The University of Nalanda c12: Chapter VI

The University of Nālandā c12

Language: English

Chapter VI

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Excavations at Nālandā have brought to light numerous images in bronze, and stone. They are worked out in such a variety of shapes that it is but natural to inquire what the University had to do with so many variegated images. Further, what part, if any, they played in the education of the student. It is these and other questions that are discussed in this Chapter.

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Theology, we said in Chapter IV, was compulsory for the student. Its study, however, did not consist in a mere theoretical knowledge of the subject. The student was required to perform the religious rites and worship of images which he had read in books. Of course, these rites and ceremonies were mainly those taught by the later Mahāyāna Buddhism. Only such rites as *Chaityavandana* (which is described below) belonged to the early Buddhism. The worship of images was a distinct feature of the Mahāyāna.

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The rites at Nālandā began with a bath in the morning. "Every morning," writes I-Tsing, "a *ghanti* is sounded to remind the priests of bathing-hour. Sometimes a hundred, sometimes a thousand (priests) leave the monastery together and proceed in all directions towards a number of great pools of water (near Nālandā) where all of them take a bath."[1] From the graphic description quoted above, it would appear that a morning bath was obligatory for all and that it could not be taken at any time one liked but at the prescribed hour only.

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¹ I-Tsing, o.c., pp. 108-9.

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This bath was followed by the Ablution of the Holy Image (Buddha). "The priest in charge (Karmadāna)", says I-Tsing, "strikes a *Ghantā* (a gong) for an announcement. After stretching a jewelled canopy over the court of the monastery, and ranging perfumed water-jars in rows at the side of the temple, an image of either gold, silver, copper or stone is put in a basin of the same material, while a band of girls plays music there. The image having been anointed with scent, water with perfume is poured over it....,.....After having been washed, it is wiped with a clean white cloth; then it is set up in the temple where all sorts of beautiful flowers are furnished."¹ These rites, however, were to be performed "by the resident members under the management of the priest in charge."² Hence we may call this rite a public-rite.

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¹ I-Tsing, o.c., pp. 147-9.

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² *Ibid.*, p. 149.

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The statement immediately following the above will make our remark explicit: "In individual apartments of a monastery," continues the same author, "priests bathe an image every day so carefully that no ceremony is omitted."³ We are not told what the next rite was after placing the image in a temple. But we presume that the priest must be chanting some *stotras*, or *mantras*, etc.

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³ *Ibid.*

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But this was not all. Late in the afternoon or in the evening twilight another rite was gone through. This was the *Caityavandana*. I-Tsing has given a very vivid description of this ceremony. "All the assembled priests come out of the gate of their monastery, and walk three times round a Stūpa, offering incense and flowers. They all kneel down, and one of them who sings well begins to chant hymns describing the various virtues of the Great Teacher with a melodious, pure and sonorous voice, and continues to sing ten or twenty *ślokas*. They in succession return to the place in the monastery where they usually assemble. When all of them have sat down, a Sūtra-reciter, mounting the Lion-seat (*Simhāsana*), reads a short Sūtra. The Lion-seat of well proportioned dimensions is placed near the head priest. Among the scriptures which are to be read on such an occasion the ‘Service in three parts’ is often used. This is a selection by the venerable Aśvaghosha. The first part containing ten ślokas consists of a hymn in praise of the three ‘Honourable Ones’ (Triratna). The second part is a selection from some scriptures consisting of the Buddha’s words. After the hymn, and after reading the words of the Buddha, there is an additional hymn, as the third part of the service, of more than ten ślokas, being prayers that express the wish to bring one’s good merit to maturity.

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These three sections follow one another consecutively, from which its name—the Three-part service—is derived. When this is ended, all the assembled priests exclaim ‘Subhāshita’!

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After the Sūtra-reciter has descended, the head priest rising bows to the Lion-seat. That done, he salutes the seats of the saints, and then he returns to his own. Now the priest second in rank rising salutes them in the same manner as the first, and afterwards bows to the head priest.

