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Vedic learning in Mithila

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Vedic learning started in Mithila with the expansion of Vedic and Brahmanic culture eastwards along the Ganges plain.[1] Some sources consider this centre of Brahminical study to form an Ancient Mithila University.[2] From the 12th/13th to 15th century CE it was an important centre of Nyaya Shastra and logical sciences.[1][3]

History

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Yajnavalkya teaches Brahma Vidya to King Janaka in his ashram in Mithila

The Ramayana refers to the court of King Janaka in Mithila, attracting scholars and philosophers.[4] In the text Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, there is reference of the famous scholarly Yajna known as Bahudakshina Yajna, in which Brahmin scholars from different parts of the Indian subcontinent participated for Shastrartha at the court of King Janaka.[5]

During the Gupta period Mithila was a center for disputes between Buddhists, Jains and Brahmins, with prominent Mimamsa authors writing defenses of Vedic ritual.[citation needed] Education took place through "Tols, Pathshāla and Chatušpathi or Chaupari,"[citation needed] with students living at the house of their teacher.

The Turkic conquests had little impact in Mithila, leaving it as "an isolated outpost and centre of Brahmanic and Sanskrit scholarship," where "Hindu scholars were able to protect the purity of their ideals and traditions."[6]

Mithila school of logic

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Nyaya school is one of the six schools of the Indian philosophy. Nyaya Shastra is also known as Indian Logic. The earliest text of the Nyaya school is the Nyaya Sutras. The foundational text Nyaya Sutras of the Nyaya school was founded by the Vedic sage Akshapada Gautama at his ashram known Gautam Ashram in Mithila. The period of composition of the text Nyaya Sutras is variously estimated between 6th-century BCE and 2nd-century BCE.[7] During the 9th century CE, Vachaspati Mishra was a scholar and teacher of Nyaya Shastra. He wrote several commentaries and sub commentaries on Nyaya Shastra. He wrote Nyāyasucinibandha on Nyāya-sūtras, Nyāyakānika which is an Advaita work on science of reasoning, Tattvasamikṣa and Nyāya-vārttika-tātparyaṭīkā which is a sub commentary on the Nyāya-sūtras. The place where he lived and taught is known as Vachaspati Mishra Dih located at Thadi village in the Madhubani district.[8][9][10] Later in the 10th century CE, Udayanacharya founded Nyayakusumanjali which reconciled the views of the two independent schools Nyaya and Vaisheshika of the Indian philosophy.[11] The location of his academy where he taught his disciples is presently known as Udayanacharya Dih in Samastipur district of the Mithila region. Nyayakusumanjali became the root for the foundation of the new version of Logic known Navya Nyaya. In 13th -14th century CE, Navya Nyaya school was founded by Gangesha Upadhyaya. He wrote Tattvachintamani which was the authoritative text in the Navya Nyaya school of the Indian philosophy.[12]

Late mediaeval Eastern schools of Brahmins were focused on Nyaya Shastra and logical sciences, in contrast to the Vedanta of southern Brahmins from the Vijayanagara cultural area.[3] According to Vidyabhusana, the science of logic developed out of parishad, councils of learned Brahmins.[13] The Mithila school of Nyaya was an Indian school of Nyaya philosophy, which flourished from the 12th-13th to the 15th century in Mithila.[14][15]

During the mediaeval period, Shalaka Pariksha and Shadyantra Pariksha were the examinations conducted for graduation from the institution.[16] Mahesha Thakura, the founder of Darbhanga Raj, later introduced Dhaut Pariksha.[17] Students were not allowed to take any piece of written information with them after finishing their studies, to keep a monopoly on the study of Logic.[18]

