The University of Nalanda c11.14

c11.14

The University found another great pandit in the person of Diṅnāga. Asaṅga and Vasubandhu made the University famous by placing their services at its altar. Diṅnāga restored its fame when it was on the point of being humiliated by the Brāhmaṇ Sudūrjaya. The circumstances under which Diṅnāga was brought to Nālandā according to Taranath were as follows: A great contest took place between the pandits of Nālandā and the Brāhmaṇ Sudūrjaya. The former found it hard to discuss with the Brāhmaṇ, who was well-versed in dialectics. So they sent for Diṅnāga. Diṅnāga, though a native of Siṃha Vaktra, a suburb of Kāñcī, in the South, at the time when he was sent for by the pandits of Nālandā was living in a cave on Bhoraśaila in Odivisa. And the story goes that he thrice defeated the Tirthyas in the debate. After the controversy was over, he began to preach the Abhidhamma; he also composed many dialectical śāstras and is said to have composed in all 100 śāstras.¹ Reference to his important works and his contribution to Logic we have noted previously.