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When he has returned to his own seat, the priest third in rank performs the same ceremonies, and in the same manner do all the priests successively.¹

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¹ Ibid., pp. 152-4.

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The above was the usual mode of Caityavandana. But at Nālandā, the same worship was performed in a slightly different manner because it was difficult to assemble a large number of priests in one place. At Nālandā, therefore, the worship was performed in the following manner. “Every day,” says I-Tsing, “it is customary to send out one precentor to go round from place to place chanting hymns, being preceded by monastic lay servants and children carrying with them incense and flowers. He goes from one hall to another, and in each he chants the service, every time three or five ślokas in a high tone and the sound is heard all around. At twilight he would finish his duty.”²

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² Ibid., pp. 154-5.

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FIGURE OF BUDDHA DEPICTING SCENES FROM HIS LIFE (FROM JAGDISPURA—NEAR NALANDA)

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We have given above two modes of Caityavandana, one prevalent at Tāmralipti, the other at Nālandā. And the reason for this procedure is that though I-Tsing says that the first method was prevalent at Tāmralipti, still it appears, after going through the whole narrative, that sometimes even the first method of Caityavandana was followed at Nālandā, when it would be convenient to do so.

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I-Tsing concludes his description of the rituals with the words, "In addition (to the above referred to Caityavandanas?) there are some who, sitting alone, facing the shrine (Gandhakuṭī), praise the Buddha in their heart. There are others who, going to the temple, (in a small party) kneel side by side with their bodies upright, and, putting their hands on the ground, touch it with their heads and thus perform the Threefold Salutation."¹

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¹ Ibid., p. 155.

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It is a little surprising that neither Hiuen Tsiang nor I-Tsing speak of any of the Tāntric images and their worship. I-Tsing only refers to the images of Buddha and Hārītī,² and Hiuen Tsiang, though he does mention Tārā,³ Avalokiteśvara, Hārītī,⁴ Buddha, Bodhisattva, never speaks of any other image, such as Mārīcī, Jambhala, Mahākāla—all Tāntric images—or of Viṣṇu, Śiva, Pārvatī, Sūrya, Gaṇeśa, and many others which have been discovered at Nālandā and many places in Magadha.

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² Ibid., p. 37.

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³ o.c., II, pp. 103 & 174.

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⁴ Ibid., I, p. 110.

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As a necessary complement to our account of the Nālandā ritualism, we shall describe in the following pages some of the most important images from the point of view of Buddhist iconography.

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The images are carved out of black stone, white sandstone, and sometimes cast in copper and bronze.

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The whole find of images may be classified into three parts, as belonging to Early Mahāyāna (pantheon), Tāntric Mahāyāna (pantheon) and Hindu pantheon.¹

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¹ Coomaraswamy (*History of Indian and Indonesian Art*, p. 113) has the following classification: Early Mahāyāna types, with Buddha and Bodhisattva images and votive *stūpas*; then marking the development of the Tantrayāna on the basis of the older Yogācāra doctrines, the appearance of Śaiva influences and images; and finally the introduction of the Kālacakra system with Vaiṣṇava figures.

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Originally I intended to describe only a few of the images found at Nālandā. But just when the manuscript was being sent to the press, Kempers published his book on "*The Bronzes of Nālandā and Hindu-Javanese Art*". In it he refers to some unique images, of both the Buddhist and Hindu pantheon, discovered at Nālandā. And I think it fit to incorporate some of them here.

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In this iconographical description of images we may proceed in a chronological order, that is, in the order in which they arose in the Buddhist pantheon.²

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² This, however, will have no reference to the actual time of the production of the images. For many of the images of Buddha, though they rank first in the pantheon, belong to a very late period, about the 8th or 9th century A.D., to the time of the Pālas.

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The images of Buddha, thus, come first. Of such images we take the bronze figure of Buddha.³ It is standing on a lotus without a nimbus or an aureole. The right hand is raised in the *Abhaya-mudrā*, the left holding the hem of the upper garment. The robe covers both the shoulders and ends on both sides of the body in a fold in the shape of a swallow's tail. The usual marks: *ūrṇā*, elongated ears, etc., are present. The hair is arranged in little curls, and the *uṣṇīṣa* is rather high.

