Re-discovering the Lost Glory of Nālandā: An Indian Renaissance

Re-discovering the Lost Glory of Nālandā:

An Indian Renaissance

By:

Dr. Arvind Kumar Singh

Assistant Professor, Department of Buddhist Studies

University of Delhi, Delhi-110007 INDIA

Email: arvindbantu@yahoo.co.in

Introduction:

„Nālandā was one of the highest intellectual achievements in the history of the world and we are committed to revive it,‟ said Amartya Sen, the renowned economist and Nobel laureate. The idea of setting up Nālandā again is brilliant but we need to understand the real essence of Nālandā. It embodied universality.It has been called „one of the first great universities in recorded history‟. Nālandā was one of the world's first residential universities as it had dormitories for students. Historical studies indicate that the University of Nālandā was established 427 C.E. under the patronage of the Gupta emperors, notably

Kumāragupta.1 In its heyday, it accommodated over ten thousand students and 2,000 teachers (some sources indicate 2000 professors). The university was considered an architectural masterpiece, and was marked by a lofty wall and one gate. Nālandā had eight separate compounds and ten temples, along with many other meditation halls and classrooms. On the grounds were lakes and parks. The library was located in a nine storied building where meticulous copies of texts were produced. The subjects taught at

Nālandā University covered every field of learning, and it attracted pupils and scholars from Korea,

Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey.2 The Tang Dynasty Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang left detailed accounts of the university in the seventh century.3Associated with Nālandā were several thousands of monks who were men of the highest ability and talent. Some of them were from different countries. The international character of Nālandā was quite prominent even during the time of

Xuanzang‘s association with Nālandā in the seventh century. Students from far and near flocked to learn at the feet of the great scholars of Nālandā. According to Xuanzang, Nālandā University had students from all over the Buddhist world.

There were students from Sri Lanka, Tibet, Nepal, China, Mongolia,

Turkistan, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Central Asia, Vietnam, Sumatra, Java, Persia, Greece and Turkey.

Ancient higher-learning institutions which give learning an institutional framework date back to ancient times and can be found in many cultures.

These

ancient

centres were

typically

institutions of philosophical education and religious instruction. They are to be distinguished from the modern Western style university which is an organizational form originating in medieval Europe and adopted in other world regions since the onset of modern times.4Nālandā is still an obscure entity for most of people in the

world. Well, when we discuss about the oldest University, we find the names of Bologna, Italy (1088

CE), Paris (1091 CE), and other old citadels of learning like Oxford (1167 CE) and Cambridge (1209).

Now questionarises where does Nālandā fit into this picture? The simple answer is „nowhere‟ if we are looking for a University in continuous existence. Nālandā University, an internationally renowned centre of higher education in India, was ending its continuous existence of more than seven hundred years. Had it not been destroyed and had it managed to survive to our time, it would be, by a long margin, the oldest

University in the world. The ruins of the ancient university of Nālandā is just like Eiffel tower is to Paris and it is no surprise that the discovery of such an existence in this part of the world put Nālandā on the hot spot and the curiosity grew about the how‟s and the why‟s. It‟s been almost 200 years since we first saw the first glimpse of it, at least onthe record, and we are still waiting to know more…

1 Altekar, Anant Sadashiv, Education in Ancient India, 6thed., Varanasi, India: Nand Kishore & Bros., 1965.

2 Garten, Jeffrey E., ―Really Old School‖, New York Times, December 9, 2006.

3

Wriggin, Sally Hovey, The Silk Road Journey With Xuanzang. (Westview Press, 2003).4 See list of oldest universities in continuous operation in Rüegg, Walter: "Foreword. The University as a European

Institution", in: A History of the University in Europe. Vol. 1: Universities in the Middle Ages, Cambridge

University Press, 1992: XIX–XX)

As the first ever residential university in the world Nālandā had developed as an exceptionally impressive university park complex which included colossal buildings, lecture halls, meditation halls, libraries, monasteries, hostels, chetiyas, temples, lakes and parks. According to the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang,

Nālandā University was an architectural masterpiece. It was marked by a lofty brick wall and a single gate and had eight separate compounds and ten temples, along with many meditation halls and classrooms.

