प्राचीन भारत में शिक्षा (डॉ. ए.एस. अल्तेकर - गुरुकुल एवं बौद्ध विहार शिक्षण इतिहास)

V] EDUCATIONAL CENTRES AND INSTITUTIONS 111
anxious to emulate the example of king Janaka of
Mithilā as a patron of learning. For a long time,
however, Taxila was a more famous centre of learning
than Benares. Kings of Benares itself used to send
their sons to far-off Taxila, and many of the teachers of
this city that figure in the Jātakas are seen to be past
students of the Taxila University.¹ In the course of
time, however, they began to attract scholars from far
and wide (Jā. Nos. 480 and 438).
Benares as a Centre of Buddhist Learning : In
the 7th century B. C., Benares was probably the
most famous centre of education in eastern India;
that seems to have been one of the reasons for its
being selected by the Buddha as the place for the
first promulgation of his gospel. With the imperial
patronage under Aśoka, the Sarnath monastery on the
outskirts of Benares must have become a famous
centre of learning. It went on continuously prospering;
in the 7th century A.D., it possessed resplendant and
beautiful buildings with tiers of balconies and rows of
halls.² Unfortunately Yuan Chwang does not state
anything about the educational activity of the Sarnath
monastery, but there can be no doubt that it must
have emulated the glorious example of neighbouring
Nālandā. It had 1500 monk-students. There is
ample evidence to show that it continued to be a
flourishing centre of Buddhist learning and pilgrimage
down to the 12th century A. D.³

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1. Cf. तक्कसिलं गत्वा सब्बसिप्पाणि उग्गहित्वा वाराणसिय
   दिसापामोक्खो आचारियो हुत्वा पंचमाणवकसतानि सिप्पं वाचेति ।
   No. 150. See also No. 80.
2. Watters, II, p. 48.
3. Kumāradevī, the Buddhist wife of the Hindu king Govinda-
   chandra, had given an endowment to the establishment in the latter
   half of the 12th century A. D. Excavations also show that the
   establishment continued to flourish down to c. 1200 A. D.