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³ See pl. I. For another bronze Buddha, but in a different posture, see *A. S. I. A. R.*, 1928-29, pl. LVII (a).

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Kempers, after first trying to show if it is Dīpaṃkara comes to the conclusion that it is 'Buddha'.⁴

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⁴ *Nālandā Bronzes*, p. 18.

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We may compare this bronze Buddha, admittedly of the Pāla art, with the huge stone figure of Buddha from Jagdiś- pura, a mile away from Nālandā.¹

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¹ *See* pl. II.

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MAITREYA (FUTURE BUDDHA) (FROM NALANDA)

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Next to draw our attention are the images of Maitreya, (Future Buddha), Mañjuśri, Avalokiteśvara and other Bodhisattvas.

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We have a very fine specimen of Maitreya in a stone image.² It is a standing figure, richly decorated with ornaments. Its right hand is in *Varadamudrā*, boon-giving pose; in the left there is an oval vase, and also the hem of the upper garment. As in the Buddha described above, the robe covers both the shoulders and ends on both sides of the body in a fold in the shape of a swallow's tail. On the left of the figure, in a corner, there is a worshipper.³

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² *See* pl. III.

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³ For other figures of Maitreya from Nālandā *see* Kempers, o.c., p. 31.

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Kempers gives a beautiful figure of Mañjuśri, Buddhist god of learning and wisdom, and a six-armed Avalokiteśvara, and references to a number of figures of Lokeśvara (No. 43, 57, 62, 116).⁴

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⁴ *See* o.c., pp. 27-30, figures 5 and 6.

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From amongst other Bodhisattvas found at Nālandā we describe one that is lying in the Museum of the Indian Historical Research Institute, Bombay. It is carved out in black stone. The figure of Bodhisattva (in the centre) is seated with *Dhyānamudrā*, in *Vajrāsana* on a lotus. The face is badly disfigured. All round the figure there is a beautiful scroll design, besides figures of Buddhas (?), a swan, a horse and symbols of Buddhist *Triratna*.⁵

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⁵ *See* pl. IV.

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We may compare with the above—a peculiar figure from Nālandā—Samantabhadra or Kṣitigarbha. "It is a Bodhisattva sitting with his right leg folded, the left knee being raised and fastened to the waist by means of the shawl which usually is carried round the upper part of the body. The right arm is broken at the elbow, the left holds a stalk or branch with three ramifications ending in buds or jewels''.¹

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¹ Kempers, o.c., p. 31, figure 9.

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Of the gods and goddesses of the Buddhist pantheon we first describe the goddesses Hāritī and Tārā. Worship of these images was prevalent among the Buddhists from a very early date. Figures of Hāritī can be traced even to the Greeko-Gāndhāra art.² And there is no doubt that both Hāritī and Tārā were worshipped at Nālandā. As I-Tsing says, "The image of Hāritī is found either in the porch or in a corner of the dining-hall of all Indian monasteries depicting her as holding a babe in her arms, and round her knees three or five children. Every day an abundant offering of food is made before this image".³ The Nālandā figure of Hāritī illustrates well the description given by I-Tsing. "The goddess is sitting in the Lalitāsana on a seat, adorned with vyālaka motif; a worshipper is pictured to the proper right. In front of the pedestal we notice a mirror, a dish with offerings(?) and a vase. The attributes of the goddess are a lemon in the right hand, the left holding a child which is sitting on her left knee".⁴

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² Figure of one of such images we have in the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay.

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³ o.c., p. 37.

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⁴ Kempers, o.c., p. 46, figure 24.

