by Shekhar Suman. Besides this there are four more sections in the Multimedia Museum:Geographical Perspective, Historical Perspective, Hall of Nalanda and Revival of Nalanda.

Main article: Nalanda International University

On 9 December 2006, the New York Times detailed a plan in the works to spend $1 billion torevive Nalanda University near the ancient site. A consortium led by Singapore and includingChina, India, Japan and other nations will attempt to raise $500 million to build a new

university and another $500 million to develop necessary infrastructure.[3]

On 28 May 2007, Merinews reported that the revived university's enrolment will be 1,137 in

its first year, and 4,530 by the fifth. In the 'second phase', enrolment will reach 5,812.[41]

On 12 June 2007, News Post India reported that the Japanese diplomat Noro Motoyasu saidthat "Japan will fund the setting up an international university in Nalanda in Bihar". Thereport goes on to say that "The proposed university will be fully residential, like the ancientseat of learning at Nalanda. In the first phase of the project, seven schools with 46 foreignfaculty members and over 400 Indian academics would come up." ... "The university willimpart courses in science, philosophy and spiritualism along with other subjects. A renowned

international scholar will be its chancellor."[42]


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On 15 August 2007, The Times of India reported that Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has acceptedthe offer to join the revived Nalanda International University sometime in September

2007."[43]

NDTV reported on 5 May 2008 that, according to Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, thefoundation of University would likely be in the year 2009 and the first teaching class couldbegin in a few years from then. Sen, who heads the Nalanda Mentor Group, said the finalreport in this regard, is expected to be presented to the East Asia Summit in December 2008.

On 11 May 2008, The Times of India reported that host nation India and a consortium ofEast Asian countries met in New York to further discuss Nalanda plans. It was decided thatNalanda would largely be a post-graduate research university, with the following schools:School of Buddhist studies, philosophy, and comparative religion; School of historicalstudies; School of International Relations and Peace; School of Business Management andDevelopment; School of Languages and Literature; and, School of Ecology andEnvironmental Studies. The objective of the school was claimed to be "aimed at advancing

the concept of an Asian community...and rediscovering old relationships."[44]

On 13 September 2010, the Jakarta Globe Reported Parliament in New Delhi passed a bill

approving plans to rebuild the campus as a symbol of India's global ambitions.[45]

Revived Nalanda University (http://nalandauniv.edu.in)

India, China, Japan and Singapore are rebuilding the ancient university."/>

Nava Nalanda Mahavihara (http://www.nnm.ac.in/)

Nava Nalanda Mahavihara is a modern centre for Pali (Theravadin) Buddhist studies.[40]

Nalanda

1970: Hindi movie Johny Mera Naam uses the location of Nalanda ruins for its climacticsong.o mere raja


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Ancient Universities of IndiaBenaresI Ching (monk)Nava Vihara

Platonic AcademyPuspagiri UniversitySharada PeethTaxilaVikramaśīla University

^ "Destinations :: Patna" (http://bstdc.bih.nic.in/Patna.htm).

1.

^ Scharfe, Hartmut (2002). Education inAncient India (http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7s19sZFRxCUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Education+in+Ancient+India#v=onepage&q=nalanda&f=false). Brill. p. 149.ISBN 978-90-04-12556-8.

2.

a b c "Really Old School(http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/09/opinion/09garten.html?scp=1&sq=Nalanda&st=cse),"Garten, Jeffrey E. New York Times, 9 December2006.

3.

a b Sukumar Dutt (1962). Buddhist Monks AndMonasteries of India: Their History AndContribution To Indian Culture. George Allenand Unwin Ltd, London. p. 329.ISBN 81-208-0498-8.

4.

^ Nalanda Digital Library. "Nalanda DigitalLibrary-Nalanda Heritage-Nalanda,the firstresidential international University of the World"(http://www.nalanda.nitc.ac.in/about/NalandaHeritage.html). Nalanda.nitc.ac.in.Retrieved 2010-02-22.

5.

^ Beal: op. cit., ii.167f6.^ Altekar, Anant Sadashiv (1965). Education inAncient India, Sixth, Varanasi: Nand Kishore &Bros.

7.

a b Sukumar Dutt (1962). Buddhist Monks AndMonasteries of India: Their History AndContribution To Indian Culture. George Allenand Unwin Ltd, London. p. 344.ISBN 81-208-0498-8.

8.

^ Vajrayogini: Her Visualization, Rituals, andForms by Elizabeth English. WisdomPublications. ISBN 0-86171-329-X pg 15

9.

^ Sukumar Dutt (1962). Buddhist Monks AndMonasteries of India: Their History AndContribution To Indian Culture. George Allen

10.

and Unwin Ltd, London. pp. 352–353.ISBN 81-208-0498-8.^ "The Buddha and the Sahibs" by WilliamDalrymple

11.

^ Scott, David (May 1995). "Buddhism andIslam: Past to Present Encounters and InterfaithLessons". Numen 42 (2): 141.doi:10.1163/1568527952598657(http://dx.doi.org/10.1163%2F1568527952598657).

12.

^ Young Oon Kim (1976). World Religions:Volume 2: India's Religious Quest. Golden StatePublishing Co.

13.

^ Gertrude Emerson Sen (1964). The Story ofEarly Indian Civilization. Orient Longmans.

14.

^ "About Us"(http://www.nalandaopenuniversity.com/images/about.htm). Nalanda Open University. 29December 2009. Retrieved 2010-02-22.