The university grounds were marked by lakes and parks. The Chinese scholar-pilgrim named Yi-jing, who visited Nālandā a few years after Xuanzang, mentions eight halls and 300 big rooms used for teaching and meetings and a grand library. There were ponds with lotuses, well devised footpaths, extensive pleasant lawns, mango groves and lovely flower beds. There were innumerable shrines embellished with a wealth of sculptural art. With endowments from successive monarchs, the Nālandā

University became a site of imposing buildings. There were eight colleges built by different patrons including the one by the king of Srivijaya of Sumatra, who had diplomatic relations with the king of Pala dynasty of Bihar and Bengal. The alumni of Nālandā were highly respected both inside and outside of

India. It gathered together some of the best scholars of the country. Scholar saints were the greatest attraction of Nālandā. Nālandā became world famous on account of its many brilliant professors and high standard of education. In addition, strict discipline was maintained. Among the many outstanding scholars, thinkers and Chancellors of Nālandā were

Nāgārjuna, Āryadeva,

Asaṅga,

Vasubandhu,

Dinnaga, Dharmakirtti, Shantarakṣita, Dharmapāla, Śilabhadra, Sānthideva and Padmasabhava. It is important to note that, Āryadeva, the favourite disciple of Nāgārjuna, hailed from Sri Lanka. The brothers

Asaṅga and Vasubandhu were successive Abbots of Nālandā. Tibetan sources indicate by name several other great Buddhists associated with Nālandā such as Rāhulabhadra, Aka, the Mahāsiddhasaraha,

Buddhapalita, Bhaviviveka of 5th-6th c. CE., Prasangika Madhyamika of Candrakirti of 7th century CE,

Candrakirti, Candragomin, Santarakṣita of the 8th.c.CE a brilliant Abbot from Nālandā who helped Guru

Padmasambhava bring Buddhism to Tibet. According to Tibetan sources, Nāgārjuna was the first

Principal of Nālandā University. According to Tibetan sources, Mañjuśrīmitra was a respected Yogācāra scholar of Nālandā whose works dealing with Vajrayāna Buddhism had great impact on Tibetan

Buddhism.

Nalanda as depicted in Buddhist Literature:

In ancient India, Nālānda (Sanskrit: meaning ―giver of knowledge‖) was a once thriving monasticuniversity renowned both as a center of learning and for its large library of sacred texts. Nālandā

flourished for seven hundred years until its destruction in 1197 C.E. at the hands of Muslim invaders.5

Nālandā has been called "one of the first great universities in recorded history."6 In ancient times,

Nālandā was particularly known as a center of Buddhist learning and many of its Buddhist teachings were transmitted to other parts of Asia, including China and Tibet where Buddhism continued to flourish after its wane in India. The origin of the name Nālandā is disputed. It may derive from Nalam (―lotus‖ -a symbol of knowledge and Da (to give).7 The Chinese pilgrim-monk Xuanzang8 gives several explanations of the name Nālandā in his writing. He remarks that the origin of the word may come from the ―Naga‖

(semi-divine serpent beings) who lived by a pool of water in the middle of a mango grove. Another hypothesis, accepted by him, is that the Bodhisattva once had his capital here and gave ―alms without intermission‖, hence the name. Nālandā, where a chapter of Buddhist history was written, when the site was excavated, has been identified as the greatest seat of learning of the medieval period. The early scriptures of both the Buddhist and the Jains refer to the area as a "suburb" (bahirika, pada) or as a hamlet or village situated in the outskirts of ancient Rajagaha, or modern Rajgir. The Pāli texts contain innumerable references to the place, under various names, such as Nāla, Nālaka, Nālakagāma or Nālandā and generally take it to be the birth - place of Sāriputta, one of the most famous disciples of the Buddha.

