THE GREAT MAGADH CAPITAL-PATNA

LAL SALAAM

After seeing the Historically and archeologically rich Bodhgaya, Rajgrih and Nalanda, I decided to get into urban Bihar. Around 4th century BC,Ajatshatru had made Pataliputra his capital. He shifted from Rajrih, maybe because of the proximity to the gigantic Ganga and also to be closer to Vaishali, which he wanted to conquer. 

GANGA THE MIGHTY RIVER

Pataliputra then, and Patna now is a big city, quite congested and has some charm of its own. It has got Colonial charm, as well as moffusil rustic charm. The cycle rickshaws are quite comfortable, but slightly high for my liking. 

It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited place in the world. It has been the Capital of Magadh since around 400 BC. In 300 BC during the rule of the Mauryas its population was 4,00,000. Quite a large population for those times! Pataliputra was ruled by the following dynasties.

1. Haryanka Empire- Bimbisar's dynasty-684 BC -413 BC. Bimbisar, Ajatshatru were of this dynasty.

2. Shishunaga Empire -413 BC -345 BC.

3. Nanda Empire- 424 BC -321 BC. This clan was not Kshatriya. Alexander had attacked India in 326 BC. He did not cross the Beas.

4. Maurya Empire -322 BC -185 BC.  It is said that this clan was not Kshatriya but Chandragupta  Maurya was the son of a dasi.  Chandragupta Maurya, Bindusara, Ashoka the Great were the rulers. Our relations with Greece were established. Ashoka ruled over almost the entire Bharatvarsha with the exception of parts of South India. Chanakya belonged to this era and also all the Asoka Stambhs and about 80,000 stupas were constructed all over the country. Buddhism flourished and was spread to South East Asia. He gave us our stone edicts with History written on it.

5. Sunga Empire 185 BC-75 BC. Patanjali's Mahabhashya was composed during their rule. This dynasty patronized Indian Culture and it is thought that they also persecuted followers of Buddhism, and revival of Hinduism began in their rule.

6. Gupta Empire -320 AD -600 AD. These rulers were not Kshatriya but were from Vaish community.  The known Rulers were Chandra Gupta, Samudra Gupta, Chandragupta II.This is the era that was called the Golden Age of India. because of the prosperity of the times when Art, Music, Literature, Science, Mathematics, Astronomy, prospered. This was the age that gave us Kalidas, Aryabhat, Varahamihira, Vishnu Sharma, Vatsyayana.

SOME WHERE HERE WAS THE PALACE OF ASOKA

How great the place was can only be imagined by us now. It was the place where two great Religions flourished, Buddhism and Jainism. Guru Gobind Singh the 10th Guru of the Sikh religion was also born in Patna. The famous University of Nalanda was located close by.

The modern city of Patna is situated on the southern bank of the Ganges. The river Sone, Gandak and Punpun also converge on the Ganga near Patna.

THE PILLAR AT KUMRAHAR

On this journey of mine in   Magadh, I started by visiting Kumrahar.  This is the place where the ancient Pataliputra ruins were. Today there is a huge garden and a small museum in the area, but the remains of the buildings of the Nand Empire and The Maurya Empire are very few. 

THE SUPINE PILLAR

If I remember correctly, I had visited this place about 50 years ago. I distinctly remember that then there were some pillars and the ruins of a wall, belonging to the Mauryan Empire in this place. This time I saw that the Pillars had been removed to the Museum and there was just one pillar supine on the grass. It left me feeling sad. 

The ruins of the mighty Empire which was perhaps the most important phase of our Indian History was totally displaced. There were some ruins belonging to the 4th and 5th century AD. This was the Hospital cum Monastery of Dhanvantri. Seals of the Arogyashala in Brahmi Lipi were found here and are kept in the Museum. One can read written on the seal "Sri Arogyavihara Bhikshusamghasya"

When ruins are in place, one's imagination can run  riot with visualizing all those high and mighty people walking on those corridors and the hustle bustle of a living city.

THE MUSEUM

After the disappointment of Kumrahar I went to the Patna Museum. The Museum building is majestic. I must say the British had this art of making imposing buildings which could make one want to enter the place and absorb all the beauty and knowledge of a time gone by. The Jadu Ghar, Ajaib Ghar or Museum is a red colored building spread out amidst a huge well maintained garden.  

DIDARGANJ YAKSHI

Entry to the first hall of the museum, made me stop and look  mesmerized at the extremely beautiful Didarganj Yakshi belonging to the 3rd Century BC. She is a work of beauty and art. 

