Sumanapal
Bhikkhu
(1)
That the art of
writing was not altogether unknown in pre-historic India. As early as during 2000
B.C it is proved beyond doubt by the discoveries of inscribed tablets and seals
made at Harappa in Punjab, at Mohenjodaro in Sind and at Nal in Baluchistan.
Researchers also claim form recent discoveries in Hyderabad in the Deccan that
even as early as 3000 B.C large number of private and public libraries existed.
The Vedic
preceptors wanted that their religious literature should be handed down to
their pupils by means of oral instruction as they were reluctant to reduce
their knowledge to writing. Thus a very special feature of the Vedic literature
is that the knowledge inherent in it was preserved in the form of memory
libraries. However, some steps were adopted in order to preserve the purity of
the Vedas. It was imperative for the pupil to learn at least five kinds of
recitations namely the svarapatha, prada patha, jatapatha, kramapatha and ghanapatha.
According to
recent studies “the Mahabharata’ war took place during about 1500 B.C. It gave
rise to numerous war songs to be recited in public assemblies and sacrificial
congregation and after being handed down from the preceptor to his disciple they
ultimately got written nearly one thousand years later.
Even the Buddha
who taught his disciples all his life did not reduce his teaching to writing.
After his demise his disciples arranged a meeting in order to collect his
sermons. His sermons were divided into three baskets or Tripitaka, which is in
the form of three libraries formally known as Sutta, Vinaya and Abhidhamma. In
all probability the teachings of the Buddha were not given a written form as
the monks believed that it was a sacrilege. In Mahabharata there is a reference
to a monk who was sent out to the neighbouring fraternity with the instruction
to memorize the Patimokkha entirely or at least partly. In Mahavagga we meet a
monk who knew some important suttanta and was anxious that he might forget
them. As a result he requested the Sangha to memorize them from him.
So the Buddhist
also maintained the tradition established by the Vedic sages and did not reduce
the teachings of the great teacher to writing. Though we find minute
description of the monasteries and the houses; any mention of any writing
material was conspicuously absent. The Ceylonese tradition in this context
could be cited
The text of the three Pitakas and the
commentary two there on,
The wise
bhikkhus of former time had handed down by word of mouth.
The them
bhikkhus perceiving how all beings do delay.
Meeting together
wrote them in books that the Dhamma might last long.
The Jains too
were initially reluctant to reduce the teachings of scholars knew their sacred
text by heart but gradually it was found that only the scholar Devardhigani
knew them by heart. A delegation was sent to him and the whole corpus of the
Jaina sacred teachings were written from after a lapse of 980 Years followings
the demise of Mahavihara. So for a very long period of time the sacred
literature of the Jainas was preserved orally.
We cannot say
that during the time of the Buddha and the Mahavihara the art of writing was
unknown as inscription much earlier than their times have been discovered. The
Hindus were unwilling to reduce their sacred texts to writing and so were the
Buddhists and the Jainas.
The existence of
public and private libraries is also proved from other resources also Kautilya
in his famous. Arthasastra mentions a large number of earlier authorities which
proves that he had a number of books on economics and Hindus polity in his
possession.
The great
intellectual culture of Pataliputra was the meeting place of great library
giants namely Varsa, Upavarsa, Panini, Pingala, Vyadi, Vararuchi, and
Patanjali. This presupposes that Pataliputra had some extensive libraries.
The Sunga kings
patronized Brahmanical education and knowledge and during their rule great
Sanskrit works such as the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Manusmriti and the
Puranas were remodeled. It proves that they had a very well equipped library in
their possession. Besides the great grammarian Patanjali who rose to fame
during the reign of Pusyamitra Sunga wrote his famous grammatical work Mahabhasya
which contained all the grammatical notions and views of his great predecessor.
This fact also proves beyond doubt the existence of a special library in his
possession.
After close
contact established between China and Indian Buddhists, the era of translation
of Buddhist books and manuscripts began and this was inspired by the patronage
of the Chinese rulers. This continued for more than one thousand years and the
efforts resulted in the formation of a splendid library of Chinese Tripitaka.
A Buddhist
council was held during the reign of Kanishka where extensive commentary on the
Tripitaka was written by monks and was buried under the Asokan stupa. The
commentary is known as Vibhasa which lent its name to the famous Buddhist
philosophical school Vaibhasika.
We also find a
grand description of a library in “Pauskara Samhita” In this library the
manuscripts were carefully covered in cloth, tied by strings and were kept in
iron cupboards. The librarian himself imparted education to pupils.
Nalanda
University: Nalanda is the name of an ancient
university in Bihar, India. The site of Nalanda is located in the Indian state
of Bihar, about 55miles south east of Patna, and was a Buddhist centre of
learning from CE 427 to 1197. It has been called one of the first great
universities in recorded history. According to historians, Nalanda flourished
between CE 427 and 1197, mainly due to patronage from Buddhist emperors like
Harsha as well as emperors from the Pandyan Empire and the Pala Empire. At its
peak, the university attracted scholars and students from as far away as China,
Greece and Persia. According to the Kevatta sutta, in the Buddha’s time Nalanda
was already an influential and prosperous town, thickly populated, though it
was not until later that it became of learning for which it afterward became
famous. Mahavira is several times mentioned as staying at Nalanda, which was
evidently a centre of activity of the Jains Historical studies indicate that
the University of Nalanda was established CE 450under the patronage of the
Gupta emperors , notably Kumaragupta.