Taranath, the Tibetan philosopher in his ‘History of Buddhism‘9indicates that Nālandā continued to remain as an important site even after the decline of Rajgir; since Emperor Asoka made offerings to the chaitya of Sāriputta, which then existed here, and erected a temple over it. This statement was also confirmed in the accounts written by Xuanzang, who mentions that a stupa was built by Aśoka, where the

Venerable Sāriputta was born and attained nirvana, the relics of his mortal remains enshrined therein.

Taranath further adds that Nāgārjuna, the famous Mahāyāna Buddhist philosopher and alchemist of about the 2nd century AD, had studied at Nālandā and later became the high priest there. I do believe that an eminent teacher of his status studied at what was then the very inception of the study group that probably existed in the village of Saura, which on a miniature level could possibly have been the foundation of the elaborate Monastery-University that came into existence in the 5th Century AD. Elaborate monasteries, libraries, and halls for the stay of students etc. have been sponsored during the reign of the Gupta period.

5 Altekar, Anant Sadashiv, Education in Ancient India, 6th ed., Varanasi, India: Nand Kishore & Bros., 1965.6 Garten, Jeffrey E., ―Really Old School‖, New York Times, December 9, 2006.

7 ShashiTharoor, Reconstructing Nalanda, The Hindu, December 24, 2006. Retrieved October 18, 2007.

8 Beal, Samuel, Buddhism in China, Book ii, Kila, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2006: 167f.

Apart from Nāgārjuna, the other teachers who excelled in the study of the Dharma were teachers like

Suviṣṇu, Āryadeva and other famous Buddhist masters thus bringing us to the conclusion that the foundation of the Nālandā University was already a great seat of learning in the early centuries of the

Christian era, which unfortunately has not been borne out by the results of the excavations so far carried out at the excavated site. The excavations, however, reveal that the foundations of the great tradition of learning and monasticism, for which Nālandā later came to be known all over the Buddhist world, were laid sometime in the middle of the 5th Century when Kumāragupta - I (413-455 AD.) of the great Gupta dynasty was the ruling sovereign. This was fully borne out by what Xuanzang states later that " a former

Raja of the country named Sakraditya (Kumara Gupta -I) selected by augury a lucky spot and built here a monastery. From this time onwards Nālandā slowly rose to the fame and importance it acquired afterwards and a long succession of kings continued the work of expanding the University. Over the centuries other kings too contributed to the development of the University, one such monarch was king

Harṣa of Kanauj (606-647 AD.) who, being an ardent Buddhist himself was perhaps the most benevolent of all the royal patrons of Nālandā. The last kings to patronize Nālandā were the Pala emperors who ruled over Bihar from the eight to twelfth centuries. What was the real cause of the downfall of the Nālandā

University is a mere speculation. No one was sure of the actual cause of it losing its grace from a famous seat of Buddhist learning? All we have are a number of assumptions or speculations and not any concrete facts.

Nālandā during the Buddha’s time and its Buddhist connection:

The Buddha is mentioned as having several times stayed at Nālandā. When he visited Nālandā he would usually reside in Pāvārika's mango grove, and while there he had discussions with Upāli-Gahapati and

Dīghatapassī,10 with Kevatta,11 and also several conversations with Asibandhakaputta.12 The Buddha visited Nālandā during his last tour through Magadha, and it was there that Sāriputta uttered his "lion's roar," affirming his faith in the Buddha, shortly before his death.13The road from Rājagaha to Nālandā passed through Ambalatthikā,14 and from Nālandā it went on to Pāṭaligāma.15 According to the Kevatta

Sutta,16in the Buddha's time Nālandā was already an influential, prosperous, and populated town, though it was not untill later that it became the centre of learning for which it became famous. There is a record in the Saṃyutta Nikāya,17 of the town having been the victim of a severe famine during the Buddha's time.

