The University of Nalanda c8: Chapter II. Part II. The Background of the University of Nālandā; Transformation of ‘Saṅghārāmas’ into Temples of Learning

The University of Nālandā c8

Language: English

Chapter II. Part II. The Background of the University of Nālandā; Transformation of ‘Saṅghārāmas’ into Temples of Learning

IN Part I of this Chapter we saw that circumstances were favourable for the rise of a University. In this Part we have to see how a Buddhist *vihāra* came to be a University. For Nālandā, though a University was, nevertheless, a monastery. And the question naturally asked is: How could a monastery be a centre of learning? For a proper understanding of this question we must, needs, first, know what a Buddhist monastery was, and how it came into existence.

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In Sanskrit, a monastery is called a “*saṅghārāma*”¹. Sometimes the word “*vihāra*” is also used in the same sense. Now, by a “*saṅghārāma*” or a “*vihāra*” we understand a place where Bhikkhus [—] generally Buddhists [—] lived. “*Ārāmas*” i.e., parks were usually the places where Buddha put up with his disciples.² The resting place, where the *saṅgha* stayed, therefore, came to be called a “*saṅghārāma*”.³ These *Bhikkhus* had renounced the world; they were mendicants; their sole purpose in life was to practise and to propagate the religion of Buddha. To India such religious mendicants were not a novel thing. She had them in her Ṛṣis of the Vēdic and the Upaniṣadic times, in her *Brahmacārins*, and *Sanyāsins*. It was only the goal which differentiated the Buddhist *Bhikkhus* from the Ṛṣis and others.

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¹ See Hiuen Tsiang, o.c., II, p. 168.

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² Jetāvana at Śrāvastī, Veḷuvana at Rājagṛha, Isipatana at Benares were favourite resorts of Buddha. See *Mahāvagga*, VI, 22, 1, 20, 1 and 23, 1 respectively.

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³ An ‘*ārāma*’ it appears from the *Vinaya Texts* connoted a resting place. Cf. the following: “Anātha Piṇḍika told the Kumāra, ‘Sir, let me have your garden to make an Ārāma on it’, and then constructed a building over it for Buddha and his followers.” *Cullavagga*, VI, 4, 9—10.

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The object of the latter was to acquire knowledge for themselves. The Buddhist Bhikkhus in later times possessed almost similar characteristics, when they resided in monasteries and busied themselves in their studies, instead of wandering from place to place.

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Now Buddhist monachism owes its origin to the Buddhist Sangha. And Buddhist Sangha has a history of its own.

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In the sixth century B.C., when Gotama, the Śākya Prince returned enlightened to this world there existed many wandering religious saṅghas. The one that is often spoken of in the Vinaya Texts was called Sangha of Titthiya Schools.¹ The Buddhist Bhikkhus were known as Śākyaputtiya Samanas. The Buddhist Sangha was, perhaps, moulded on this existing one. Especially, the one feature, viz., the rain-retreat which afterwards led to the foundation of monasteries seems to have been borrowed from this School. For we are told in Mahāvagga that Bhikkhus went on their travels alike during winter, summer and the rainy season. Because the retreat during the rainy season had not yet been instituted by the Blessed One.² The story how Buddha happened to prescribe the rain-retreat is very interesting. The ascetics of the Titthiya School observed the rain-retreat, while the Buddhist Bhikkhus did not. The people began murmuring that the Buddhist Bhikkhus by wandering even in the monsoon, crushed the green herbs and destroyed vegetable and many other small lives. The complaint was reported to Buddha. Since, then, Buddha prescribed that the Bhikkhus should enter upon the Vassā.³ Buddhaghoṣa, the commentator upon the Vinaya Texts tells us how this ceremony was gone through. "They are to look after their Vihāra," says he, "to provide food and water for themselves, to fulfil all due ceremonies, such as paying reverence to sacred shrines, etc., and to say loudly once, or twice, or thrice: 'I enter upon Vassā in this Vihāra for three months.'" Thus they are to enter upon Vassā'.¹ In this custom of staying at one fixed place, we find the seeds of the future Saṅghārāmas and vihāras.

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¹ Mahāvagga, II, 1-2.

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² Ibid., III, 1.

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³ Ibid., III, 1.

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¹ Ibid., n.

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We shall here deal only with the growth of the vihāras, etc., leaving aside the various rules and regulations, ceremonies and observances relating to the vihāras and their inmates.

