Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c32.s6.18

c32.s6.18

**Spread of Indian Learning to Foreign Countries.** We have already seen how the products of these Universities, the scholars trained by them, distinguished themselves by their work in foreign countries like Tibet, China, and the islands of the Indian Archipelago, in a singular spirit of adventure in voyages of discovery to unknown lands, and of dedication to the cause of Learning for its own sake, as exiles from their own native place. The work of these self-sacrificing scholars in the extension of Indian Learning and Culture to foreign countries so as to build up a Greater India beyond the boundaries of India proper is one of the greatest achievements in India's long history, and the best testimony to the value and vitality of Indian thought fostered in these Indian Schools and Universities. The Buddhist Civilization of China was the work of a succession of Indian scholars continued for several centuries. Some of these were, as we have seen, students of Nālandā, but many others hailed from other centres of learning in Northern India and made China their adopted home to carry on their missionary enterprise.