Sāriputta, the right hand disciple of the Buddha, was born and died in Nālandā.18 In Jainism, Mahāvira is said to have mentioned as stayed several times at Nālandā, which was evidently also a centre of activity of the Jains. Mahāvira is believed to have attained Mokṣa at Pavāpuri, which is located near Nālandā. The

Dīgambar sect of Jainism also teaches that Mahāvira was born in the nearby village of Kunḍalpur.King

Aśoka (250 B.C.E.) is said to have built a temple in Nālandā.19 According to Tibetan sources, Nāgārjuna also taught there.20If the number of references to a particular settlement were to be used as the criterion of its importance to early Indian Buddhism, then that order of importance Nālandā appears 24 times i.e.

0.53%.21The Nālandā Mahāvihāra was the culmination of the vihāra system started at the time of

Buddha. The first vihāras were the makeshift dwellings made up of bamboos, this provided the Bhikkhus and the Saṃgha much needed shelter at time of Vassavāsa. A small cluster of such small units away from villages and towns made an ideal place for meditation and discourses. Nālandā Mahāvihāra holds a special status for it was the first of its kind where Monks didn‘t have to go to collect alms. All the arrangements for food,

lodging and basic necessities

were provided by the Kings

and the local community. This university which flourished uninterrupted for more than 8 centuries served as a benchmark for all later establishments. While one school of Buddhism or the other dominated at different periods, the all-inclusive and wide ranging outlook of Nālandā was maintained in keeping with the spirit of the Buddhist tradition.

9 See Taranath, History of Buddhism.

10 Saṃyutta Nikāya.II.110; Majjhima Nikāya.I.376ff.

11Dīgha Nikāya.I.211ff.12 Samyutta Nikāya II.311–23.

13Dīgha Nikāya.II.81f., iii.99ff.; Saṃyutta Nikāya V.159ff.14Dīgha Nikāya II.81; Vinaya Piṭaka II.287.

15Dīgha Nikāya. II.84

16Dīgha Nikāya, Kevatta Sutta, .I.211.

The subjects taught at Nālandā University covered every field of learning. Nālandā‘s curricula covered a wide range of subjects including all branches of

Buddhism,

other

Indian philosophical systems,

Chikitsāvidyā or Medicine, Astronomy, Geography, Mathematics, Hetuvidyā or Logic, Sabdavidyā or

Grammar and other arts and science subjects of the day. As the university was run by the Sangha,

Buddhist Studies assumed importance and pride of place at Nālandā. According to records the curriculum of Nālandā University at the time of Mañjuśrīmitra who was a respected Yogachara scholar and practitioner at Nālandā, included virtually the entire range of world knowledge then available. Courses were drawn from every field of learning, Buddhist and Hindu, sacred and secular, foreign and native.

Students studied science, astronomy, medicine, and logic as diligently as they applied themselves to metaphysics, philosophy, Samkhyā, Yogaśāstra, the Veda, and the scriptures of Buddhism. They studied foreign philosophy likewise. The scholars and Chancellors of Nālandā played a significant role in the propagation of the Buddha Dhamma outside India, in Nepal, Tibet, Central Asia, China and Southeast

Asia. Among the prominent ones were Atisa Dipaṅkara, Shantarakṣita, Kamalasila, and Padmasambhava.

A vast amount of what came to comprise Tibetan Buddhism, both its Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna traditions, stems from the late 9th–12th century Nālandā teachers and traditions. Most of Mañjuśrīmitra‘s works deal with a tantric or Vajrayāna Buddhism and these had a strong impact on Tibetan Buddhism. Other forms of

Buddhism, especially of Mahāyāna Buddhism followed in Vietnam, China, Korea and Japan, flourished within the walls of this ancient university. According to Hui-Li, a Chinese visitor, at a certain time,

Nālandā was held in contempt by some Theravādins for its emphasis on Mahāyāna philosophy.

Decline and end:

Well, now I would like to highlight the condition of Nālandā as it stand today. The present exposed

Nālandā was completely exposed in 1934. It was a great discovery made possible by the travelogues left to us by the 7thcentury visitor Xuanzang. The praise he showered on Nālandā Mahāsaṃgharāma and the painstaking detail with which he described each structure was one of the very big reasons that it made to

17 Saṃyutta Nikāya V.322.

18 Altekar, Anant Sadashiv, Education in Ancient India, 6th ed., Varanasi, India: Nand Kishore & Bros., 1965.

19

Ibid.20 Hopkins, Jeffrey, Meditation on Emptiness, (Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 1996).