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The resort to the vihāras was only during the rainy season. Otherwise the Bhikkhus had no dwelling places. They lived in the woods, at the foot of trees, and on hill sides. But we learn from Cullavagga that Buddha afterwads at the request of the Setthi (a rich merchant) of Rājagṛha allowed the following abodes: vihāra, addhāyogas (these are explained as gold-coloured Bengal houses), storied dwellings, attics, and caves.² Whether Buddha allowed so many abodes only during the rain-retreats or in other seasons also is not quite clear from the reading of the text. But if Buddha permitted the use of these dwellings during other seasons, it must, we think, be for a very short period. For even though the dwelling places had come into existence, it must have taken a pretty long time to give a complete go-bye to the ideal of eremitical life. Some centuries must have elapsed before the āvāsas came to be organised and had a distinct existence.

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² Cullavagga, VI, 1-2.

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We cannot say definitely when this ideal was given up, but a beginning was made during the lifetime of Buddha himself. Dutt's conclusions are founded on certain rules of Cullavagga³ which deal with the allotment of senāsanas (seats) in an āvāsa. The general rule is that the seats are to be retained during the period of the Vassā. "In accordance with this rule, there are two regular occasions for the allotment of seats, the commencement of the earlier and that of the later Vassā." Continuing, Dutt says, "Curiously enough, a third, viz., the day after the Pavarana, called Autara muttaka, is recognised when seats are allotted for the next rain-retreat in anticipation. This *Autara muttaka* allotment would be quite superfluous, if residence at a monastery were really limited to the period of the rain-retreat. The *āvāsas*, from being shelters during the rain-retreat, became places of domicile, and hence seats had to be allotted not only for three or four months of the year, but also for the remaining period. The modification of the wandering habit of the monks necessitated the second rule. The fiction, however, *viz.*, that *āvāsas* were only for the rain-retreat and nothing more and that the *Bhikkhus* should be homeless beyond that period, is piously kept up. The allotment which is really made for the non-*Vassā* period is said to be made in advance for the next *Vassā* period, which is absurd, considering that, for that period, another allotment is provided for."¹

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³ Dutt, Early Buddhist Monachism, p. 130.

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¹ Dutt, o.c., p. 130.

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The purpose of the *vihāras* and other dwelling places in the words of Buddha was this: "To give *vihāras* to the *Saṅgha*, where, in safety and in peace, to meditate and think at ease, the Buddha calls the best of gifts. Let then the able man, regarding his own weal, have pleasant monasteries built, and lodge their learned men."²

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² Cullavagga, VI, 1, 5.

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The vision of Buddha indeed came true. People carried out to the letter the wish of Buddha. Kings, wealthy merchants and even common people constructed *vihāras* and carved out monasteries in mountains. The *viharas* of Nālandā, and Vikramaśilā, and the caves at Ellora, Kārlā, and Nāsik and specially Kanheri,³ are living examples of the fact. A small inscription on a pillar in the *chaitya* cave at Kārlā says that the expenses of its construction were given by a particular person. From this, it appears that where a *vihāra* could not be built with the financial help of one person; many persons combined together, each donating something to the building fund of the project. Hence we said above that even common people built *vihāras*. Some of these *vihāras*, as we know, became famous centres of learning and abodes of distinguished professors.

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³ From the construction of many of the caves at Kanheri, it appears that in the earliest caves barest necessities of the *Bhikkhus* were kept in view, *viz.*, a tolerably small cell with provision for sleeping.

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Buddha, we learn from *Vinaya Texts*, had no particular *vihāra* of his own. He usually put up in an *ārāma* of some "*Setthi*", i.e., rich merchant, or sometimes in the *ārāmas* of King Bimbisāra. We have observed that Buddha permitted the use of *vihāras*, *addhāyogas*, storied dwellings, attics and caves.¹ If some were to think that these abodes, meant as they were for the use of *Bhikkhus*, must be nothing more than a hut, there can be no greater misconception of the Buddhist habitations. Buddha, we shall see in a future Chapter, was very liberal in his views as regards dress, etc. He even allowed the use of silk robes. In the case of *vihāras* and *Saṅghārāmas*, the same broad-mindedness and reforming zeal are visible. Instead of huts of Puritan simplicity, we find descriptions of *vihāras* in *Mahāvagga* and *Cullavagga*, which simply astound us. The *vihāras* were full-fledged houses. Verandah, covered terraces, inner verandhas, overhanging eaves, store-rooms, and service halls gradually came to be built as the number of *Bhikkhus* increased.² Furniture was also luxurious; cushions, chairs, armchairs, sofas, bedsteads, all were there, provided they were given as a gift to the *Saṅgha*, or provided they became the property of the *saṅgha* without being paid anything for them.³ Even, so early as *Pātimokkha* which was, perhaps, the earliest Buddhist compendium of *Vinaya* rules,⁴ a bedstead, chair, mat, stool, etc., formed the furniture of the cell of a *vihāra*.⁵ There was a ceiling usually of cloth, which prevented any dust or serpent, etc., from falling from the roof.⁶ Another fact which leads us to conclude that *vihāras* were much better, more spacious, and better decorated than the Ṛṣiāśramas is that the walls of *vihāras* were coloured red, and white washed, while the floor was coloured black.¹ Roofs of *vihāras* were usually made of brick, stone and cement.² That is to say, they were just like terraces. If we are told that straw also was used for preparing the roof, we think, that it must be for some temporary structures. Anātha Piṇḍika’s description of an *ārāma*, i.e., *Saṅghārāma* in *Cullavagga*³ will stand comparison with any college of to-day.

