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

118 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
the University, used to be written in white on the
lofty gate of the University for being known to every
fresher and visitor (Itsing, p, 176).
High Standard of Piety and Scholarship: The
head abbots of Nālandā used to be as much
celebrated for piety as for scholarship. Amongst
them were ‘Dharmapāla and Chandrapāla, who gave
a fragrance to the Buddha’s teachings, Guṇamati
and Sthiramati of excellent reputation among
contemporaries, Prabhāmitra of clear argument,
Jinamitra of elevated conversation, Jinamitra of model
character and perspicacious intellect and Śīlabhadra
whose perfect excellence was buried in obscurity’¹
These scholars were not, however, content merely to
teach and expound ; they were authors of several
treatises, widely studied and highly valued by their
contemporaries. The above seven scholars flourished
in the first half of the 7th century ; the total number
of high class scholars produced at Nālandā during its
history of about 700 years must have been very
great. At the time of Yuan Chwang’s visit the
average scholarship of the establishment also was
very high. Out of its 5,000 (or 10,000) monks, there
were a thousand who could explain thirty collections
of Sūtras, and perhaps ten who could explain fifty.²
Rush for Admission from India and Abroad:
There was a great rush for admission to the Nālandā
University. Students from all parts of India and
also from distant foreign countries were anxious to
get the benefit of its instructions. Fa Hsien, Yuan
Chwang and I-tsing were not the only Chinese
scholars that were attracted to Nālandā by its fame

1. Watters, II p. 165,
2. Life, p. 112.