YAKSHI FROM THE BACK

Yakshi's pretty nose got broken in one of her international trips. Yet she looks perfect. Her smile is no less enigmatic than the smile of Mona Lisa. She is  beautiful from every angle. The workmanship is very detailed and crafted very intricately.She is 64 inches tall, and is carved out of a single piece of stone.

ANOTHER VIEW OF THE YAKSHI

There were many more statues and Historical objects kept in the Museum. I liked the Buddha with a moustache.

BUDDHA WITH MOUSTACHE

Yet what made me sit quietly and peacefully was the room where the relics of Gautama the Buddha are kept. The room is not open to all. One has to buy a ticket of Rs. 100 to visit this room which is kept under lock and key with strict security.

THE PRECIOUS CASKET

The relics are kept in a small casket and consist of ashes of the Buddha, a stone bead, a broken glass bead, copper punch mark coin and a small leaf of gold. 

INSIDE THE CASKET

The relics are kept in controlled temperature. I loved being in that room all by myself with the relics of the greatest teacher of all times. It was the closest I could get to the Great teacher who lived more than 2500 years ago.

Having experienced  this, I did not want to see anything else in Patna. Yet we did go past the Golghar, which is a granary and has a unique shape, and also the Martyrs memorial.

GURU GOBIND SINGH'S BIRTHPALCE

Next morning we visited Patna Sahib the Gurudwara built over the place where the 10th Guru of the Sikh religion, Guru Gobind Singh was born.

Patna today does not convey to us that this is the place which is responsible for the ancient great works of Literature, art, Religion, education, knowledge. This was the place which gave India its name "Sone ki Chidiya". This was the most important land where so many eminent people lived, ruled and expanded their empires. All our past glory, History belonged to this place.

MAGADH?????

Magadh had so many Empires, there was so much bloodshed, each Ruler became more powerful than the other.  Magadh also broke the mould of the Caste system to some extent, as Rulers did not necessarily belong to the Kshatriya or warring caste. Asoka ruled the entire length and breadth of the country from Khorasan, Afghanistan to present day Bangladesh and Assam, and from North to North Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. He had three capitals, Pataliputra, Ujjain and Takshashila.  He became the biggest follower of Buddha who had preached Peace. Buddha had said that "we must train ourselves to attain peace". In Pali it is said, "Daiham sikkhata sanitya." He said peace can be attained by our own self. We are responsible for our own thoughts and our own thoughts shape our destiny.

QUEST FOR KNOWLEDGE.

THE PATH LEADING TO KNOWLEDGE

 If I  had to describe a University, I would  draw my answer from its ancient designation of a "Studium Generale", or “School of Universal Learning.” This description implies the assemblage of strangers from all parts of the world in one spot  with teachers and students for every department of knowledge.  

We Indians have always been very proud and vocal about our heritage, our parampara, our knowledge, our ancient glory, wisdom, development of art, science, niti and advancement in astronomy, maths, dance and music. Where did we learn it and where did we teach it? 

This question took me to our great centers of learning of which the most well  known  are Takshashila, Nalanda and Vikramshila. Takshashila, now in Pakistan was the oldest. A few  famous teachers of Takshashila were Chanakya, Vishnu Sharma who wrote the Pancha Tantra, Charaka the Physician, Panini the Grammar Exponent and Jeevaka, the Physician of the Buddha. A famous alumni was Chandragupta Maurya, grand father of Asoka the Great. Takshashila was in existence since eighth century BCE, and continued to attract students from around the old world until the destruction of the University in the 5th century by the Huns.Students came here from Babylon, Greece, Syria, Arabia, Phoenicia, China, Magadha, Kashi and Koshala. In spite of the long and arduous journey they had to undergo,  the excellence of the learned teachers  brought students from all over. The teachers were recognized as authorities in their respective subjects.There were about 68 different streams of discipline here. There were about 10500 students studying here.This University's primary concern was not with elementary, but higher education. Generally, a student entered Takshashila at the age of sixteen. 

When Alexander attacked India in the 4th Century BC, he took back with him a number of scholars from here. Is it therefore surprising that a lot of myths, and stories are quite similar in Greece, Syria and India?

Vikramshila is the lesser known University, which is located in Bihar near Bhagalpur. It came into existence after the Nalanda University was at its decline.