References

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  1. ^ a b Scharfe (2002), p. 189–191.
  2. ^ Vidyabhusana (1988).
  3. ^ a b Bronkhorst, Diaconescu & Kulkarni 2013, p. 98.
  4. ^ Chaudhury (1964), p. 566-568.
  5. ^ www.wisdomlib.org (2015-02-23). "Yajnavalkya and Asvala [Section I]". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  6. ^ Rorabacher (2016).
  7. ^ Gautama Muni. Nyaya Sutra.
  8. ^ Fowler, Jeaneane D. (2002). Perspectives of reality: an introduction to the philosophy of Hinduism. Brighton Portland, Or: Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-898723-94-3.
  9. ^ Norman, K. R. (October 1988). "Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies. Sāmkhya: A Dualistic Tradition in Indian Philosophy. Edited by Gerald James Larson and Ram Shankar Bhattacharya. Princeton University Press: Princeton, New Jersey, 1987. Pp. xiv, 674. £47.10". Modern Asian Studies. 22 (4): 869–870. doi:10.1017/s0026749x0001578x. ISSN 0026-749X.
  10. ^ Jhā, Sahadeva (1984). Vācaspati Miśra (in Hindi). Maithilī Akādamī.
  11. ^ Sri Udayanacharya (2014-04-21). Nyaya Kusumanjali (with four Commentaries).
  12. ^ www.wisdomlib.org (2013-04-03). "Tattvacintamani, Tattvacintāmaṇi, Tattva-cintamani: 5 definitions". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 2024-12-08.
  13. ^ Vidyabhusana (1920), p. 22.
  14. ^ Sharma & Sharma (1996), p. 20.
  15. ^ Chaudhury (1964), p. 567.
  16. ^ Mukherjee (1947), pp. 597–598.
  17. ^ Choudhary (1988), p. 91.
  18. ^ Thakur (1956), pp. 379–381.

Sources

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  • Bronkhorst, Johannes (2007). Greater Magadha: Studies in the Culture of Early India. BRILL. ISBN 9789004157194.
  • Bronkhorst, Johannes; Diaconescu, Bogdan; Kulkarni, Malhar (2013), "The Arrival of Navya-Nyaya Techniques in Varanasi", in Pandikattu, Kuruvilla; Pichalakkattu, Binoy (eds.), An Indian Ending. Rediscovering the Grandeur of Indian Heritage for a Sustainable Future. Essays in Honour of Professor Dr. John Vattanky SJ On Completing Eighty Years, Delhi: Serial Publishers
  • Chaudhury, P.C. Roy (1964), Bihar District Gazetteers: Darbhanga, Superintendent Secretariat Press
  • Dalal, Roshen (2014), Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide, Penguin Books
  • Glucklich, Ariel (2008), The Strides of Vishnu: Hindu Culture in Historical Perspective, Oxford University Press
  • Jha, Bishwambhar (2010), "Education in Early Mithila: A Reappraisal", Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 71: 160–164
  • Olivelle, Patrick (1998). The Early Upanisads. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195124354.
  • Rorabacher, J. Albert (2016), Bihar and Mithila. The Historical Roots of Backwardness, Taylor & Francis
  • Samuel, Geoffrey (2010), The Origins of Yoga and Tantra. Indic Religions to the Thirteenth Century, Cambridge University Press
  • Scharfe, Hartmut (2002). "Chapter 10". Education in Ancient India (PDF). Vol. 16th. Netherlands: Brill. pp. 189–191. ISBN 90-04-12556-6.
  • Sharma, Ram Nath; Sharma, Rajendra Kumar (1996), History of Education in India
  • Singh (2021). "A HISTORICAL STUDY OF LIBRARIES OF MEDIEVAL INDIA" (PDF). International Journal of Scientific & Innovative Research Studies. 9 – via CSIRS.
  • Vidyabhusana, Mahamahopadhyaya Satis Chandra (1920). A History of Indian Logic (Ancient, Mediaeval and Modern Schools). Library Genesis. Motilal Banarsidass.
  • Vidyabhusana, Satis Chandra (1988). A History of Indian Logic: Ancient, Mediaeval and Modern Schools. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. ISBN 978-81-208-0565-1.
  • Mukherjee, Radha Kumud (1951) [1947]. "XXIV. Universities". Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) (2nd ed.). Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 597–598.
  • Choudhary, Indra Kumar (1988). Some Aspects of Social Life of Medieval Mithila, 1350-1750 A.D.: With a Special Reference to Contemporary Literatures. Kashi Prasad Jayaswal Research Institute. p. 91. In Mithila we get references to altogether three types of examinations during the period under review : ( i ) Shalaka Pariksha , ( ii ) Dhout Pariksha , and ( iii ) Shadyantra Pariksha .
  • Thakur, Upendra (1956). History of Mithila ( Circa 3000 B.C.-1556 A.D. ). Darbhanga: Mithila Institute. pp. 379–381.
  • "The University of Nadia". The Dawn and Dawn Society's Magazine. September 1907. p. 70.
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