15.

^ "The Historical Interaction between theBuddhist and Islamic Cultures before theMongol Empire"(http://www.berzinarchives.com/web/en/archives/e-books/unpublished_manuscripts/historical_interaction/pt3/history_cultures_20.html) The BerzinArchives.

16.

^ Le Huu Phuoc (2010). Buddhist Architecture(http://books.google.com/?id=9jb364g4BvoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22Buddhist+Architecture%22#v=onepage&q=nalanda&f=false). Grafikol. p. 60.ISBN 0-9844043-0-9.

17.

^ D.C. Ahir (2005). Buddhism Declined inIndia : How and Why?. B. R. Publishing.ISBN 81-7646-447-3.

18.

^ Rene Grousset. In the Footsteps of theBuddha. JA Underwood (trans) Orion Press.New York. 1971 p158

19.

a b Rene Grousset (1971). In the Footsteps ofthe Buddha. Orion Press. p. 159.

20.


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ISBN 0-7661-9347-0.^ Datta, B. K. (1970). Libraries & librarianshipof ancient and medieval India. Delhi: Atma Ram

21.

^ Dutt, S. (2008). Buddhist monks andmonasteries of India: Their history and theircontribution to Indian culture. Delhi: MotilalBanarsidass.

22.

^ Patel, J., & Krishan, K. (2001). Libraries andlibrarianship in India. Westport: GreenwoodPress.

23.

^ Khurshid, A. (1972). Growth of libraries inIndia. International Library Review. 4:21–65.

24.

^ Bhatt, R.K. (1995). History and Developmentof libraries in India. New Delhi: MittalPublications.

25.

^ Datta, 197926.^ Patel & Kumar 2001, p.427.^ Taher, M. & Davis, D.G. (1994). Librarianshipand library science in India. New Delhi: AshokKumar Mittal, p.37.

28.

^ Taher & Davis, 1994, p.3729.^ Bhatt, 1995, p. 2230.^ Datta, 1970, p. 2831.^ Berzin, Alexander (2002). The Four IndianBuddhist Tenet Systems Regarding Illusion: APractical Approach. Berlin, Germany. Source:[1] (http://www.berzinarchives.com/web/en/archives/sutra/level5_analysis_mind_reality/four_indian_buddhist_tenet_systems/four_indian_tenets_illusion_.html) (accessed: 2January 2008). "In the Indian MahayanaBuddhist monasteries, such as Nalanda, monksstudied four systems of Buddhist tenets. Two –Vaibhashika and Sautrantika – were subdivisionsof the Sarvastivada school within Hinayana. Theother two – Chittamatra and Madhyamaka –were subdivisions within Mahayana."

32.

a b c d Mookerji, Radhakumud. Ancient IndianEducation: Brahmanical and Buddhist. 1989. p.

33.

565^ Walser, Joseph. Nāgārjuna in Context:Mahāyāna Buddhism and Early Indian Culture.2005. p. 102

34.

^ Humphreys, Christmas. The Wisdom ofBuddhism. 1995. p. 111

35.

^ Dutt, Sukumar. Buddhist Monks andMonasteries of India. 1962. p. 264

36.

^ "The Shurangama Sutra (T. 945): AReappraisal of its Authenticity"(http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/Buddhism/authenticity.htm).

37.

^ Sukumar Dutt (1962). Buddhist Monks AndMonasteries of India: Their History AndContribution To Indian Culture. George Allenand Unwin Ltd, London. p. 334.ISBN 81-208-0498-8.

38.

^ Joshi, Lalmai. Studies in the BuddhisticCulture of India. 1987. p. 171

39.

a b Nava Nalanda Mahavihara(http://www.nnm.ac.in/)

40.

^ "Nalanda Int’l University: A commendableinitiative (http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=125171)", K.jha, Ashok,Merinews, 28 May 2007.

41.

^ "Japan eager to invest in university atNalanda" (http://www.indiaenews.com/education/20070612/55820.htm). India eNews.12 June 2007. Retrieved 2010-02-22.

42.

^ "Kalam to join Nalanda University soon," TheTimes of India, 15 August 2007.

43.

^ "Nalanda to move from ruins to riches(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3029197.cms)", 11 May 2008.

44.

^ India Plans to Lift Ancient University Fromthe Ashes (http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/education/india-plans-to-lift-ancient-university-from-the-ashes/395949)

45.

Behl, Benoy K. (1 March 2008). "Art: Thoughts and Images (15 of 25)"(http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2505/stories/20080314250506600.htm). Frontline 25 (5).

World Heritage (http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5407/)


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Nalanda travel guide from WikivoyageEntry on Nalanda in the Buddhist Dictionary of Pali Proper Names(http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/n/naalandaa.htm)An Ancient Glory Rises (http://www.newsweek.com/id/117812)Manuscript originally from Nalanda (http://www.asiasocietymuseum.com/buddhist_trade/himalaya_tibet.html)Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, Bihar State, India (http://navanalandamahavihara.org/index.html)Villages linked to Nalanda located (http://www.dailynews.lk/2008/11/01/news11.asp)Nalanda District Official website (http://nalanda.bih.nic.in)Nalanda First Portal (http://ebiharportal.com/)Photographs on Nalanda (http://www.indiamonuments.org/Bihar/Upload%20Bihar%2004/Bihar%2004.htm)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nalanda&oldid=551923896"Categories: 5th-century establishments Buddhist universities and collegesFormer Buddhist temples Ruins in India Education in Bihar History of BiharPlaces connected with Jainism Ancient universities of the Indian subcontinentBuddhist pilgrimages Cities and towns in Nalanda district Former populated places in IndiaArchaeological sites in Bihar Educational institutions established in the 5th century

This page was last modified on 24 April 2013 at 07:43.Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additionalterms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profitorganization.