The famous
Nalanda University had extensive libraries. So did other monasteries in Bihar
like Odantapuri and Vikramasila. The invaders under Bakhtiyar Khilji found the
libraries and after killing all the monks felt curious as to the contents of
the books. We also find description of libraries in many texts. It is evident from the large number of texts that
Yijing carried back with him after his 10-year residence at Nalanda, that the
Mahavihara must have featured a well-equipped library. Traditional Tibetan
sources mention the existence of a great library at Nalanda named Dharmagunga (Piety Mart) which comprised three
large multi-storeyed buildings, the Ratnasagara (Ocean of Jewels), the Ratnadadhi (Sea of Jewels), and the Ratnaranjaka (Jewel-adorned). Ratnadadhi was nine storeys’s high and housed
the most sacred manuscripts including the Prajnaparamita Sutra and the Guhyasamaja.
The universities of the contemporary period must have a well equipped
library. Special mention should be made of the libraries in the universities of
Nalanda, Vikramsila and Odantapuri.
However no
information regarding them could be elicited. The books were but on fire and
burnt. The library of the other libraries also shared the same fate.
During the
heyday of Nalanda University Tibetan scholars enthusiastically calculated
Sanskrit MSS and translated them to Tibetan. At the same time Indian scholars
were also invited in Tibet to compose original works, as well as to translate
texts. The translations of Buddhist books known as Kangyur and Tangyur are
still presented in Tibetan translations though many of their Sanskrit originals
are lost in India today.
In this context
we should also mention the magnificent libraries built by the Jainas in
different parts of Gujrat during the medieval period. Patna was the centre of
such literary activities where intellectuals of the day assembled. The
benevolent King Kumarapala patronized their activities Kumarapala established
twenty one manuscript libraries known as the bhandaras. Vasupala the minister
of Viradhabala built three big bhandaras and is reported to have spent eighteen
corer rupees in the process. Rich and pious Jain householder’s donated an
enormous amount for collecting, copying and producing manuscripts and
organizing libraries. Their purpose was to acquire merits for themselves and
their deceased friends.
The system of education
and acquiring knowledge got a rude shock by the invasions of Muhammadan
conquerors who tried to remove all traces of the “Kabir” religion and
civilization found its shelter in the sleepy hills of the Himalayas and in the
arid desert of Rajputana.
(2)
Taxila
university: Legend
has it that Takṣa, an ancient king who ruled a kingdom called Takṣa Khanda the
modern (Tashkent) founded the city of Takṣaśilā. However Sanskrit Takṣaśilā,
appears to contain the suffix śilā, "stone" with the prefix Takṣa,
alluding to Takṣa, the son of Bharata and Mandavi, as related in the Ramayana.
In the Mahābhārata, the Kuru heir Parikṣit was enthroned at Takṣaśilā.
According to tradition the Mahabharata was first recited at Takṣaśilā by
Vaishampayana, a disciple of Vyasa at the behest of the seer Vyasa himself, at
the sarpa satra yajna, "Snake Sacrifice ceremony" of Parikṣit's son
Janamejaya. According to one theory propounded by Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi,
Takṣaśilā is related to Takṣaka, "carpenter" and is an alternative
name for the Nāgas of ancient India. Taxila lies in the northwest of
Rawalpindi. It was the capital of the Buddhist kingdom of Gandhara and a centre
of learning. It came under Persian rule and in BC 326 was surrendered to
Alexander the great. Ruled by a succession of conquerors, including Bactrians
and Scythians, the city became an important Buddhist centre under King Ashoka.
The apostle Thomas reputedly visited Taxila in the 1st century AD.
Taxila is known from references in Indian and Greco-Roman literary sources and
from the accounts of two Chinese Buddhist pilgrims, Fa-hein and Xuang-zang. The
city was named after Taksha the son of Bharata its first ruler. Buddhist literature, especially the Jataka,
mentions it as the capital of the kingdom of Gandhara and as a great centre of
learning. Greek historians accompanying the Macedonian conqueror described
Taxila as “wealthy, prosperous, and well governed.” Taxila was an early centre
of learning dating back to at least the 5th century BC. Taxila is
considered a place of religious and historical sanctity by the Hindus and the Buddhists.
Taxila was the seat of Vedic learning. Taxshila is perhaps best known because
of its association with Chanakya. The famous treatise Arthashastra (Sanskrit
for the knowledge of Economics) by Chanakya, is said to have been composed in
Takshashila itself. Chanakya (or Kautilya), the Maurya Emperor Chandragupta and
the Ayurvedic healer Charaka studied at Taxila. Generally, a student entered
Takshashila at the age of sixteen. The Vedas and the Eighteen Arts, which
included skills such as archery, hunting, and elephant lore, were taught, in
addition to its law school, medical school, and school of military science. The
institution is very significance in Buddhist tradition since its believed that
the Mahayana sect of Buddhism took shape there. Some scholars date
Takshashila's existence back to the 6th century BCE. It became a noted centre
of learning at least several centuries BCE, and continued to attract students
from around the old world until the destruction of the city in the 5th century
CE. Takshashila is perhaps best known because of its association with Chanakya.
The famous treatise Arthashastra (Sanskrit for The knowledge of Economics) by
Chanakya, is said to have been composed in Takshashila itself.
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Bhatt,
Rakesh Kumar (1995). History and Development of Libraries in India. Mittal Publications.New Delhi.
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Dunlap, Leslie. Readings in library history. London, R R Bowker,
1972.
3.
Hessel,
Alfred. A history of libraries. Translated by Reuben Peiss. Washington, Scare
Crow, 1977.
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Khurshid,
Anis (January 1972). "Growth
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Olle, James G. Library history. London, Clive Bingley, 1967.
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Jashu, Kumar, Krishan (2001). Libraries and Librarianship in
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