The University of Nalanda c10.3

c10.3

In stating the curriculum that was followed at Nālandā we have to be very cautious, for the reason that we meet with statements which, unless they are properly scrutinized, would seem contradictory. Hiuen Tsiang¹ says, for instance, that one (a student) must have studied deeply both old and new (books) before getting admission (at Nālandā). By "old and new books" Hiuen Tsiang evidently refers to works such as *Vēdas*, *Upaniṣads*, works of different systems—*Sāṃkhya*, *Vaiśeṣika*, *Nyāya* and all the works of Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna Buddhism. Thus we find that a student was supposed to have knowledge of these subjects before he sought admission at Nālandā.