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Opinion » Op-Ed

Published: January 8, 2011 01:56 IST | Updated: January 14, 2011 18:30 IST

Nalanda and the pursuit of science

Amartya Sen

‘Nalanda stood for the passion of propagating knowledge, understanding.' Amartya Sen's keynote address at the 98th Indian ScienceCongress in Chennai on January 4.

The subject of this talk is Nalanda and the pursuit of science, but before I go into that rather complex issue, I mustsay something about Nalanda itself, since it is still an obscure entity for most people in the world. Since theuniversity is being, right now, re-established under a joint Asian initiative, the fact that Nalanda was a very ancientuniversity is becoming better known. But how does it compare with other old universities in the world?

Well, what is the oldest university in the world? In answering this question, one's mind turns to Bologna, initiated in1088, to Paris in 1091, and to other old citadels of learning, including of course Oxford University which wasestablished in 1167, and Cambridge in 1209. Where does Nalanda fit into this picture? “Nowhere” is the shortanswer if we are looking for a university in continuous existence.

Nalanda was violently destroyed in an Afghan attack, led by the ruthless conqueror, Bakhtiyar Khilji, in 1193, shortlyafter the beginning of Oxford University and shortly before the initiation of Cambridge. Nalanda university, aninternationally renowned centre of higher education in India, which was established in the early fifth century, wasending its continuous existence of more than seven hundred years as Oxford and Cambridge were being founded,and even compared with the oldest European university, Bologna, Nalanda was more than six hundred years old,when Bologna was born. Had it not been destroyed and had it managed to survive to our time, Nalanda would be, bya long margin, the oldest university in the world. Another distinguished university, which did not stay in existencecontinuously either, viz. Al-Azhar University in Cairo, with which Nalanda is often compared, was established at atime, 970 AD, when Nalanda was already more than five hundred years old.

That is enough vaunting of age (as you know, in India we take age quite seriously), and I hope you have got thepoint: we are talking about the oldest university in the world by a long margin, that is, if we do not insist oncontinuous existence. The university is being re-started right now, and since I happen to have the difficult task ofchairing its interim governing body, I am finding out how hard it is to re-establish a university after an 800 yearhiatus. But we are getting there. This meeting here gives me an opportunity to recollect the pursuit of science in oldNalanda which will inspire and guide our long-run efforts in new Nalanda. I say long run, because mainly for costreasons — indeed entirely for cost reasons — we cannot start the science faculties immediately (physical and

Special ArrangementCENTRE OF LEARNING: 'Science has to fight parochialism, andNalanda was firmly committed to just that.'

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biological sciences cost much more money than the humanities and the social sciences do). The recollection — andmore challengingly, assessment — of the scientific tradition in old Nalanda are important right now, partly becausewe have to start thinking about the long run (even as we try to raise money for initiation and expansion), but alsobecause a scientific attitude and disciplined thought are important for the entire conception of new Nalanda,including the teaching of — and research in — humanities (such as history, languages and linguistics, andcomparative religion), as well as the social sciences and the world of practice (such as international relations,management and development, and information technology).

Let me identify a few questions about the pursuit of science in Nalanda. First, was the old Nalanda sufficiently largeto be a factor in whatever pursuit it might have been championing? Was it not merely a drop in an ocean ofsuperstition and ignorance that some people see as the characteristic feature of the Indian old world: you only haveto read James Mill's “History of India,” which was obligatory reading for all British civil servants sent off to run theRaj, to see how firm and politically important this conception of the past was in keeping modern India in check.

Well, Nalanda was an old centre of learning that attracted students from many countries in the world, particularlyChina and Tibet, Korea and Japan, and the rest of Asia, but a few also from as far in the west as Turkey. Nalanda, aresidential university, had at its peak 10,000 students, studying various subjects. Chinese students in particular,such as Xuanzang and Yi Jing in the seventh century, wrote extensively on what they saw and what they particularlyadmired about the educational standards in Nalanda. Incidentally, Nalanda is the only non-Chinese institution inwhich any Chinese scholar was educated in the history of ancient China.

It is also important to recognise that while Nalanda was very special, it was still a part of a larger tradition oforganised higher education that developed in that period in India — in Bihar in particular. In addition to Nalanda,there were in the vicinity other such institutions, such as Vikramshila and Odantapuri. Indeed, Xuangzang wroteabout them too, even though he himself studied in Nalanda. There was a larger social culture to which Nalandabelonged, and this is important to recollect in thinking about the tradition of Nalanda.

The second question to ask is the difficult one about the room for science in what was after all a religious institution.Nalanda was a Buddhist foundation, as were Vikramshila and Odantapuri, and surely the central focus of theseinstitutions were studies of Buddhist philosophy and practice. The point to remember here is that by the nature ofthe philosophy of Buddha, whose focus of preaching was on enlightenment (the name given to Gautama, vizBuddha, itself means “enlightened”), there was a basic epistemic and ethical curiosity in the tradition of intellectualBuddhism that sought knowledge in many different fields. Some of the fields were directly related to Buddhistcommitments, such as medicine and healthcare; others went with the development and dissemination of Buddhistculture, such as architecture and sculpture; and still others linked Buddhist intellectual queries with interest inanalytical discipline.

