The footprints of wisdom and knowledge

Sudhirendar Sharma

Sudhirendar Sharma

Nalanda Mahavira may exist today only as ruins of old temples and monasteries; its legacy has an intellectual history that endures beyond its material existence. It may have ceased to exist in the early fourteenth century, but its reputation as a place of learning has spread across geographies ever since. Great scholars made significant contribution in the fields of philosophy, science, medicine, mathematics, astronomy and architecture. Notable among them were Nagarjuna, who advocated the philosophy of emptiness and, Aryabhata, the father of Indian mathematics. Much like Greece, Nalanda was a seat of learning in the east.

Nalanda

Son of the soil Abhay K brings to light the illustrious past of Nalanda and argues that its growing footprints in Asia, Europe, America and Australia will help it reach even farther in times to come. It was the greatest residential university of its kind with an age-old tradition of knowledge co-creation to overcome hatred and anger for achieving inner peace. Not without reason, Nalanda was an acknowledged seat of learning then. It still holds the potential to become a philosophical guide that incorporates the past wisdom into daily modern life.

Nalanda has been largely reduced to mounds of the then monasteries, but it does reflect that the leftover architecture of the time had attributes of an institution of learning which was then known as Mahavihara. The idea of a university is generally considered European but the advent of universities at Blogna, Paris, and Oxford during the late twelfth or early thirteenth centuries were no different from Nalanda. The evolution of a Vihara, founded by Emperor Ashoka, into a well laid Mahavihara, inspired the courtyard structure in colleges and universities. Such a courtyard, argues the author, played a key role in advancing the recursive argument and scientific enquiry and expects that such scholastic method continues to fuel oral and written public debates.

The book chronicles the rise, fall and rebirth of Nalanda, the iconic seat of learning in Bihar. Its footprints seem to be growing across the world, representing an intriguing continuity of the Mahavihara. Overwhelmed by its multidimensional scholarly richness as evidenced by the intense academic engagement between past luminaries and foreign scholars, Abhay traces the new landscape in carving out the future of Nalanda. Grand in vision and vast in its scope, Nalanda University came into being in September 2014 as a multi-country international center to revive and relive the values that the Mahavihara once stood for.

Though a decade is no time to undertake a true assessment of a university, the academic credentials for it to excel as a seat of high learning seems somewhat elusive. While the upcoming campus might seem impressive for its design and layout on 455 acres of land in Rajgir, infrastructure alone cannot uphold the grandeur of its projected philosophical vision. The new university campus, in close proximity to the ruins of the majestic past, may hold some strategic advantage, but the logistics disadvantages are too many to be overlooked.

Rajgir and Nalanda were the ancient political, economic, intellectual and philosophical centers of ancient India which had all the necessary conditions for establishing the centers for higher learning and institutionalizing the tradition of scholarly debates and discussions. Today, it only has a historical value with a rich cultural past. Abhay should be credited for putting aside the past mysteries of the place in telling the credible story of Nalanda Mahavihara. It may have played a key role in the spread of Nalanda-grown philosophies across the east.

Nalanda is a place of immense historical and cultural significance, which the book brings to light. It is time that Nalanda creates a consciousness to grow.

Nalanda

by Abhay K

Penguin Random House, New Delhi

Extent:193. Price: Rs 699.

(Dr. Sudhirendar Sharma is a writer and researcher specializing in development issues. He is based in New Delhi, India)

First published in the Hindu BusinessLine on March 07, 2025.