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A number of figures of the goddess Tārā has been unearthed. And it is quite certain that Tārā was also worshipped at Nālandā. Of the numerous such images, the one described below is perhaps the finest so far as art is concerned.⁵ It is cast in bronze. The figure is seated in Vajrāsana on a lotus, supported by two dwarfish figures. On the pedestal, to the proper right, is a worshipper. In all there are 18 arms. The two principal ones are held in Dharmakramudrā against the breasts; others hold different kinds of emblems which are not clearly visible. It is fully decked with ornaments—crown, [Figure: BODHISATTVA FROM NALANDA (INDIAN HISTORICAL RESEARCH MUSEUM) St. Xavier's College, Bombay]

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⁵ See pl. V.

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BRONZE FIGURE OF 18 ARMED TARA (?) (FROM NALANDA)

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earrings, necklace, armlets, girdle, etc. Behind the figure, there is a circular *Prabhā*, rich in decoration, on the centre of which there are two figures—probably Vidyādharas—bearing a beautiful umbrella.

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The *Guide* merely calls the figure "18 armed Tārā".¹ But this is not enough from iconographical point of view. The number of arms is indeed very peculiar and we fail to identify or find a corresponding *Sādhana* referred to by Battacharyya in his *Buddhist Iconography*. If there were a book in any of the hands then that symbol coupled with the *Dharmacakra-mudrā* would have warranted us to call it a special figure of Prajñāpāramitā.² Can it be a figure of Mahā Śrī Tārā?

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Kempers describes other specimens of Tārā found at Nālandā.³ Of these, the figure of Śyāma Tārā is worth noting. Of Bhṛkuṭi Tārā or Gaurī, Kempers says that "We may safely assume that the goddess was actually worshipped at Nālandā."⁴

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Other goddesses found at Nālandā and which belong to the Early Mahāyāna pantheon are Prajñāpāramitās⁵ and Vasudhārā.⁶

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From amongst the second class we first describe one of the emanations of Dhyāni Buddha, Akṣobhaya, namely, Vajrapāṇi. This figure is seated on a lotus in *Lalitāsana* pose with attendant figures on either side of its hanging leg. It has two hands, the right one holds a *vajra* and seems to rest on the breast; the left rests on the lotus seat and holds a lotus stalk. Among the ornaments are armlets, necklace, and a girdle. It wears a crown, and the hair hang down in curls on two sides of the head.

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There is no Dhyāni Buddha in the tiara, but two such are represented on sides in *Abhayamudrā*. On the back and

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(1) *Guide to Nālandā*, pl. VI, p. 7.
(2) Battacharyya, *Buddhist Iconography*, p. 126.
(3) Kempers, o. c., p. 40, figures 13 and 20.
(4) *Ibid.*, p. 42, figure 15.
(5) *Ibid.*, p. 43, figures 17 and 18.
(6) *Ibid.*, pp. 44-45, figure 21.

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above the central figure and the Dhyāni Buddhas there is a stūpa; on the left side of the lotus-stalk and on the pedestal there are inscriptions.

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Of the later Tantrayāna pantheon, the most striking figures found at Nālandā are those of Trailokyavijaya, Heruka, Mārīcī, Jambhala, etc.

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A stone image of a god who tramples over Maheśvara and Gaurī represents Trailokyavijaya, one of the independent gods of the Tantrayāna Buddhist pantheon.¹

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¹ See Bhattacharyya, o. c., pp. 146-7; pl. XXIX (c).

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So also the stone-image, dancing in Ardhaparyaṅka on a lotus, the right hand bearing a vajra raised up, the left holding something like a bowl, and supporting a khaṭvāṅga on his left shoulder and wearing a garland of skulls, answers to the description of the most popular of Tāntric gods, Heruka.²

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² Ibid., pp. 61-62.

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Jambhala, the Buddhist god of wealth, is also found at Nālandā and we have got very interesting specimens of him in Nos. 202 and 641 (which represent a group of Jambhalas).³

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³ See Kempers, o.c., pp. 33-34, figure 11 and A. S. I. A. R., 1927-28, p. 160.

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Of Mārīcī though we have a good specimen in bronze figure 389, still we find a very beautiful image lying at some distance from the monastery area.⁴ It is about six feet in height with a Prabhā all round. It has three faces, the left face is that of a boar; eight arms: the right ones hold sword, vajra, arrow, fourth (broken); the left ones, bow, aṅkuśa........