Let me comment briefly on the last — not specifically with reference to Nalanda, but as a way of understandingbetter the Buddhist intellectual impact. One of the connections on which evidence of intellectual connectionsbetween China and India is plentiful is the impact of Buddhists in general, and of adherents of Tantric Buddhism inparticular, on Chinese mathematics and astronomy in the seventh and eighth centuries, in the Tang period. Yi Jing,who was a student of Nalanda, and to whom I referred earlier, was one of many translators of Tantric texts fromSanskrit into Chinese. Tantrism became a major force in China in the seventh and eighth centuries, and hadfollowers among Chinese intellectuals of the highest standing. Since many Tantric scholars had a deep interest inmathematics (perhaps connected, at least initially, with Tantric fascination with numbers), Tantric mathematicianshad a significant influence on Chinese mathematics as well.

Indeed, as Joseph Needham notes, “the most important Tantrist was I-Hsing (+672 to +717), the greatest Chineseastronomer and mathematician of his time.” Needham goes on to remark that “this fact alone should give us pause,since it offers a clue to the possible significance of this form of Buddhism for all kinds of observational andexperimental sciences.” Yi Xing (or I-Hsing, to use Needham's spelling), who was in fact never a student of Nalanda,but belonged to a tradition of which Nalanda was one of the results, was fluent in Sanskrit. (I request the audience tobe careful of the distinction between Yi Xing, the mathematician, and Yi Jing, the intellectual trained in Nalanda,who was, among other things, interested in medicine.) As a Buddhist monk, Yi Xing was familiar with the Indianreligious literature, but he had acquired a great expertise also on Indian writings on mathematics and astronomy.Despite his own religious connection, it would be a mistake to assume that Yi Xing's mathematical or scientific workwas somehow motivated by religious concerns. As a general mathematician who happened to be also a Tantrist, YiXing dealt with a variety of analytical and computational problems, many of which had no particular connectionwith Tantrism or Buddhism at all. The combinatorial problems tackled by Yi Xing included such classic ones as“calculating the total number of possible situations in chess.” Yi Xing was particularly concerned with calendricalcalculations, and even constructed, on imperial order, a new calendar for China.

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particularly involved, made good use of the progress of trigonometry that had already occurred in India by then(going much beyond the original Greek roots of Indian trigonometry). The movement east of Indian trigonometry toChina was a part of a global exchange of ideas that also went West around that time. Indeed, this was also about thetime when Indian trigonometry was having a major impact on the Arab world (with widely used Arabic translationsof the works of Aryabhata, Varahamihira, Brahmagupta and others), which would later influence Europeanmathematics as well, through the Arabs (Gherardo of Cremona would make the first Latin translation of Arabmathematical texts that reported on Indian work in 1150, just before the time when Nalanda would come to itssudden end).

It is this general intellectual animation, including animation in analytical and scientific questions, that we have toappreciate in interpreting what was going on in old Nalanda. I take the liberty of mentioning here that it is not, ofcourse, unique to Nalanda that as a religious foundation, it nevertheless pursued general intellectual and scientificstudies the products of which were of great interest also to people who were not religious, or did not share thereligion of the foundations involved. Isaac Newton was religious — indeed very mystically oriented — and while herevolutionised the nature of physics, mathematics and optics, he had no problem with his (and, as it happens, mineand Venky Ramakrishnan's) college's (that is Trinity's) the-then religiosity, and did not raise the kind of questionsabout compatibility that some later Trinity-men, like Henry Sidgwick, would with powerful arguments. The mixtureof religion and science was by no means unique to Nalanda, and to illustrate with another example, it was theChristian university of Padua — one of the earliest of the extant universities in the world — that produced GalileoGalilei. (I was, incidentally amused when, while receiving an honorary doctorate at Padua, I heard Paul Ricoeur,another recipient, chastising the University of Padua for not standing up sufficiently for Galileo. Ricoeur'sarguments were impeccable, though it seemed a little unfair to blame the current Rector of Padua for Padua's lack ofsupport for Galileo.) To what extent such conflict arose in Nalanda, I do not know, but as more documents come tolight, we may well find out whether there were tensions in the relation between science and religion in Nalanda.What is, however, absolutely clear is that this Buddhist foundation made much room for the pursuit of analyticaland scientific subjects within the campus of Nalanda university.

A third question concerns the subjects that were actually taught in Nalanda. Here we do have a problem, since thedocuments in Nalanda were indiscriminatingly burnt by Bakhtiyar and his conquering army. We have to relytherefore of the accounts of students of Nalanda who wrote about what they had seen, and given the reticence ofIndians to write about history (a subject of interest in itself), we have to rely mostly on the accounts of outsiders whodid not share that reticence, such as Xuangzang and Yi Jing. We do know that among the subjects taught, and onwhich there was on-going research, were medicine, public health, architecture, sculpture, and astronomy, inaddition to religion, history, law and linguistics.