21 See Sarao, K. T. S., Urban centres and Urbanization: As Reflected in the Pali Vinaya and Sutta Pitakas, 3rd revised edition, New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 2010: 206-207.

the top of the list of exploration. At the time, these excavations and exposition were more of an intellectual pursuit. Slowly people recognized the roots of there on culture in these half demolished buildings and it stands though it was not staged properly and never got its due regard beyond the religious and the intellectuals. Nālandā has traveled from being a much coveted university of royal patronage to being buried under the earth for centuries, to being discovered by explorers and now to the modern day chaos at it doorsteps. That was the past but now the lessons that were taught inside Nālandā centuries ago are inspiring us to find a new balance and seek peaceful, sustainable coexistence with our surroundings and Nālandā (that is insatiable in its offerings) is starting a new leg in this journey. As we have mentioned before, the universe provided us with right inspirations, help and support of the people; and we had this opportunity to develop a master plan for Nālandā.

What was the real cause of the downfall of the Nālandā University is a mere speculation. No one was sure of the actual cause of it losing its grace from a famous seat of Buddhist learning? All we have are a number of assumptions or speculations and not any concrete facts. Nālandā University was destroyed thrice: in the mid-5th (when it was only a few years old), early 7th and late 12th centuries. The first two times, Nālandā was rebuilt by the rulers of the day. But by the time Muslim invaders destroyed it for a third time in 1197, the enthusiasm for Buddhist learning had long declined and there was no ruler in the region with enough clout to restore the institution to its former glory. As a result, Nālandā has languished in its ruins ever since.

According to some Indian historians, increasing pressure on was felt on Nālandā from Brāhmaṇical society over the course of the 10th century.22 According to historian Prakash Buddh, a Yajña or fire sacrifice performed by Hindus resulted in a great conflagration which consumed Ratnabodhi, the ninestoried library of Nālandā.23 Satish Chandra Vidyabhusan, in his book, The Indian Logic, bases his description on Tibetan accounts to say that the quarter of the Nālandā University which hosted the grand library was called Dharmaganja (Piety Mart)24which reflects the importance of library. In his Social history of India, the historian Sadasivan states, "the enormous manuscript library of the University was set of fire by Trithikas (all sects of Brahmins) with the support of Jainas due to the mounting jealousy they

nurtured against the great center of learning."25

Due to the disappearance of Buddhism from India during the twelfth century, the university was in decline. In 1193 C.E., Nālandā University suffered a final blow after the complex was sacked by Muslim armies26 under Bakhtiyar Khilji; this event is seen as a milestone in the decline of Buddhism in India.

When the Tibetan translator ChagLotsawa later visited the site in 1235, he found it damaged and looted, but still functioning with a small number of monks. D. C. Ahir blames the destruction of the temples, monasteries, centers of learning at Nālandā and northern India for the demise of ancient Indian scientific thought in mathematics, astronomy, alchemy, and anatomy.27 Ling and Scott, however, point out that centres of learning were already declining, before the presence of Muslims armies.28 Fortified Sena dynasty monasteries along the main route of the invasion were destroyed, and being off the main route both Nālandā and Bodh Gaya survived. Many institutions off the main route such as the Jagaddalapura

Monastery in northern Bengal were untouched and flourishing. In 1193, the Nālandā University was sacked by the Islamic fanatic Bakhtiyar Khilji, a Turk;29 this event is seen by scholars as a late milestone in the decline of Buddhism in India. The Persian historian Minhaj-i-Siraj, in his chronicle the Tabaquat-INasiri, reported that thousands of monks were burned alive and thousands beheaded as Khilji tried his best to uproot Buddhism and plant Islam by the sword;30 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."31

22

Sadasivam, S. N., A Social History of India, p. 209, Altekar, Anant Sadashiv, Education in Ancient India, 6th ed.,

(Varanasi, India: Nand Kishore & Bros., 1965).

