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

IV] EDUCATIONAL ORGANISATION AND FINANCE 73
transformation of Buddhist monasteries into colleges and
Universities. Temple colleges started by Hindus were a
natural reaction to the Buddhist monastic Universities.
The Maṭhas of the Āchāryas (religious teachers and
recluses) of the medieval times continued the same
tradition.¹
Organisation of Buddhist Universities: We can
get a fairly good idea of the organisation of Buddhist
Universities from the accounts handed down to us about
Nālandā and Vikramaśīlā, which were typical of their
class. The whole establishment used to be in charge of a
famous abbot (bhikshu). He was usually elected by the
members of the Saṅgha. Character, scholarship and
seniority were the factors usually taken into consideration.
In the 9th century, a monk-scholar from near Jalālābad,
who was on a pilgrimage to Bihar, was elected to be the
principal of the University². This would show that local
1 It is interesting to note that in Europe also from about the
6th to the 11th century A. D. education was centered in
monasteries. The causes were somewhat similar. Monks
were required to read; so they had to be taught. They must
have books and they must in turn teach novices to
read and copy manuscripts. Hence arose monastic
schools. After the closure of all the pagan schools by
Justinian's decree in 529 A. D., monasteries became the sole
schools for teaching. "They offered the only professional
training, they were the only Universities of research; they
alone served as publishing houses for the multiplication of
books; they were the only libraries for the preservation of
learning; they produced the only scholars. It was not till
the 11th century that there was any education to speak of
outside monastic schools, and not till the 13th century that
there occurred marked changes in the character of education
given in any institution; until then all these schools were
taught by monks." Monroe, A Text-Book, pp. 255-261.
2 I. A., XVII, p. 307.