What about mathematics? As it happens the Chinese chroniclers from Nalanda, such as Yi Jing and Xuangzang,were not involved in mathematical studies. Those in China who were deeply involved in Indian mathematics, suchas Yi Xing, did not train in Nalanda. There may have been others, in India or China or elsewhere, from Nalanda whowere involved in mathematics (a subject that was flourishing in India in this period) and whose documents havebeen lost. However, we do know, from Indian accounts, that logic was a subject that was taught in Nalanda, and myguess is that eventually evidence would emerge on this part of the curriculum in Nalanda as well.

Further indirect evidence in the direction of the presence of mathematics in Nalanda curriculum was the inclusionof astronomy in Nalanda. Xuangzang comments on that, and refers elegantly to the observational tower that seemedto rest among the cloudy fog high up, and provided an eye-catching sight in the Nalanda campus. In that period theprogresses in Indian and Chinese astronomy were closely linked with developments with mathematics, particularlytrigonometry. Indeed, all the Indian experts that the Chinese brought to China for astronomical work weremathematicians (one of these Indian mathematicians became the Director of the official Board of Astronomy ofChina in the 8th century). We do not know enough about the ancestry of the Indian mathematicians who went toChina to decide whether any of them had Nalanda connections, but we do know that from early fifth centuryKusumpur, in nearby Pataliputra (Patna), was the place were the mathematicians doing front-line innovative workon the subject were congregating.

I end with two final remarks. The first one concerns an aspect of the intellectual life of Nalanda that emergespowerfully from the accounts we do actually have about Nalanda from Chinese as well as Indian scholars. The facultyand the students in Nalanda loved to argue, and very often held argumentative encounters. I have discussedelsewhere how deep this argumentativeness is in Indian intellectual history, but I want to add here that it is a part ofthe scientific tradition as well, to seek arguments and defences, refusing to accept positions and claims on groundsof faith. There were plenty of organised argumentative matches going on in Nalanda, and this too fits, in a verygeneral way, into the scientific connections of Nalanda.

The final remark concerns the passion for propagating knowledge and understanding that Nalanda stood for. This


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was one reason for its keenness to accept students from abroad. Xuangzang as well as Yi Jing mentions the warmwelcome they received as they arrived in Nalanda from China. Indeed, Xuangzang used this commitment in anargument with the faculty in Nalanda when he was asked — and pressed — to stay on as a faculty member inNalanda, after he had completed his studies. He mentioned his commitment, and here he invoked Buddha himself,to spread enlightenment “to all lands.” He asked the rhetorical question: “Who would wish to enjoy it alone, and toforget those who are not yet enlightened?” If the seeking of evidence and vindication by critical arguments is part ofthe tradition of science, so is the commitment to move knowledge and understanding beyond locality. Science has tofight parochialism, and Nalanda was firmly committed to just that.

(Dr. Amartya Sen, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998 and was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1999, isProfessor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University in the U.S. and chairman of the Interim GoverningBoard of Nalanda University.)

Keywords: Nalanda University, Amartya Sen, 98th Indian Science Congress, ancient knowledge, religiousliterature, Buddhist culture, Venky Ramakrishnan

Printable version | Apr 25, 2013 6:47:34 PM | http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/nalanda-and-the-pursuit-of-science/article1063459.ece

© The Hindu


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INDIAN EXPRESS FINANCIAL EXPRESS EXPRESSINDIA LOKSATTA JANSATTA SCREEN ePA

Speeches in poor taste arenot new in MaharashtraSuhas Palshikar

Updated: Thu, 25 Apr 2013, 9:21 IST

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Parshu Narayanan

Posted: Sep 18, 2003 at 0000 hrs IST

I had to attend a wedding at Patna and managed a side trip

to Nalanda. As I walked into the ruins, a huge dark sadness

descended on me. Nalanda, the greatest ever Buddhist

university, with its hundreds of monks and thousands of

books, was destroyed by Bakhtiyar Khalji’s Turki troops

around 1200 AD. As I looked at walls still blackened by the

bonfires of books, I began my search for answers. The

museum nearby gives you a glimpse of Nalanda’s sanctity

and fame across the Buddhist world: Tibet, China, Japan

and most of Southeast Asia. While inside, I saw a group of

Tibetan monks walking through, placing sacred white

scarves on some statues.

Back home, I downloaded the pages of the past. Buddhism was not swallowed up by Sanatana Dharma, as we

now believe. It thrived, with sincere patrons like Harsha. Even the infamous Jaichand built a monastery to

honour his Guru, Srimitra. No, what finished Buddhism off was that it revolved around the Sangha. To alien

invaders, a monastery’s imposing walls and towers made it an obvious military target. After Odantapura, the

monastery near Nalanda, was razed and all the monks beheaded, the Turks found no treasure and certainly no

arms. All they found were books, and with none left to explain their meaning, they were burnt and Odantapura

turned into a military camp. Let me quickly add that Bakhtiyar Khilji’s Turkic forefathers, the White Huns of

Mihirakula — behaved no differently towards the Sangha although they were Shiva-bhakts. It was with the

greatest difficulty that the Guptas and others managed to save their lands from their depredations in the sixth

century.