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⁴ See pl. VI.

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Besides the central figure there are three figures of females, two on either side of the legs and one underneath the central figure. All have the faces of a boar. These three are the three among four companions—Varttālī, Vadālī, Varālī and Varāhamukhī. Underneath the hands, on the left side, we have the figure of a flying woman.

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MARICI (FROM NALANDA)

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VAJRASARADA (FROM NALANDA)

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She wears a big lower garment, a necklace, a girdle and a crown. The mass of rays in which she happily resides, as the Sādhana says, are very beautifully portrayed. This description very nearly corresponds to the one given by Bhattacharyya of Māricīpicuvā.¹

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¹ Bhattacharyya, o.c., p. 96.

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Other Tāntric images found at Nālandā which have been already taken note of are Yamāntaka, Vajrasattva, Aparājitā, Mañjuvara and Vajrapāṇi. Of this group, Vajrapāṇi belongs to the Divine Bodhisattvas. His main characteristics are that he holds a vajra and in his tiara carries the image of his spiritual father Akṣobhaya.² Mañjuvara forms one of the varieties of the popular god Mañjuśrī. The Nālandā image bears all the signs—*Dharmacakramudrā*, Lion-vehicle, *Prajñāpāramitā* on lotus—except the last, *viz.*, the sitting attitude, which must be either *Lalita* or *Ardhaparyaṅka*, whereas in the figure it is *Paryaṅka*.³

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² *Ibid.*, p. 9 and pl. XII (c).

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³ *Ibid.*, p. 25, pl. XV (b); also *A. S. I. A. R.*, 1919-20, pl. V (a).

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The finds have yielded one of the most unique types of Tantrayāna or better Kālacakrayāna images in the figure of Yamāntaka. It has three faces, bearing a protruding tongue, canine teeth, two eyes (though the Sādhana requires three) and contortions of the brows. It has a big belly, is short and dwarfish . . . . . He carries the sword, *vajra*, *muśala*(?) in the three right hands, and lasso, the *ghaṇṭā* and axe (?) in the three left. He rides a buffalo, stands in the *Pratyā-līḍha* attitude, and wears a garland of severed human heads.⁴

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⁴ *Ibid.*, p. 72, pl. XXVI(b); also *A. S. I. A. R.*, 1920-21, p. 39, pl. I.

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Another female figure, though identified as Koṭiśrī,⁵ seems to be the image of Vajraśaradā, though she does not fully satisfy the requirement of the Sādhana. Here she is sitting in *Bhadrāsana* on a lotus and her companions also have the same attitude; one of the figures carries *utpala* and the book.⁶

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⁵ *A. S. I. A. R.*, 1919-20, pl. IV (a).

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⁶ See pl. VII; and Bhattacharyya, o.c., p. 151.

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The fragmentary figure on the right is identified with the Buddhist goddess Aparājitā.¹ She is trampling upon Gaṇeśa. The figure to the right of the principal goddess seems to be Indra, and the rod held by him seems to be the handle of the parasol required to be held by the gods beginning with Brahmā. If the image were not broken, we could have expected the *Capetadānamudrā* in the right hand of the goddess and the *Tarjanīpāśa* in the left, and a parasol in continuation of the broken handle.²

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¹ *See* pl. VIII.

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² Bhattacharyya, o.c., p. 154, pl. XLI (d). For a complete image from the Indian Museum, *see* Ibid., pl. XLII (a).

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The images of the Hindu pantheon found at Nālandā are those of Viṣṇu, Sūrya (M. No. 1, 887),³ Saraswatī and Gaṅgā; Balarāma and Anant Vāsudeva (M. No. 1, 442), Śiva, Pārvatī and Gaṇeśa (M. No. 4, 63 and 90).

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³ The brackets give the registered number of the images in the Nālandā Museum, and the number of the monastery where they were found.

