R.Panth
Description
Language: English and Hindi
Pages: 334
Preface
Nalanda and the ruins of the ancient Mahavihara are almost synonymous. The name 'Nalanda' conjures up
...
a picture of the ancient Mahavihara, which was one of the greatest seats of Buddhist learning for nearly seven hundred years.
History tells us that successive Gupta kings constructed additional Viharas which eventually led to the establishment of the Mahavihara. Tibetan historical accounts of Taranatha indicate that Nalanda came into existence at the beginning of the Christian era with the background of the rise of Mahayana Buddhism. He accredited Nagarjuna ( 1st/2nd century A.D.), with having first propounded the Madhyamika School of Mahayana Philosophy, as its first Acarya and listed all the prominent Acaryas of later times who resided in the Mahavihara. The Chinese traveller Xuanzang also suggests a date which may be pushed back to the 1st century AD. In the 7th century A.D. he said that no monk from the Sangharama has been found guilty of breaking rule for the last seven hundred years.
After the Gupta kings. The Mahavihara never suffered for want of royal assistance. The next important royal patron was the king of Kannauj. During his time, the Mahavihara was at the apex of its development and was considered to be a model academic institution whose reputation spread far and wide in the East and Far East. It was during Harsa's reign that the famous Chinese traveller Xuanzang came to Nalanda to study. The cultural legacy of Nalanda was finally taken over by the Pala kings who promoted it for several centuries. The contributions of the Pala Kings to the Mahavihara are preserved in its ruins most of which date back to the Pala period (810-850 A.D.). The conception of Mahavihara-bhikshu-sanghasya perhaps developed during this period for the earli
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Genres
Philosophy
Research & Essays
Tags
Philosophy, Buddhist
Buddhism -- India -- Nālanda
Buddhist antiquities -- India -- Nālanda
Buddhist philosophers -- India -- Nālanda
Nālandā Mahāvihāra Site (India)
Reading Moods
Inspiring & Uplifting
Philosophical & Existential
Contributors
No contributors specified
Publishing Info
Publisher
Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, Bihar
Month-Year
Apr, 2001
ISBN
ISBN-13: 9788188242023
ISBN-10: 8188242020
Language
Hindi
No. of Pages
334
Format
Hardcover
Awards & Recognition
No awards specified
Available at
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