As I browsed, a terribly poignant account of the last lesson at Nalanda emerged. Incredibly, itwas by Nalanda’s last student: A Tibetan monk called Dharmaswamin. He visited Nalanda in1235, nearly forty years after its sack, and found a small class still conducted in the ruins by a

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ninety-year old monk, Rahul Sribhadra. Weak and old, the teacher was kept fed and alive by alocal Brahmin, Jayadeva. Warned of a roving band of 300 Turks, the class dispersed, withDharmaswamin carrying his nonagenarian teacher on his back into hiding. Only the two of themcame back, and after the last lesson (it was Sanskrit grammar) Rahul Sribhadra told his Tibetanstudent that he had taught him all he knew and in spite of his entreaties asked him to go home.Packing a raggedy bundle of surviving manuscripts under his robe, Dharmaswamin left the oldmonk sitting calmly amidst the ruins. And both he and the Dharma of Sakyamuni made theirexit from India.

Express Specials

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BuddhaSasana Home Page English Section

t is well-known that with the rise of Buddhism in India there dawned the golden

age of India�s culture and civilisation. There was progress in all aspects of Indiancivilisation under the impact of Buddhism. This is very much in contrast to whathappened in the Roman empire in Europe with the rise of Christianity. With thecoming of Christianity into power the Dark Ages dawned upon Europe. During thisera whatever progress that was achieved by the Greeks and the Romans received aset-back and came to a stand-still. Schools and centres of philosophy were closeddown. The famed library at Alexandria was burnt down by a Christian mob led bya prelate. Hypatia the learned philosopher and teacher was dragged into a Churchand her flesh was torn off her body. As a result of these barbarities Europe wasplunged into the darkness of ignorance and poverty for a thousand years. The DarkAges of European history was really the golden age of the Christian Church,because it did the conversion of the barbarians to Christianity during this time. Thegreat philosophers and intellectuals of Europe who left their mark on humancivilisation were all pre-Christian pagans who lived prior to the rise of Christianity,e.g. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Seneca, Pliny, etc. The Christian era was masked byan absence of such men. Illiteracy and religious intolerance prevailed during theDark Ages.

At the end of this period the Muslims had conquered parts of the Roman empireand established their rule in Spain, Portugal and parts of France. They introducedthe learning of the Greeks and Romans as well as knowledge gathered from theircontacts with India. This set the pace for Martin Luther�s reformation whichbroke the power of the Catholic Church. The ensuing liberal policies persuaded bythe Protestants brought about the Renaissance, after this the Europeans pushedback the power of the Churches and began to make progress in civilisation.

In contrast to this with the rise of Buddhism in India, there arose many centres oflearning which did not exist before. Buddhist monks could opt for a life ofmeditation in the forests, or a life of teaching, preaching, propagating the Dharmaas a result of the activities of the teaching monks, seats of learning arose. Theseseats of monastic learning (Pirivenas) gradually developed and some of thembecame full-fledged universities. As a result Buddhist India came to have five major

The six Buddhist universities of ancient India http://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebdha240.htm

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universities which achieved wide fame. These five were 1. Nalanda, 2.Vickramasila, 3. Odantapuri, 4. Jagadalala and 5. Somapura.

Nalanda University

Nalanda is the best known of ancient India�s universities. It�s site has beendiscovered and it�s ruins have been preserved by India�s Department ofArcheology. It is situated in Bihar State, the ancient Magadha country. Magadha iswell known as the cradle of Buddhism. Bihar is so called because it had a largenumber of Viharas or Buddhist monasteries. Nalanda was a prosperous city duringthe days of the Buddha. He visited it during his preaching itineraries. When inNalanda, the Buddha sojourned at Ambavana the mango-park with his disciples.Nalanda was also the home town of Ven. Sariputra, King Asoka had erected aStupa at the spot where he was cremated.

We get a comprehensive account of Nalanda university from Hieun Tsang thebrilliant Chinese scholar who came there for his studies during the reign of KingHarsha-Siladitya. Back in China he wrote this famed "Ta - Tang - Si - Yu - Ki"Buddhist Travels in the western world. This has been translated into English bySamuel Beal a British scholar who was once the ambassador to Peking, China.

It has been called the treasure house of accurate information by EuropeanArcheologists. They found the information given there invaluable for them tolocate the sacred shrines of the Buddhist in India. Indians and their scholars werehopelessly ignorant of these places and could do nothing to help the archeologists.I - Tsing (675-685) was another Chinese monk who came to India and studied atNalanda. He too like Hiuen Tsang has left an account of his travels. In this he givesan account of Nalanda and his stay there. At the time of Fa-Hion�s visit it was anordinary Buddhist monastery. Lama Taranata the Tibetan historian also gives anaccount of Nalanda in his works.

It appears that King Kumara Gupta (AC 415-455) built the first monastery atNalanda. It was a seminary for training Buddhist monks. It�s site was not too fornor too close to the city. Hence it was selected as an ideal centre for the pursuit ofBuddhist studies by monks. Nalanda University was an expansion and extension ofthis seminary. King Buddha Gupta (AC 455-467) Jatagatha Gupta (AC 467-500)Baladitya (500-525) and Vijra (525) made additions and expansions to thebuildings. King Baladitya made a shrine-room a house of worship which was 300feet high. His son Vijra built the fifth monastery. King Harsha Siladitya built thesixth monastery and surrounded the university buildings with 9� high wall. In the10th century when Hieun Tsang entered the university, there were 10,000 residentstudents. They came from all parts of India and foreign lands. It was India�s