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We have a very beautiful image of Viṣṇu, prepared in the reign of the Pāla King, Devapāladeva.⁴ “It is a deity standing between two attendants; a hand consisting of snake-head forms a canopy over his head; the attributes are : a small oblong object, a mace, a second mace or staff (!) and the discus. The *vanamālā* hangs down from the shoulders. Of the attendants the one on the proper right bears a vase, and the other a dish with fruits or something similar”.⁵

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⁴ *See* French, *Art of the Pāla Empire*, pl. X.

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⁵ Kempers, o.c., p. 36. For another bronze Viṣṇu, from Nālandā, *see* A. S. I. A. R., 1928-29, pl. LVII (b).

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Kempers has a fine figure of Saraswatī in *Tribhaṅga* pose, with an attendant on either side.⁶ The figure of Gaṅgā is “shown standing on an animal which looks like a blend of elephant and *makara*. Her right hand is hanging down, whilst on the palm of her left hand she lifts a vase to the height of her shoulders.”⁷

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⁶ *See* Ibid., p. 47; fig. 23.

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⁷ *See* Ibid., pp. 48-49; fig. 25.

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[Figure: APARAJITA (FROM NALANDA)]

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Of the remaining Hindu gods we have neither photographs nor descriptive details but of one, viz., Śiva and Pārvatī. They are sitting on a bull and a lion respectively, in a characteristic pose—Śiva's one hand touching Pārvatī's jaw and that of Pārvatī round the neck of Śiva.¹

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¹ A similar figure has been found, along with other images of the Buddhist pantheon, at a place called Kurkihār in the Gaya district. See pl. XII.

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Now before we close this topic and take up the question of Nālandā's contribution to Art we shall pass a few remarks on the heterogeneous find of images.

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Do the Purānic deities (Śiva, Viṣṇu, Pārvatī and Saraswatī) along with the representations of the Buddhist hierarchy, as Marshall remarks, bear an eloquent testimony of the general catholicity and eclecticism of the people towards religious faith in later Mediaeval times², or do they show a gradual transformation in the Buddhist faith itself, from pure ethical and agnostic atheism, to theism of the most democratic kind?

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² A. S. I. A. R., 1922-23, p. 107.

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More than catholicity and eclecticism, desire for the manifestation of the deity in various moods and forms found in other contemporary faiths—Vaiṣṇavism and Śaivism—seems to be the principal cause of such a variety of images. Consequently, there was an attempt made to show the superiority of the Buddhist theistic faith over others as is evidenced by the figures of Heruka and Trailokyavijaya, and Aparājitā who are represented as trampling upon Hara, Pārvatī and Gaṇeśa.

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To take up the query we had raised, to wit, why do not Hiuen Tsiang and I-Tsing refer to any of the Tāntric images and their forms of worship? Two answers suggest themselves. First, it appears that Tantrayāna, though it had been introduced into Buddhism since about the 5th century, had not yet become very popular, and specially its later developments—Vajrayāna and Kālacakrayāna—made their appearance only in about the 10th century A.D.³ And it was only with these yānas that a host of gods and goddesses made their appearance. Secondly, the Chinese travellers confined themselves only to the record of the purer forms of Buddhism and hence they did not like to mention the Tāntric images and their rites. May be that Tāntric rites, as they necessitated secrecy, were not brought to their notice.

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³ See Csonea, The Origin of the Theory of Ādi Buddha, J.A.S.B., II. (1833), p. 57.

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The ritualism of Nālandā Buddhism, then, seems to have varied from time to time, as modifications took place in the faith itself. The Caityavandana, the Ablution of the Holy image (of Buddha), the chanting of Gāthās, etc., very likely, were replaced by the individual worship of these Tāntric images. The form and nature of this worship we do not propose to describe. For every Tāntric image had its own form of worship called Sādhana,¹ the description of which would take us beyond our task.

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¹ See Sādhanamālā, I and II, G. O. S., XLI.

Linked texts (3)

Sādhanamālā — Sanskrit
Prajñāpāramitā — Sanskrit
玄奘 — Classical Chinese