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¹ *Cullavagga*, VI, 1-2.

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² *Ibid.*, VI, 3, 5, 6.

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³ *Ibid.*, VI.

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⁴ Introduction to the *Vinaya Texts* from Pali, S.B.E., XII., p. IX.

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⁵ *Ibid.*, p. 34.

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⁶ *Cullavagga*, VI, 3, 4.

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¹ *Ibid.*, VI, 3, 1.

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² *Ibid.*, VI, 3, 10.

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³ *Ibid.*, VI, 4, 10.

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Originally the *ārāmas* had no fence. But, afterwards the Blessed One allowed the *Bhikkhus* to have a fence made of bamboo-sticks, thorns or a ditch⁴. But once the thin edge of the wedge was in, the *Bhikkhus* pressed on their demands still further. As the *vihāras* became permanent places of residence, the want of *Bhikkhus* increased. To protect these rich *vihāras*, as they had now become, containing provisions not for a day but for months, they were fenced round by a wood, brick, or a stone-wall,⁵ as we find in the case of Nālandā⁶ and the Odantapuri *Vihāras*.

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⁴ *Ibid.*, VI, 3, 10.

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⁵ *Ibid.*, VI, 3, 8.

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⁶ See Hiuen Tsiang, o.c., II, 170.

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We have seen how *vihāras* and *Saṅghārāmas* sprung up. We are told *vihāras* were built for mainly two purposes.⁷ First, that the Buddhist *Saṅgha* may meditate in peace and safety. Second, that learned men may lodge in the *vihāras*. Gradually, however, the second object became the only object. As *vihāras* became repositories of learned men, they began to attract students from various parts of the land whose sole object was the acquisition of knowledge.

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⁷ Cullavagga, VI, 1, 5.

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Before we go to trace the change that was brought about in the nature of monasteries, let us see what were the functions of the Buddhist *Saṅgha*, which also underwent a transformation, along with a change in the nature of monasteries.

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Apart from meditation, the Buddhist *Saṅgha* had certain other ceremonies to perform, in accordance with the rules laid down by Buddha.¹ They,—the *Bhikkhus*—met on the 8th, 14th and 15th of the month to recite *Dhamma*.² Then they also met to perform the *Uposatha* ceremony. But the most common meeting of the *Bhikkhus* was for admission of guilt that was committed by a *Bhikkhu* or *Bhikkhus*, since their last meeting. For all these ceremonies, Buddha had laid down certain rules. *Uposatha* could only be performed by the complete fraternity of the *Bhikkhus*.³ Again, it could be performed in a *vihāra*, a cave, or a house, but not in succesive cells of the *Bhikkhus*.⁴ Another of Buddha’s regulation was that for every official act to be done by the *saṅgha*, consent of all the *Bhikkhus* was necessary, so much so that, even a sick *Bhikkhu* was asked to declare his views, while seeing his *pariśuddhi*, *i.e.*, his purity.⁵

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¹ *Mahāvagga*, IX.

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² Some of the ceremonies, as *Upasampāda*, etc., were still in vogue when I-Tsing was at Nālandā. See I-Tsing, o.c., p. 103.

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³ *Mahāvagga*, II, 5, 2.

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⁴ *Ibid.*, II, 8, 1.

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⁵ *Ibid.*, II, 2, 2-3.

