On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v2.c20.107

v2.c20.107

Our pilgrim does not accept the explanation of the name Nālandā which derives it from that of the dragon of the tank in the Mango Park, but I-ching was satisfied with this explanation.¹ Yuan-chuang preferred the Jātaka story which referred the name to the epithet “Insatiable in giving (na-alam-dā)” given to Buddha in a former existence as king of this country. In the Buddhist scriptures, however, we find mention of a Nālandā village near Rājagriha with a Pāvārik (or Pāvā) Mango Park in Buddha’s time;² and the word *āmra* (mango) seems to be used as the name of the original owner of the site of the Nālandā establishment.