QUE : Examine the importance of Nalanda and Valabhi as centres of learning in ancient times.

Information about the educational system of Nalanda Vidyapeeth located in Patna district of Bihar and Valabhi Vidyapeeth located in Kathiawar region of Gujarat during the 6th and 7th centuries AD is available from the accounts of Hiuen-tsang and others.

• Nalanda Vidyapeeth
  

•  There were 1000 monks and students in Nalanda. But during the time of It-sing, the number of students studying in this Vidyapeeth was about 3000. Students from China and South-East Asia also came to Nalanda for study.
  
•  Nalanda Vidyapeeth was run only from the income of villages donated to Buddhists. Harshavardhana donated 100 villages to support more than ten thousand students studying in the Vidyapeeth.
  
• It was very difficult to get admission to study in Nalanda Vidyapith because the entrance standard was kept very high.
  
•  Students from home and abroad used to stay in the ‘Atithishala’. The teachers, who were famous for their erudition, used to interact with the students and in the same sequence, they would get information about the mental qualities, conduct and way of life of the students.
  
•  The daily routine in both the Vidyapith and the Atithishala was very systematic and regular. There was a ‘water-jar’ for knowing the time.
  
•  All the subjects and fields of knowledge that were available at that time were taught in Nalanda Vidyapith. There was a variety in the subjects – Brahmanical and Buddhist, religious and secular, philosophical and practical, science and art, etc.

•  Nalanda Vidyapeeth mainly focused on 15 sects, Vedas and other scriptures, Shabdavidya, Samkhya, Sanskrit grammar and Mahayana philosophy.
  
•  Nalanda had a centralized structure of education and curriculum. Degrees were awarded at the end of the study.
  
• The library here was spread over a large area. The Dharmaganj library had three big buildings, whose names were – ‘Ratnasagara’, ‘Ratnodadhi’, and ‘Ratnaranjaka’. Out of which “Ratnasagara” was nine-storeyed and had thousands of handwritten texts and rare works, such as “Prajnaparamita Sutra” etc.
  
• Valabhi Vidyapeeth
  

•  Valabhi was a famous commercial and educational center. Hiu-en-Tsang describes the prosperity of this city. According to him, there were 100 Buddhist monasteries here. In which about 6000 Hinayana monks lived.
  
•  Students from all over the country and abroad used to come here to study. It was a center for higher education
  
•  The Chinese traveler Itching has noted that scholars from all countries used to gather here and determine the truth of scriptures on various principles
  
•  The teachers here used to teach students for two or three years. It is known from ‘Kathasaritsagar’ that Brahmins from Antarvedi (Gangetic region) also used to send their children to Valabhi for higher education.
  
•  Valabhi Vidyapeeth was famous for its tolerance and intellectual freedom. Along with Buddhism, there was also an excellent system of higher education in law, ritual, history, literature and other subjects.
  
•  Itching has noted that graduates from here were appointed to high positions in the kingdom. This is possible only when secular subjects are included in the curriculum in addition to religion.
•  In the middle of the 7th century, ‘Sthiramati’ and ‘Gunamati’ were the principal principals of the Vidyapeeth.
  
•  Valabhi was a very famous center of education and the level of teaching and learning here was also of the highest standard. Almost every discipline was taught here. Moreover, there was a centralized structure of education and curriculum here.
  
•  The Maitrak rulers of Valabhi were great patrons of the Vidyapeeth.

                               Thus, Nalanda Vidyapeeth became famous as the main educational center of the Mahayana sect of Buddhism and Valabhi Vidyapeeth became famous as the main educational center of the Hinayana sect of Buddhism.