The University of Nalanda c19: Chapter XIII. Conclusion
The University of Nālandā c19
- Language
- English
Chapter XIII. Conclusion
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THE educational institutions at Nālandā, though not the product of the combined influence of the East and the West, wonderfully upheld the ideals of the *Gurukuls* and *Vihāras*, of the Vedic and the Buddhistic India, at the same time discharging the functions of a seat of universal learning, known as a University in the West.
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Nālandā was primarily a Buddhist institution (*Vihāra*), established solely with a view to propagate the preachings of the Enlightened Śākya Prince. In this capacity, it sheltered thousands of *Bhikṣus*, who studied the *dharma* of Buddha day and night. To the Buddhists, Nālandā was nothing short of a Temple of God.
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But Nālandā outgrew the limits of a mere *Vihāra* of Buddhistic learning. The *Vihāra*, in course of time, taught the tenets and principles not only of Buddhism but also of many other faiths, besides all the secular sciences. Unlike the University of Paris of Mediæval Europe, it could boast of a faculty of medicine (*Cikitsāvidyā*).
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Nālandā was something more than a mere seat of universal learning. Students flocked to its portals, not only from all the corners of India, but also from the whole of the then civilised world, save perhaps from Greece and Rome. It was a University also in the sense that it attracted students from all parts of the world.
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What Newman, however, values most, more than the universal aspect of the curriculum of an educational institution, more than its international representation from all over the world, is a residential University. And Nālandā was nothing if not a residential University *par excellence*. At Nālandā a multitude of young men—keen, open-hearted, sympathetic and observant—came together, freely mixing with, and learning from one another, even if there be none to teach them. The conversation of all was a lecture to each. Thus the students saw the world on a small field with little trouble. And, further, by eliminating and adjusting the widely different notions, by acting according to the conventional rules of the institution, the whole assemblage was moulded together and gained one tone and one character.1
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Nālandā, in this way, performed one of the most important functions, namely, "of enabling the students to form each other, of learning the greatest art of living, in helping to form an intelligent society."2
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If Nālandā could thus fulfil the highest requisites of a true University, it also claimed a method of teaching which has been regarded as ideal at all times. Besides lectures, students spent a greater portion of their time in mutual discussions with their teachers.
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Nālandā, with the pursuit of Theology—the Science of God—as its cardinal aim, with all the advantages that a residential University has, imparted to its students not merely knowledge, but culture that would make its recipients perfect "gentlemen." The students not only gained knowledge but a sense of reverence was also inculcated in them. They were true to the idea of the poet who sang—
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"Let knowledge grow from more to more;
But more of reverence in us dwell".
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Looked at from all points of view we find that Nālandā fulfils Newman's conception of a University.
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How far this University equipped the students to face the stern realities of life, to earn their livelihood, is a question which cannot easily be answered. But in this connection it must be remembered that it is only of late that this function of a University is looked upon with some importance. It is only in this age of struggle for existence—with all the grim realities
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(1) See Newman, *Idea of a University*, pp. 146-147.
(2) See May Yardley, *"Select Discourses from the Idea of a University"*, Intro., p. xxii.
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connoted by the phrase—that our commercialized ideas have come to look upon the University as a job-providing institution. Students went to Nālandā to seek and imbibe culture, not to qualify themselves for posts. The end in view was spiritual and not secular. Men's wants were fewer, and fewer men went in for higher knowledge. Consequently, there was no overcrowding in any walk of life. Moreover, the whole environment in which the University worked was fundamentally different. Prescribed trades and professions, corresponding to the fourfold division of society, practically limited the aspirations for superior occupations only to a small number.
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Nālandā, hence, had not to answer the charge levelled against modern Universities, that they do not equip the students with the qualification to face the problems of practical life as it had not to cater to men's practical and mundane needs. This had a very salutary effect. The University was free to develop the cultural side of knowledge imparted to its students, whereby it could envisage a mighty spiritual horizon.
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Thus, in the words of I-Tsing, Nālandā could claim to be "the most magnificent Temple of Learning in Jambudvīpa," or to use a modern nomenclature the premier and pioneer National University of India.