Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c32.s1.29

c32.s1.29

**1,500 Teachers in Charge of 8,500 Students.** Out of the total number of 10,000 resident monks at Nālandā, as many as 1,510 belonged to the ranks of teachers. Of these, "there are 1,000 men who can explain twenty collections of Sūtras and Śāstras; 500 who can explain thirty collections and perhaps 10 (including Hiuen Tsang) who can explain fifty collections." Over them all, and over the entire establishment, presided Śīlabhadra, unique in learning and character. He "alone has studied and understood the whole number (of the collections of the Sūtras and Śāstras). His eminent virtue and advanced age have caused him to be regarded as the chief member of the community" (*Life*, p. 112).