Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c30.125

c30.125

**Those noted for their Teachers or Libraries.** But the record of these monasteries in producing great scholars was also continuing even at the time of Hiuen Tsang's travels. Hiuen Tsang broke his journey at several monasteries which were renowned as seats of learning either for their teachers or for their libraries and rare books. Thus in Kashmir the king appointed Bhadanta with his disciples to minister to the needs of the pilgrim and twenty clerks to copy out the MSS. he wanted from the Palace Library, and under these satisfactory arrangements Hiuen Tsang spent two years studying certain Sūtras and Śāstras. In the Nagaradhana Vihāra, in Jālandhara country, Hiuen Tsang found a distinguished scholar named Chandravarma under whom he studied for four months. In one of the monasteries of the Śrughna country he spent one whole winter and half of the spring following in receiving lessons from the learned scholar Jayagupta. In a monastery in Matipur he came across a profound scholar, Mitrasena by name, then 90 years of age, who was a disciple of Guṇaprabha, one of whose works was found in the library there by Hiuen Tsang who remained for several months in studying it. The Bhadravihāra was a noted college in Kanyākubja, where Hiuen Tsang stayed for three months in studying under Vīryasena. In the Śvetapura Monastery, in the Vaiśālī country, the pilgrim obtained a copy of a Mahāyāna treatise. In the Tīloshika Monastery near Nālandā was then living a distinguished scholar, Prajñābhadra by name. In Monghyr the pilgrim stayed for a year, receiving instruction from the teachers, Tathāgatagupta and Kshāntisiṁha. The monks of the Pūrvaśilā and Avaraśilā monasteries were noted for their proficiency in Abhidharma works, for the study of which the pilgrim spent there several months. In the Kāñchipura Monastery the pilgrim discussed Yoga texts with many Bhikshus who had just arrived there from Ceylon. Lastly, on his way back the pilgrim stayed for two years in a monastery in Jummoo (Po-fa-to) studying with a few learned monks he had found there.