SARIPUTTA'S STUPA AT NALANDA

Nalanda is known to almost all of us. It is in Bihar, close to Rajgrih and Patna. This University existed from 5th Century AD to 1197 AD. In the first 300 years it flourished with liberal cultural traditions but from 9th century onwards the decline set in as Tantricism became more pronounced.  Yijing( 673- 695AD) a Chinese Buddhist scholar says that when he was at Nalanda there were 300 rooms and 8 colleges, and matters of discussion and administration required an assembly and consensus by all at the assembly as also of the resident monks, who were not at the Assembly. 

THE ENTRANCE IS BEHIND ME

My journey on the path traversed by The Great Buddha took me from  Rajgrih to Nalanda. The gate to this center of learning, education and   wisdom was quite small. But as soon as I went inside, it was like entering a different world, where there was no noise, no sound, nothing but bricks, and ruins which spoke of the amazing brilliance of this place. It was as if I had entered from a tunnel into an amazing space filled with light . 

ROOMS

There were ruins of monasteries after monasteries on one side, and then there were temples and then there were stupas.

Admissions to institutes of learning has always been tough. Ask the parents of a toddler today, and they will tell you that the toddler goes to a prep school so that subsequently the child gets admitted to a good school. So from time immemorial admissions to institutes of learning has been tough. Is it any wonder then that getting admission to the Nalanda University was really tough? Do you know, according to folklore  who asked the first questions for the admission interview? It was the dwarpal or the Doorman. So much wisdom oozed out from the place that even the gatekeeper could interview a new student to judge if the student was capable of studying at Nalanda. Religion, logic, metaphysics and a lot more disciplines were taught here. Students came from Korea, Japan,Iran, Indonesia and China, besides of course Magadh, Kosala and Kashi.

TWO BEDS & A BOOK SHELF

I allowed my imagination to fly as I entered the Monastery.Each Monastery is a complete unit by itself. There are rooms with a built in bed and a shelf for keeping books. Two students would share a room. There is a kitchen, a well, and a place for the teacher to sit and give his discourse. There is a drainage system, where the drain becomes deeper as it goes towards the pit.

TEACHING SPACE

I imagined a class going on where the students were eager to learn. There would be no forced learning, it was your own desire to learn. Fees were not charged. The rulers of the area made it mandatory for some villages to provide the University with funds to carry on with the teaching unhindered, so education was state sponsored.

Our famous tourists and scholars from China, the great Hieun Tsang and Fa Hein have written great accounts of the University.

THE GIANT WILD GOOSE PAGODA AT XIAN, CHINA

Hieun Tsang travelled to India in the seventh century AD to study at Nalanda. He took back a lot of books with him and in Xian in China, the Tang dynasty King gave him land to build a Library in 652 AD, which for some strange reason is called "The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda". I saw this pagoda which one cannot enter now, but the surroundings are maintained very beautifully.

THE MOUNDS & THE RUINS

Nalanda had a very huge campus. Even today the surrounding villages are  built over  mounds, which if  dug will reveal more monasteries and Temples.

The Library at Nalanda University was very famous and had a huge collection of books.

BURNT BRICKS

In the 13th century when the Khaljis set out to destroy everything which was not about their religion, they burnt this whole university down. It is said that the Library burnt for three whole months. Even today after almost  900 years, one can see some burnt brick walls, and feel sad about this misjudged act of arson.

A BENCH & SERENITY

The gardens and lawns around the ruins are maintained immaculately. One can sit under a tree and feel the monks moving about, and  hear the discussions, the theories and the debates going on. The air over here must be wise, the trees must be swishing thoughts when the wind blows, the walls if only they could communicate would tell us more tales than one.

Nalanda is where the stupa of Buddha's Shishya Sariputta exists.

SEEK & YOU WILL RECEIVE

Nalanda is where perhaps knowledge  spread, got wings and then got burnt down, ending our quest for learning, free thinking, radicle thoughts, where it was all about learning for betterment and improvement of the self. There were no certificates awarded, there were no jobs guaranteed, there was no money at the end of the knowledge gates.  It was emancipation, enlightenment, and development of the self.

 Learning was at its best, the thirst and quest for knowledge was the essence of existence. 

Could there be anything better than this insatiable hunger for knowledge?

ROOMS WITH PLACE FOR LAMP

As the Wise Buddha said, "Atta deep bhava", or in wisdom be a lamp unto yourself. He also said, "Do not blindly believe what others say, even if it is said by the Buddha. See for yourself what brings contentment, clarity and peace, that is the path for you to follow".

Knowledge, freedom from blind faith and eventual enlightenment can only be achieved when we open our minds, question, discuss and then get convinced.  Quest for knowledge can only be quenched by questioning.