Buddhist Education Centres of Magadhа

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

With the development of Buddhism, it had faced so many problems. Habitation of Buddhist monks was one of them. In Vedic tradition ascetics were always used to wander and they didn't stay at a fixed place. In the beginning Buddha himself also followed this tradition and he wished that his follower monks also follow this old Indian tradition. So that he says- Charattha bhikkhave charikam bahujan hitaya bahujan sukhaya but increasing number of monks forced him to think about their habitation. In Buddhism there was no place for Varna and Ashram system. A person of any age group and any caste was free to become a Buddhist monk, so number of monks was increasing day by day. Being wandering monks, the member of the samgha had no fixed habitat. They used to stay here and there. Consequently they had to find out some temporary shelter, whether in caves or under trees or in sanctuaries during the rainy season, which were unsuitable for habitation and when they required to observe varshavasa by taking a fixed avasa and by depending for alms on the householders around the avasa. This state of affairs took a better turn even during the lifetime of Buddha. Thus came into being monastic abodes where the monks could meditate peacefully during their rainy retreats and perform the communal ceremonies. Chullavagga informs us that the Nagarsreshthi of Rajagriha had requested to the Buddha to permit monks to live in manmade residences. Rich lay followers of Buddhism had donated residential complexes to the samgha. Buddha himself accepted the donations of Venuvan at Rajagriha donated by Bimbisara, the king of Magadha and Jetavan of Sravasti donated by Anathapindika and used to stay there. Everyone knows about the donation of Amravana of Vaishali by Ambapali. It means Buddha himself changed his thinking and used to live in manmade residences and also permitted to monks for the same purpose.

Viharas were used for habitation purposes and they were imitations of the houses as built-in villages. The earliest form of the vihara in Buddhist architecture was merely an arrangement for the accommodation of monks living together in communities. A typical rock-cut vihara consisted of a plain square hall entered by a doorway in front of which was a porch or verandah. Soon it was realized that its walls offered special facilities for the excavation of cells. Doors were cut in these walls leading to small cells. These viharas were originally situated near or adjacent to the chaitya, but as the community expanded, additional accommodation was excavated in the side of the hill. In the course of time these monastic establishments were furnished with a general dormitory, a common room, a refectory, a kitchen and a tank for the supply of water. The tanks were excavated near the entrances and often extended under the chamber itself. Runnels cut into the face of the rock channelled water to these tanks were fitted with detachable covers.

As it was stated above that earlier viharas were used for habitation purposes of monks but in the course of time these monastic establishments were converted into teaching-learning centres and few of them developed as a centre of art. The book describes about the ancient Buddhist education system and about the Buddhist education centres of Magadha like Nalanda, Odantapuri and Vikramshila. In this way the book gives detailed information about Buddhist monastic system and its development as education centres. The book is well supported by maps and illustrations which may enable one to know the importance of these education centres. Hope the book will be beneficial to the students of Buddhism.

Monastic life in viharas and mahaviharas of India is based upon the definite evidences of the Chinese travellers, right from Fa-hsien to I-tsing. Fortunately, they have left us with the vast details of their observations of day-to-day functioning of the monasteries in various parts of India. These details are very significant for us based upon their first hand account. But at the same time we should not fail in critically examining the authenticity of these details. The reason being, they were devout Buddhists and therefore, their accounts are not free from such exagerations, which are beyond recognition. Archaeological findings are the most reliable source for these ancient Buddhist education centres. In Magadha there were three Buddhist education centres of world fame-Nalanda, Odantapuri and Vikramshila. Nalanda and Vikramshila were identified and excavated but Odantapuri is still unidentified. In this book I have tried to explain in brief about these education centres.

Fa-hsien's account
The first of the great Chinese travellers whose records are available to us and are very valuable for information regarding the state of affairs of the education and culture in the monasteries in those days, was Fa-hsien who visited India in CE 399 and left in 414. He offers us a vivid description of the functioning of the monasteries in various parts of India. Mathura, one of the most important and prosperous Buddhist centre in those days emerged as a strong rival centre of the Theravada Buddhism, even at the time of Asoka. It had also witnessed the rivalry between the Sarvastivadins and the Sammitiyas and finally the emergence of the latter as the strongest sect of Buddhism. According to Fa-hsien's account, the religion was flourishing there. He observed that there were as many as 20 monasteries on both the banks of Yamuna with about 3000 monks residing there. Several kings, traders and bankers not only built many monasteries there, but also endowed them with land grants for their maintenance. As Fa-hsien was mainly a student of Vinay, his observations about the religious practices seem to be more authentic. The original Vinay rules regarding incoming monks were very promptly observed. Another important feature of the monastic culture was the practice of erection of stupas not only in memory of Sariputta, Moggallana and Ananda, but in honour of many more reciters of Sutra, Vinay and Abhidhamma. According to his account, the practice of Varsavasa was still in vogue more or less in the same fashion. We notice a very significant development in the life of the Order by the It means that the resident-monks had to master religious as well as secular subjects attached to them. Proficiency in both was a must for them to be really called Bamoruta.

1-tsing has further mentioned a very startling fact about the monastic education of his time. The monks participated in the intellectual contests held at the King's "House of Debate for the sake of proving their talents in practical administration. After having met success there, they even entered the services of the kings. Had a convention developed in those days that after their education even the monks had the choice to adopt any sort of occupation. Was such a course open to them? How it is that such an important fact does not find mention in the account of Hiuentsang who visited India just only two and a half decades before? There can be two explanations of this tricky question. Either that I-tsing's account reflects his own imagination based upon the type of administrative examinations open to all in China without any sort of distinction, or that the earlier travellers were extraordinarily cautious in drawing the picture of monastic life in such a way that no fact could even indirectly reflect upon character of the monks in a derisive manner and thereby tarnishing their image in any way. I-tsing mentions yet another section of students who were unordained. They got admission in the monasteries and studied Buddhist scriptures under the guidance of the resident monks. They were designated as Manavas who had the potentiality of becoming monks in course of time. This new institution of admitting laymen into the monasteries served two immediate purposes. On the first instance their services were utilized by the monasteries as pages under monks and secondly their aspirations were sometimes aroused to such an extent that they renounced the world and became monks.