Education in Ancient India c8.s3.29

c8.s3.29

Courses for Laymen in Buddhist Colleges : For reasons already explained at p. 72, Buddhist monastic colleges began to take up the education of the laymen also from about the beginning of the Christian era. The courses prescribed for them were not radically different from those obtaining under sister institutions working under the aegis of Hinduism. Students started with a study of Sanskrit grammar and literature, which lasted for seven or eight years. They were also given some grounding in Pāli; as pious Buddhists, they had to master some passages from the Pāli canon. At about the age of 15 or 16, their higher education commenced. Those who wanted to specialise in Sanskrit literature, Dharmaśāstra, astrology-cum-astronomy, medicine or works on polity and administration used to follow practically the same course as was in vogue in the Hindu colleges of the period. Those however who wanted to specialise in logic or philosophy used to select works by Buddhist authors on these subjects like Hetuvidyā, Abhidharmaśāstra, Nyāyānusāraśāstra etc. The followers of the Hīnayāna school used to specialise in Tripīṭakas and other early works of orthodox Buddhism, whereas those of the Mahāyāna school used to study the works of their famous scholars like Nāgārjuna, Vasubandhu and Dharmakīrti. Besides mastering their own works on philosophy, the Buddhist scholars used to study Hindu works on metaphysics as well.