" To wish for no problems, pulls and pressures in life, is like wishing for
no traffic whatsoever on the road, while you are driving your vehicle "
. . . . Spring Leaves by KMG
Hello to you all ! Somvaar Suprabhaath !
Today we will delve deep into a glorious chapter in India's past.
We are aware that during the last four or five decades, the cream of our students were (and are) being attracted to Institutions and Universities in foreign countries, mainly USA, and some to UK and other European countries, for higher studies. However, it is interesting and inspiring to know from our History that ancient India had highly reputed Institutions of learning that attracted intellectuals from various parts of the world. One such great Institution was the Nalanda University which was a star attraction in those times, for knowledge in various fields, and also enlightenment. Today's topic is :
N A L A N D A U N I V E R S I T Y
" Well, what is the oldest University in the world ? In answering this question, one's mind turns to Bologna, initiated in 1088, to Paris in 1091, and to other old citadels of learning, including of course Oxford University which was established in 1167, and Cambridge in 1209. Where does Nalanda fit into this picture ? "Nowhere" is the short answer, if we are looking for a University in continuous existence.
Nalanda was violently destroyed in an Afghan attack, led by the ruthless conqueror, Bakhtiar Khilji, in 1193. Nalanda University, an internationally renowned centre of higher education in India, which was established in the early fifth century, was ending its continuous existence of more than seven hundred years, as Oxford and Cambridge were being founded. Even compared with the oldest European University, Bologna, Nalanda was more than six hundred years old, when Bologna was born. Had it not been destroyed, and had it managed to survive to our time, Nalanda would be, by a long margin, the oldest University in the world. "
" Well, Nalanda was an old Centre of learning that attracted students from many countries in the world, particularly China and Tibet, Korea and Japan, and the rest of Asia, but a few also from as far in the west as Turkey. Nalanda, a residential University, had at its peak, 10,000 students studying various subjects. Chinese students in particular, such as Xuanzang and Yi Jing, in the seventh century, wrote extensively on what they saw, and what they pareticularly admired about the educational standards in Nalanda. Incidentally, Nalanda is the only non-Chinese institution in which any Chinese scholar was educated in the history of ancient China.
It is also important to recognize that while Nalanda was very special, it was still a part of a larger tradition of organized higher education that developed in that period in India. "
" There was a larger social culture to which Nalanda belonged, and this is important to recollect in thinking about the tradition of Nalanda.
The second question to ask is the difficult one about the room for Science in what was after all a religious Institution. Nalanda was a Buddhist foundation, and surely the central focus would be Buddhist philosophy and practice. The point to remember here is that, by the nature of the philosophy of Buddha, whose focus of preaching was on 'enlightenment', there was a basic epistemic and ethical curiosity in the tradition of intellectual Buddhism , that sought knowledge in many different fields. Some of the fields were directly related to Buddhist commitments, such as medicine and healthcare, others went with the development and dissemination of Buddhist culture such as, architecture and sculpture, and still others linked Buddhist intellectual queries with interest in analytical discipline."
" It is this general intellectual animation, including animation in analytical and scientific questions, that we have to appreciate in interpreting what was going on in old Nalanda. "
" The third question concerns the subjects that were actually taught in Nalanda. Here we have a problem, since the documents in Nalanda were indiscriminately burnt by Bakhtiar and his conquering army. We have to rely therefore on the accounts of students of Nalanda who wrote about what they had seen. .. . . . such as Xuanzang and Yi Jing. We do know that among the subjects taught, and on which there was ongoing research, were: medicine, public health, architecture, sculpture, and astronomy, in addition to religion, history, law and linguistics."
" . . . There is an aspect of the intellectual life of Nalanda that emerges powerfully from the accounts that we do actually have about Nalanda, from Chinese as well as Indian scholars. The Faculty and the students of Nalanda loved to argue, and very often held argumentative encounters. . . . . It ia apart of the scientific tradition as well, to seek arguments and defences, refusing to accept positions and claims, on grounds of faith. There were plenty of organized argumentative matches going on in nalanda, and, this too fits in avery general way, into the scientific connections of Nalanda.