23 Buddh, Prakash, Aspects of Indian History and Civilisation, Agra 1965.

24 Vidyabhusan, Satish Chandra, The Indian Logic, p. 516.25 Sadasivam, S. N., A Social History of India, p. 209.

26

Scott, David, "Buddhism and Islam: Past to Present Encounters and Interfaith Lessons," Numen 42(2) (May,

1995).

27 Ahir, D. C., Buddhism Declined in India: How and Why? Delhi: B. R. Publishing, 2005.

28 Scott, David, "Buddhism and Islam: Past to Present Encounters and Interfaith Lessons," Numen 42(2) (May,

1995).

The last throne-holder of Nālandā, Sākyaśribhadra, fled to Tibet in 1204 CE at the invitation of the

Tibetan translator TropuLotsawa (Khro-phu Lo-tsa-baByams-pa dpal). In Tibet he started an ordination lineage of the Mūlasarvāstivādin lineage to complement the two existing ones. When the Tibetan translator ChagLotsawa Dharmaswamin (Chag Lo-tsa-ba, 1197–1264) visited the site in 1235, he found it

damaged and looted, with a 90-year-old teacher, Rahulaśribhadra, instructing a class of about 70

students.32

During ChagLotsawa Dharmaswamin 's time, there an incursion by Turkish soldiers caused the remaining students to flee. Despite all this, "remnants of the debilitated Buddhist community continued to struggle on under scare resources until c. 1400 CE when Chagalaraja was reportedly the last king to have patronized Nālandā."33 D. C. Ahir considers the destruction of the temples, monasteries, centers of learning at Nālandā and northern India to be responsible for the demise of ancient Indian scientific thought in mathematics, astronomy, alchemy, and anatomy.34―The Buddhism of Magadha was finally swept away by the Islamic invasion under Muhammad Bin Bakhtiar Khilji, during which many of the Viharas and the famed universities of Nālandā and Vikramshila were destroyed, and thousands of

Buddhist monks were massacred in 12th century C.E.‖L.L.S. Omalley and J.F.W. James in their book titled History of Magadha mentions that: ―The Buddhism of Magadha was finally swept away by the

Muhammadan invasion under Bakhtiyar Khilji. In 1197 the capital, Bihar, was seized by a small party of two hundred horsemen, who rushed the postern gate, and sacked the town.‖ Further, the slaughter of the

―shaven-headed Brāhmaṇas,‖ as the Muslim chronicler calls the Buddhist monks, ―was so complete that when the victor searched for a competent person to explain the contents of the library not a soul was

alive.‖35

Here is what Alexander Berzin states36: ―Although the Mithila rulers were Śaivite Hindus, they continued the Pala patronage of Buddhism and offered strong resistance against the Ghurids. They stopped, for example, an attempted drive to take Tibet in 1206.‖ Further he also states that ―The Sena king (a Hindu)

installed defensive garrisons at Odantapuri and Vikramaśīlā Monasteries, which were imposing walled citadels directly on the Ghurids‘ line of advance.‖37While Berzin believes that ―Nālandā escaped the fate of Odantapuri and Vikramśilā monasteries,‖38 he notes that ―When the Tibetan translator, Chag Lotsawa

Dharmasvamin, visited northern India in 1235, he found it (Nālandā) damaged, looted, and largely deserted, but still standing and functioning with seventy students and also found a small class still conducted in the ruins by a ninety-year old monk, Rahulaśribhadra. Weak and old, the teacher was kept fed and alive by a local Brahmin, Jayadeva. Warned of a roving band of Turks, the class dispersed, with

Dharmaswamin carrying his nonagenarian teacher on his back into hiding. Packing a raggedy bundle of surviving manuscripts under his robe, Dharmaswamin left the old monk sitting calmly amidst the ruins.

And both he and the Dharma of Sakyamuni made their exit from India.‖39

29 Ibid.

30

Young Oon Kim, India's Religious Quest, by Golden Gate Pub. Co: 1976.31Sen, Gertrude Emerson, The Story of Early Indian Civilization by. Orient Longmans: 1964.