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leading University. It�s chancellorship was reserved for India�s foremostBuddhist scholar when Hieun-Tsang visited Nalanda Silabhadra Maha Thera heldthe post. At that time there were 10,000 students, 1510 teachers, and about 1,500workers at Nalanda. Students from foreign lands such as Tibet, China, Japan,Korea, Sumatra, Java and Sri Lanka were found there. Admission to Nalanda wasby oral examination. This was done by a professor at the entrance hall. He wascalled Dvara Pandita. Proficiency in Sanskrit was necessary, as it was the mediumof instruction. All Chinese monks going to India for higher studies in Buddhismhad to go to Java and brush up their Sanskrit. Hieum Tsang reports that of theforeign students only 20% managed to pass the stiff examinations. Of the Indianstudents only 30% managed to pass and gain admission. Therefore the standardrequired were high. Casts, creed and nationality were no barriers in keeping withthe Buddhist spirit. There were no external students at the university. Nalanda wasmaintained by the revenue from seven villages which were granted by the king. Thestudy of Mahayana was compulsory for Buddhists. One could also study thedoctrines of 18 other Buddhist sects. One could also study secular subjects likescience, medicine, astrology, fine-arts, literature etc. The six systems of Hinduphilosophy were also taught. One could study Hinayana forms of Buddhism. Thisincluded the Theravada commerce, administration and astronomy were also taught.The observatory of the university was situated in a very tall building. Lectures,debates and discussions were part of the educational curriculum. Hieun Tsangstates that 100 lectures were delivered there every day. The discipline wasexemplary.

Nalanda university occupied an area of 30 acres. There were three large librariesbearing the names Ratna-Sagara, Ratna-Nidi and Ratna-Ranjana. One of these wasnine storeys high. Nalanda was graced by the presence of India�s most brilliantBuddhist luminaries. Some of them were Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, Dharmapala,Silabhadra, Santarakshita, Kamalaseela, Bhaviveka, Dignaga, Dharmakeerty etc.The works they left behind are mostly available 14 Tibetan and Chinesetranslations. The originals perished when Muslim invaders under Bhaktiar Khiljiset fire to Nalanda and beheaded the monks. (AD 1037), Prior to that Nalandaflourished for a thousand years, a lighthouse of wisdom and learning, the first ofit�s kind in the world. Bhaktiar Khilji the invader of Magadha set fire to Nalanda.When the monks were about to have their meals. This is revealed in thearcheological remains which show food abandoned in a great hurry. Charred ricefrom the granaries also tell this sorry tale. Nalanda�s ruins and excavations arepreserved in a Museum by the Indian government. On 19.11.58 the President ofIndia, Rajendra Prasad inaugurated the Nava Nalanda Viharaya at a site close tothe ancient university. Master of the Tripitaka Ven. Jagadish Kashyap wasappointed head of the institution on 12. 01. 1957 the Dalai Lama handed over theashes of Nalanda�s famed alumni - Hieun Tsang to the Indian government,


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headed by Pandit Nehru. The Chinese government donated five lakhs of rupees fora mausoleum which enshrines these relics. The Muslims carried the university ideato the West, and after that universities came up in the western - world.

Vickramasila

Vickramasila is said to have been situated on the banks of the Ganges near thenorthern part of Magadha. Although it�s site was undiscovered, the Indiannewspaper �Searchlight� of 25.4.80 carried an account of the discovery of theruins of Vickramsila by Dr. B. S. Varma, Superintending Archeologist in charge ofthe discovery of the ruins of the Vickramsila Excavation Project.

According to this Vickramasila was situated at Antichak Village, Kahalagon,Bagalpur District Vickramasila was said to be a sister institution of Nalanda andwas said to have been founded by a monk called Kamapala, under the patronage ofKing Dharmapala. (AC 770-810). The King granted land-endowments for it�supkeep later King Yasapala also patronised the institutions by liberal landendowments. Under the Pala Kings Vickramasila rose to 9 positions when itrivalled Nalanda and bade well to outshine it. In the centre of the university wasthe main lecture-hall. It was called �Vidyagriha�. There were six entrances tothis building and near each entrance was a monastery for resident monks about 150teachers were accommodated in each monastery. Like Nalanda Vickramasila wasalso surrounded by a high-wall. There were six �Dvara Panditas� i.e Professorswho examined candidates seeking admission. Here too high standards weremaintained. 108 Professors were engaged in teaching and administrative duties.The curriculum of studies was similar to that of Nalanda. Here preference wasgiven to the Tantric form of Buddhism.

Dipankara Sri Gnana who is also known as Atisha (AC 960-1055) was themore-famous of the scholars of Vickramasila. His fame spread far and wide as thepropagator of Buddhism in Tibet Tibetans hold his name in the highest veneration.When he was at Vickramasila he was invited to teach and propagate Buddhism inTibet. He postponed it for some time till he completed his work at Vickramasilaand then undertook the task. Vickramasila achieved it�s high water mark ofprosperty and fame under him. Sri Gnana�s period was the golden era ofVickramasila. In 1038 Sri Gnana left Vickramsila for Tibet to organise Buddhiststudies in that country. Vickramasila was managed by a staff of Professors. Theyconstituted the Board of Education, Board of Administration, Board of Disciplineand the Board in charge of entrance examinations. Inaugurated in about 800 A.C.it graced the land until it was demolished by the Muslim invaders.