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Now, for performing all these ceremonies, for the recital of *Patimokkha*, for performing *Uposatha* ceremony, and even for putting questions about *Vinaya*, a *Bhikkhu* was to be appointed a president for the purpose, by the *saṅgha* or by himself.⁶ Only a competent *Bhikkhu* was made a president. Apart from the president of the *Saṅgha*, Buddha had fixed a certain number of *Bhikkhus* with whose help the official act, called "*Saṅghakāmma*" could be done. The minimum for such an act was fixed at four.⁷ Moreover, the act was to be done in the manner prescribed. There was first, what is called "*Natti*", *i.e.*, resolution or proposal of the resolution; second, “*Anusavanna*”, *i.e.*, proclamation of the proposed act; third, consent of the members expressed by their silence. The *Vinaya Texts*, besides these, give many more details, for example, the procedure when there would be a difference of opinion, etc. Since it would take us into unnecessary details, we have refrained from going further into the matter.

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⁶ *Ibid.*, II, 15, 6.

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⁷ *Ibid.*, II, 26, 1.

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The Buddhist Saṅgha, it would thus appear, to put into modern phraseology, with its president and assembly was something like a “Republican Church Government.”[¹] There was never a supreme head like an abbot, so far as the early history of the Saṅgha goes.

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¹ Dutt, o.c., p. 137.

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A change, however, was coming over the monasteries. For, when we come to Nālandā in the 5th century and Vikramaśilā in the 10th century, we learn that Śīlabhadra[²] and Atīśa were the abbots of these Universities. But this departure from the express order of Buddha[³] was perhaps due to another change that had come over the monasteries. This we have referred to previously. Monasteries were now no more shelters for *Bhikkhus* to pass their life by meditating on the teachings of Buddha. With the reformation that sprung up in the Buddhist religious and philosophical principles in the shape of *Śūnyavāda*, etc., in the centuries that followed the death of Buddha, more particularly in the 2nd and 3rd centuries of the Christian era, the pursuit of secular knowledge (which was almost repugnant to the very purpose and spirit of Buddhism) became, an ideal of the monasteries, which erstwhile stood primarily for the purpose of propagating Buddhism. “Buddhist institutions,” as Keay puts it,[⁴] “did become to some extent places of general learning.” This is quite evident from the records of the Chinese pilgrims, and from the curriculum of the Buddhist institutions like Nālandā and others. I-Tsing,¹ for instance, is quite explicit on this point, when he says, "Those white-robed (laymen) who come to the residence of a priest, and read chiefly Buddhist scriptures with the intention that they may become one day tonsured and black-robed, are called 'children' (Mānava). Those who (coming to a priest) want to learn secular literature only, without having any intention of quitting the world, are called 'students' (Brahmacārin). These two groups of persons (though residing in a monastery) have to subsist at their own expense." Since the monasteries were being converted into educational institutions, a person who would be the head or the abbot thereof was absolutely necessary to control the students.

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² See Hwui Li, o.c., p. 112.

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³ Note that Buddha had said, “Be ye lamps unto yourselves. Be a refuge to yourselves. Betake yourselves to no external refuge . . . .” Tr. by Rhys David. reference taken from Dutt, o.c., p. 142.

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⁴ *Ancient Indian Education*, p. 94.

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¹ o.c., pp. 105-106.

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It is interesting to compare the changes which the monasteries of Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries underwent with those of pre-Christian and post-Christian India. Both in Europe as well as India monasteries had become Temples of Learning. But, whereas in Europe, educational activity passed out from the hands of the monks to those of secular clergy, with the spread of knowledge in the outside world, in India the monks were a little fortunate in retaining it. They saw, as we noticed above, what was coming, and they responded to the growing need. Therefore, instead of being swept away totally by the on-coming wave of reforms, they deemed it wiser to relax the rules of their order. The doors of the Buddhist Sangha which were open before only to those who had forsaken the world, were now thrown open to the students as well, who, if they chose, were at liberty to leave the monastery and embrace once more the life of a householder, after their education was over. It is in this transformation of the monasteries that we find the seeds of the University of Nālandā.

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INDIA IN THE TIME OF NALANDA

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UDYANA GANDHARA PURUSHAPURA KASMIRA TAKSHASILA GHAZNI TIBET GURJARA AYODHYA KANYAKUBJA PATLIPUTRA (PATNA) NALANDA VIKRAMASILA RAJGRHA BODHGAYA KAMRUPA VALABHI MALWA AJANTA TAMRALIPTI SAMATATA KALINGA ARABIAN SEA KANCHIPURA BAY OF BENGAL INDIAN OCEAN

The University of Nalanda c8: Chapter II. Part II. The Background of the University of Nālandā; Transformation of ‘Saṅghārāmas’ into Temples of Learning

Chapter II. Part II. The Background of the University of Nālandā; Transformation of ‘Saṅghārāmas’ into Temples of Learning

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