Nalanda: Ancient Seat of Learning
by Dr. Rajendra Prasad
In this 1951 address at the laying of the foundation stone of the Magadh Research Institute, Rajendra Prasad looks back at Nalanda as a university that drew students from across Asia for nearly six centuries. He traces how public charity built and sustained it, what its students were required to study, and how its teachers carried Indian learning as far as Tibet. His hope is that a modern institute might recover the same selfless pursuit of knowledge.
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This is the address Dr. Rajendra Prasad, India's first President, delivered on November 20, 1951 at the foundation-stone-laying of the Magadh Research Institute at Nalanda. He presents Nalanda as a glorious, borderless international centre of learning that for nearly six centuries served as the 'centre of Asian consciousness', binding China, Korea, Tibet, Mongolia and Indonesia in a shared intellectual commonwealth. Tracing its roots to Lord Buddha and Lord Mahavira, the philanthropy of Lepa, the birthplace of Sariputra and the patronage of Emperor Ashoka, he shows how the university flourished in the Gupta Age through liberal public charity, founded by 500 merchants and funded by the revenues of up to 200 villages. At its height it had 10,000 students and 1,500 teachers, Asia's largest library, a hundred daily lectures and five compulsory subjects: Grammar, Logic, Medical Science, Handicrafts, and Religion and Philosophy. Recalling scholars such as Hieun T'sang and It-Sing and the Nalanda teachers who carried Sanskrit learning to Tibet, Prasad appeals for a modern cultural renaissance in which the new Institute revives Nalanda's selfless, lifelong search for truth.
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On November 20, 1951, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, India's first President, born in Zeradei, Bihar, and an embodiment of 'plain living and high thinking', delivered this address at the foundation-stone ceremony of the Magadh Research Institute at Nalanda. He argues that reviving Nalanda means resurrecting a system built on intellectual freedom and a deep Guru–Shishya relationship, not merely restoring ruins.
A borderless centre of Asian consciousness
Prasad describes Nalanda as a glorious symbol of the most magnificent period of Indian history, a truly international centre of learning that knew no national or racial distinctions. While politics divided empires, the realm of knowledge remained borderless. For nearly six centuries Nalanda served as the active 'centre of Asian consciousness', binding together China, Korea, Tibet, Mongolia and Indonesia into a shared intellectual commonwealth in which the exchange of ideas flowed both ways.
Ancient foundations and philanthropic funding
Nalanda's roots reach back to Lord Buddha and Lord Mahavira, Jain records say Mahavira lived there fourteen years. The wealthy citizen Lepa welcomed the Buddha and became his disciple; Nalanda was the birthplace of the Buddha's chief disciple Sariputra, whose Samadhi Emperor Ashoka enlarged with a temple in the third century BC.
The university formally flourished in the Gupta Age, sustained entirely by liberal public charity. It was founded by an endowment of 500 merchants who bought the land and gifted it to the Buddha. By Hieun T'sang's visit it boasted six great Viharas with sky-touching spires, lotus tanks and mango groves; by It-Sing's time it had 300 rooms and eight lecture halls. To keep teachers and students free from want, the revenues of 100 villages (later 200) were set apart as an endowment, with Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal actively maintaining it. A copper-plate records how Balputra Deva, the Sailendra Emperor of Swarna Dwipa (Sumatra), had King Devapal Deva grant five villages to Nalanda and built a grand Vihara there, proof of its Asia-wide prestige.
Administration, the library and the syllabus
At its height Nalanda had 10,000 students and 1,500 teachers, a ratio that allowed close individual attention. It was a post-graduate research centre drawing scholars from China, Korea, Tibet, Turkistan and Mongolia, and it held the biggest library in Asia, a treasure of rare manuscripts, many saved by monks and carried to Nepal and Tibet when invaders destroyed the university in the 12th century. A hundred lectures were delivered daily, with a completely liberal attitude that exposed students to the religion, science, art and philosophy of all mankind without dogmatic prejudice.
Five subjects were compulsory for every student: Grammar (Vyakaran) for mastery of language; Logic (Hetuvidya) for analytical thinking; Medical Science (Chikitsavidya) for health; Handicrafts (Shilpavidya) so each student could earn an honest living; and Religion and Philosophy (Dharmavidya) suited to the student's interest. This coordinated, utilitarian course made Nalanda's students deeply learned yet self-reliant.
Scholars, the torch abroad, and Prasad's appeal
Prasad cites the rigour of visiting scholars: Hieun T'sang studied five years under Chancellor Shila Bhadra, mastering the Mahayana texts, while It-Sing studied the Therawada school, showing Nalanda held competing schools under one roof. Its teachers were India's spiritual ambassadors: Thonim Sambhot came from Tibet to study the Sanskrit script; Acharya Shanti Rakshit founded Tibet's first Vihara in 749 AD; and Kamal Shila translated vast Sanskrit works into Tibetan, creating a new literature for Tibet.
Prasad concludes with an emotional appeal: a true cultural renaissance can come only when modern scholars inherit Nalanda's legacy and devote their lives to the selfless search for truth. He hopes the new Magadh Research Institute will not remain a small regional college but will grow, adapt to the modern age, and again become a global beacon of art, science, philosophy and international harmony, like the ancient Nalanda of yore.