Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c30.129

c30.129

**Contents of Higher Education at the Monasteries determined by the particular Buddhist Schools to which they belonged.** As regards the higher education as imparted by the monasteries, the best details are given by our pilgrim in connection with the working of the Nālandā University to be noticed later. The education of the monasteries may be best considered under two aspects, theoretical (concerning curricula and studies) and practical (concerning conduct and discipline). The studies and curricula adopted by a monastery would depend upon the particular sect of Buddhism with which it was connected. As many as eighteen sects of Buddhism are mentioned by Hiuen Tsang, besides the grand division into the Great and Little Vehicles. Each sect had its own special literature bearing upon its characteristic tenets and practices and claimed a number of monasteries for their study and propagation. We have already seen how the monks and monasteries were distributed among the various schools of Buddhist thought at the time of Hiuen Tsang’s visit. Thus in one monastery we find how the course of studies comprised the five redactions of the Vinaya of the Hīnayāna School under the names of Dharmagupta, Mahīśāsika, Kāśyapīya, Sarvāstivādin, and Mahāsaṁghika (i, p. 226). Another specialized in the teaching of Sautrantika Literature, the study of which detains the pilgrim there (p. 322), while there were others known for the study of Abhidharma works by which the pilgrim is attracted (e.g. see pp. 292, 297, etc.).