The final mark concerns the paassion for propagating knowledge and understanding that Nalanda stood for. This was one reason for its keenness to accept students from abroad. Xuangzang as well as Yi Jing mention the warm welcome they received as they arrived in Nalanda from China. Indeed, Xuanzang used this commitment in an argument with the Faculty of Nalanda, when he waas asked -- and pressed -- to stay on as a Faculty member in Nalanda, after he had completed his studies. He asked the rhetorical question: " Who would wish to enjoy it alone, and to forget those who are not yet enlightened ? " If the seeking of evidence, and vindication by critical argument, is part of the tradition of Science, so is the commitment to move knowledge and understanding beyond locality. Science has to fight parochialism, and Nalanda was firmly committed to just that."
The final mark concerns the paassion for propagating knowledge and understanding that Nalanda stood for. This was one reason for its keenness to accept students from abroad. Xuangzang as well as Yi Jing mention the warm welcome they received as they arrived in Nalanda from China. Indeed, Xuanzang used this commitment in an argument with the Faculty of Nalanda, when he waas asked -- and pressed -- to stay on as a Faculty member in Nalanda, after he had completed his studies. He asked the rhetorical question: " Who would wish to enjoy it alone, and to forget those who are not yet enlightened ? " If the seeking of evidence, and vindication by critical argument, is part of the tradition of Science, so is the commitment to move knowledge and understanding beyond locality. Science has to fight parochialism, and Nalanda was firmly committed to just that."
Now may come a query. Out of all the glorious treasures of our ancient Bharat, why the ancient and forgotten Nalanda University that ceased its existence over eight centuries back, has been taken up in Somvaar Sandesh in particular ? The great news is that this once great Institution, is being re-started now, and a road map for the new Nalanda University, is being prepared. Following are the excerpts from newspapers (in February 2011) in this connection :
" The Governing Board of the new Nalanda University, on Monday laid down a road map to make the Institution functional tentatively by 2013. The recruitment of Faculty would be done one or two semesters before the first batch is enrolled, so that they have arole in finalising the course structure.
The University will start with seven schools, primarily in humanities, but will include departments of Information Sciences and Technology, Business Management in relation to Public Policy and Development, and, Ecolgy and Environment, in addition to Languages and Literature, Religion and Philosophy, Historical Studies, International Relations and Peace Studies, and, Buddhist Studies.
First Meeting: This was the first meeting of the Governing Board, which was earlier functioning as the Nalanda Mentor Group, and was attended by Gopa Sabharwal, who has just been appointed as the first Vice-Chancellor of the Nalanda University, to be set up just about ten kilometers away from the historic location of the ancient Nalanda University in Bihar.. . . Dr. Sabharwal said that 446 acres of land for the project, had been acquired for the purpose, and that their aim would be to develop a state-of-the-art University. . . . . "We will try and enrol students as soon as possible, and as soon as the infrastructure comes up at the site" Amartya Sen, the Chairperson of the Governing Board, told journalists after the meeting. The meeting also discussed the statutes that would govern the University, and the Institutional relations with other Universities. He said that the focus at the beginning would be only on Humanities, due to the less cost involved. As we expand, we will include other subjects as well, he explained. He also said " In keeping with the extraordinary traditions of the historic University , we will develop the University as only as a secular Institution, but where Religion will also be included". Several Asian countries had contributed for the development of the new Institution . . China, Singapore, Japan and Thailand.
The Foreign Minister of Singapore George Yeo, who is also on the Governing Board, said that the entire issue of setting up the University, was an exciting exercise, and, the Institution would in the overall development of the region which is backward. He also sought an internatioal airport near Nalanda, and that the Buddhist tourist circuit would get a boost once the Institution became functional.
NB: The above narrations are excerpts from the address given by Dr. Amartya Sen of India ( a Winner of Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998, and a Bharat Ratna in 1999, a Professor of Economics and Philosophy at the Harvard University in USA ) at the Indian Science Congress, held in Chennai on fourth January 2011.
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