Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c30.126

c30.126

**Other Monasteries noted as Centres of Learning.** In addition to the monasteries singled out by Hiuen Tsang for their teachers or books, there were a few others for which he has a general word of commendation. The Kanishka Vihāra at Purushapura was full of "Arhats and Śāstra-makers who by their pure conduct and perfect virtue were still an active influence". The monastery of Pushkarāvatī was the resort of "many Buddhist sages from Mid-India". The few monks in the extant monasteries of Udyāna, once a flourishing centre of Buddhism, were noted for their strict intellectual and moral life. The monasteries in the Śrughna country were so famous for the erudition of their monks that distinguished monks from other lands came to them to have their doubts solved. The Tīloshika monastery of Magadha is described as "the rendezvous of eminent scholars who flocked to it from all regions". The Mahābodhi Monastery at Gayā was distinguished for the perfection in the Vinaya observances on the part of all its 1,000 ecclesiastics. One of the monasteries in Puṇyavardhana attracted by its reputation many distinguished monks from "East India". The Raktāmṛita Monastery in Karṇasuvarṇa was the resort of illustrious brethren. The Kāñchipura Monastery is also described "as a rendezvous for the most eminent men of the country", whither flocked 300 monks from Ceylon at the time of Hiuen Tsang's visit, as we have already seen. Thus all these monasteries were then enjoying almost an all-Indian reputation as seats of Buddhist learning and culture.