32

http://www.nalandaopenuniversity.com/images/about.htm.

Retrieved 2010-02-22."The

Historical

Interaction between the Buddhist and Islamic Cultures before the Mongol Empire," The Berzin Archives.

33 Le HuuPhuoc, Buddhist Architecture, p. 60. Nalanda Digital Library.

http://www.nalanda.nitc.ac.in/about/NalandaHeritage.html.34 Ahir, D. C., Buddhism Declined in India: How and Why?, Delhi: B. R. Publishing, 2005.

35 Omalley, L.L.S., & James, J.F.W., History of Magadha, Veena Publication, Delhi, 2005: 35.

36 See Berzin, Alexander, The Historical Interaction between the Buddhist and Islamic Cultures before the Mongol

Empire.

37 Ibid.

According to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, ―The Musalman invaders sacked the Buddhist Universities of Nālandā,

Vikramshila, Jagaddala, Odantapuri to name only a few. They raised (sic) to the ground Buddhist monasteries with which the country was studded. The monks fled away in thousands to Nepal, Tibet and other places outside India. A very large number were killed outright by the Muslim commanders. How the

Buddhist priesthood perished by the sword of the Muslim invaders has been recorded by the Muslim historians themselves.‖ Summarizing the evidence relating to the slaughter of the Buddhist Monks perpetrated by the Turkish invaders, Vincent Smith says, ―….Great quantities of plunder were obtained, and the slaughter of the ‘shaven headed Brāhmaṇas‘, that is to say the Buddhist monks, was so thoroughly completed, that when the victor sought for someone capable of explaining the contents of the books in the libraries of the monasteries, not a living man could be found who was able to read them. ‗It was discovered,‘ we are told, ‗that the whole of that fortress and city was a college, and in the Hindi tongue they call a college Bihar.‘ Such was the slaughter of the Buddhist

Indian Renaissance or Plans of Revival of lost glory of Nālandā:

The new Nālandā University now being planned to be rebuilt will soon provide momentum to the systematic study of Buddhism in India of various shades and nuances. Two events led to the near extinction of Buddhism from the plains of India. One account as given by Xuanzang showed that crusades of Kumarila and Sankaracharya for revival of Hinduism in the 8th century was a potent factor in rendering Buddhism unpopular. The second event or the final blow was delivered by Muslim invaders.

Muhammad Bakhtiar Khalji at the end of the 12th Century destroyed Buddhist religious infrastructure such as Nālandā. However, the knowledge and literature of Buddhism rather than being available in India was preserved or we can even say became ingrained and further developed in Tibet before it was eliminated in India. This lost literature is available in Tibetan and Chinese and not in Sanskrit. Besides, in recent times, a new trend is emerging with international dimensions: more and more Westerners are getting attracted to Tibetan Buddhism. One Chinese author has estimated about two lakh American and

European converts in the last 25 years. Buddhism is getting truly globalized. What is unique is that we are now at a stage where we can facilitate the consolidation of this great religion – which was the result of the hard work and influence of Indian monks, philosophers and travellers in the past such as Santaraksita,

Padmasambhav, Kamalasila, Atisha Dipaṅkara, Tilopa, Naropa, Dharmarakṣa, Kasyapa Mātaṅga , Ānand and Bodhidharma and others.

The new Nālandā University now being planned to be rebuilt will soon provide momentum to the systematic study of Buddhism in India of various shades and nuances. According to ShashiTharoor,

Nālandā was destroyed three times by invaders, but only rebuilt twice. The first time was when the Huns under Mihirakula laid waste to the campus during the reign of Skandagupta (455- 67CE), when Nālandā was only a few decades old. Skandagupta‘s successors rebuilt it. The second destruction came a century and a half later, with an assault by the Gaudas in early seventh century. This time the great Hindu king