Odantapuri


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Odantapuri was considered the second oldest of India�s universities. This wassituated in Maghada, about 6 miles away from Nalanda. Acharya Sri Ganga ofVickramasila had been a student here. Later he joined Odantapuri King Gopala(660-705) was the patron who helped to found this university. According to theTibetan records there were about 12,000 students at Odantapuri. Our knowledgeof this seat of learning is obscure, and we are not in a position to give more details.This too perished at the hands of the Muslim invaders. It is said they mistook theuniversities with their high walls for fortresses. They thought the Buddhist monkswere "Shaven headed Brahmins" who were idolaters.

Somapura

Somapura was situated in East Pakistan. King Devapala (AC 810-850) is said tohave erected the Dharmapala-Vihara at Somapura. The ruins of these buildingscover an area of about 1 square mile. There was a large gate and the buildings weresurrounded by a high-wall. There were about 177 cells for monks in additions tothe shrines and image houses. A common refectory and a kitchen are among theruins, Remains of three -strayed buildings are to be seen. This university flourishedfor about 750 years before it was abandoned after the Muslim invasion.

Jagaddala

King Ramapala (1077-1129) is said to be the founder of this University. JagaddalaUniversity was the largest construction works undertaken by the Pala Kings. Thiswas a centre for the study and dissemination of Tantric Buddhism. It followed themethods, practices, and traditions of Nalanda. According to Tibetan works manybooks were translated to the Tibetan language at Jagaddala. The Buddhist teacherSakya Sri Bhadra, seeing that Nalanda, Vickramsila, and Odantapuri were in ruinsafter the Muslim invasion, entered Jagaddala for his studies. It is said that his pupilDanaseela translated ten books to Tibetan Sakya Sri Bhadra was responsible forthe propagation of Tatntric Buddhism in Tibet. He lived for seven years atJagaddala. In 1027 the Muslim invaders sack and destroyed Jagaddala.

Vallabhi

Vallabhi University achieved as much fame as Nalanda. The Maitraka kings whoruled Western India constructed a monastery at Vallabhitheir capital. WhileNalanda was the centre for Mahayana Buddhism, Vallabhi achieved fame as thecentre for Hinayana Buddhism. The Maitraka kings spent lavishly to maintain theiruniversity. They gave every encouragement and assistance to Buddhist studies atthis institution. In the 7th century Vallabhi was as prosperous and famous asNalanda. Hieum Tsang visited Vallabhi, and reported in his "Ta-Tang-Si-Yu-Ki" asfollows:


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-"The population of Vallabhi is very large. The country is rich and prosperous.There are over a hundred millionaire families there. Imported luxury goods areseen in this city. There are about 100 monasteries with about 6,000 Buddhistmonks. Most of them belong to the Sammitiya Sect. There are also many Hindutemples and a large Hindu population in this past of the country. The Buddha hadvisited this land during his ministry. There are stupas erected by King Asoka tomark the spots hallowed by the Buddha�s visit."

There are about 100 shrines and about 6,000 resident monks studying at Vallabhi.They do not believe that Abhidharma was the teaching of the Buddha. Theybelieved in the Antarabhava doctrine and were exponents of Puggalavada atraditions that disregards Abhidharma teachings that are inconsistent with theSutra-Teachings.

I -Tsing�s record

I-Tsing records that foreign students were found at Vallabhi. They come from manylands far and near from these facts we know that like Nalanda-Vallabhi wasinternationally recognised. There was a large library. This was maintained by afund established by the King. An inscription put up by King Guhasena confirmsthis. Precedence was given to Sammitiya doctrines at this University. The course ofstudies included Comparative Religion. The Six systems of Hindu Philosophy andvarious other schools of Buddhism, Politics, Law, Agriculture, Economics alsoformed a part of the curriculum.

I-Tsing records that the graduates of Vallabhi, displayed their skill in the presenceof the royalty, nobbles, and other eminent people. The Elders Gunamoti andSthiramatic were Nalanda�s alumni and were teaching there for a time. They aresaid to be the founders of Vallabhi. As the founders came from Nalanda, Vallabhifollowed the Nalanda pattern in most of it�s activities. It flourished from 475 to1200 A.C. It met the same fate as other Universities at the hands of the Musliminvaders.

Thus it would be seen that as long as Buddhism was a power to reckon with inIndia, it rendered yoemen service in the field of learning and culture. This is how itshould be in a religion that teaches that ignorance is the worst enemy of Mao andthe cause of ace his sufferings while knowledge (Pragnya) is his highest asset.Pragnya wins all that is good in this world, and finally brings him the highesthappiness, mundane as well as supra-mundane.

When the Portuguese conquered the Kotte Kingdom there were flourishingBuddhist Seminaries (Pirivenas) at Totagamauwa, Keragala, and Wattala. TheSandesa poems of the period give glowing descriptions of them and their rectors.


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They were all raised to the ground "leaving not one stone upon another" accordingto Portuguese writers of the period. Quyroz mentions the demolition of the WattalaVijayabahu Pirivena and the erection of the R. C. Church on it�s land. Thenfollowed an age of ignorance, decay and corruption for some 200 years. Finallyduring the reign of King Kirti Sri Rajasinha, Ven. Weliwita Saranankara started hisBuddhist revival opening his Seminary at Niyamakanda, Udunnwara. His papillarysuccessors opened the Vidyoda and Vidyalankara Pirivenas in Colombo. TheseSeminaries were upgraded and converted to secular Universities by the S.L.F.P.Government.

-ooOoo-

Source: The Island, Sri Lanka, 15 May 2003, http://www.island.lk/index.html

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