Harṣavardhana (606-48 CE) restored the university. Nearly 800 years after its founding, Nālandā was destroyed a third time and burnt by Turkish Muslim invaders under Bakhtiar Khilji in 1197 CE. This time there was no reconstruction. Shashi Tharoor argues that if we are to rebuild it after 800 years, we will need not just money but the will to excellence, not just a physical plant but a determined spirit. A great

University is the finest advertisement for the society that sustains it. If we recreate Nālandā, it must be as a university worth its name – and we must be a society worthy of a 21stcentury Nālandā. It may be admitted that it is ―fast assuming the leadership role of the Buddhist world,‖ no comprehensive long- term strategic thought has been given to India nurturing and using this spiritual and cultural power to its advantage. The upcoming Nālandā University will take its rightful place in the Buddhist world.

In the twentyfirst century, ambitious plans for the revival of Nālandā University have been announced with wealthy patrons. At the 98th Indian Science Congress held at Chennai, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, head of the Nālandā Mentor Group, during his keynote address assured the nation that although restoring

Bihar‘s Nālandā University was a stupendous task given the hype generated over its revival and the huge expectation from the international community, the proposed university — a reincarnation of the world famous seat of learning in ancient India — was ―being re-started right now‖. However, the Indian

Parliament already passed the Nālandā University Bill with the Planning Commission with an endowment fund in the form of a special grant for the commencement of activities. It deserves mention that former

President APJ Abdul Kalam, during his official visit to Singapore in 2006, first floated the idea of the restoration of Nālandā University with all its pristine glory and excellence in a modern makeover. He then expounded his vision while addressing the Bihar Assembly. The Bihar government lost no time in taking up the matter in right earnest. It passed a bill in 2007 to establish Nālandā University. Its sustained effort to spread the idea of the revival of the renowned seat of learning in course of ―Nālandā Symposium‖ in

November 2006 caught the fancy of East Asian countries, especially China, Japan and Korea. It also worked in tandem with Japan to raise resources to give a concrete shape to the plan. The move received a further fillip with the Japanese diplomat Noro Motoyasu‘s announcement on 28 May 2007 that Japan would fund the university substantially. The East Asia Summit, a conglomeration of Asean plus six countries ie China, Japan, India, Korea, Australia and New Zealand provided further boost to the project in 2007. Again in 2009, at its fourth summit, it made a fervent plea to its members to make ―appropriate funding arrangements on a voluntary basis from government and other sources including public-private partnership‖ for this ―non-state, non-profit, secular and self-governing international institution.‖ The new university is likely to embrace the same seal of the ancient Buddhist University as its emblem in deference to its historic legacy.

One, however, reasonably hopes that the university ―aimed at advancing the concept of an Asian community... and rediscovering old relationships‖ will soon resurrect as an academic melting pot for students and teachers of the whole world as paucity of funds and bureaucratic red tape have not so far been a bottleneck to its restoration. It is unfortunate that this ancient centre of higher learning, known as

―one of the first great universities in recorded history‖ that served the international academic community for more than 700 years since its establishment in the fifth century ceased to exist after Afghan conqueror

Bakhtiyar Khilji destroyed it in 1193. Otherwise, it would have been placed on the same pedestal as

Oxford and Cambridge universities. Nālandā could also be compared with the oldest European university at Bologna which, according to Professor Sen, came up when ―Nālandā was more than 600 years old…

Had it not been destroyed and had it managed to survive to our time, Nālandā would be, by a long margin, the oldest university in the world.‖ Nālandā was established some 500 years before the Al-Azhar

University in Cairo (970 AD.)

In the history of universities and learning, Nālandā‟s name is sacred and its end was a tragic episode and everything was burnt down but its illustrious legacy has remained forever. Re-discovering or restoration of Nālandā University would be consider as a symbol of Indian Renaissance because after this India will re-emerges on the world stage and its civilizational origins will become a subject of intense study and debate. Indians will look back to their own past and derive inspiration from it for the future. Most importantly, it will “emphasise the importance of eastern intellectual endeavour and ensure that human cultural understanding is not dominated by the Western civilizational model”.

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