Sanskrit and Vedic learning in Mithila

Sanskrit and Vedic learning, also called Vedic studies,^[1] started in Mithila with the expansion of Vedic and Brahmanic culture eastwards along the Ganges plain.^[2] From the 12th/13th to 15th century CE, Mithila was an important centre of Nyaya Shastra and logical sciences.^[2][3]

Nomenclature

Some scholars have used the term "university" to describe the tradition of Sanskrit and Vedic learning in Mithila.^[a]

History

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.^[5] 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.^[6]

Memorial Statue of Yajnavalkya at the entrance of the Uchchaith Bhagawati Mandir near the Benipatti town in the Madhubani district of the Mithila region of Bihar in India.

Memorial Statue of Gargi Vachaknavi at the Uchchaith Bhagawati Mandir

During the Gupta period Mithila was a center for disputes between Buddhists, Jains and Brahmins, with prominent Mimamsa authors writing defenses of Vedic ritual.^[1] Education took place through "Tols, Pathshāla and Chatušpathi or Chaupari,"^[1] 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."^[7]

School of Nyaya

Main article: Nyaya

Nyaya is one of the six schools of Indian philosophy, known for its studies on logic. The foundational text are the Nyāya Sūtras, traditionally attributed to the Vedic sage Akshapada Gautama at his Gautam Ashram in Mithila, but possibly composed by multiple authors between 6th-century BCE and 2nd-century BCE.^[8] A scholar specialised in the subject of Nyaya philosophy was called as Naiyayika.

Vachaspati Mishra (9th c. CE) was a well-known Vedic scholar and teacher, who 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.^[9][10][11]

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.^[12] 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.^[13] During the period of 14th century CE, the other eminent Naiyayika was Ayachi Mishra. He taught his disciples free of cost. His academy was located in the Sarisav Pahi village of the Mithila region. The remains of the site of his academy is presently known as Ayachi Mishra Dih. He also taught his own son Sankara Mishra. His son Sankara Mishra also became a great scholar of Nyaya Shastra.

In the 14th-15th century CE, Pakshadhara Mishra was an eminent Naiyayika and the head teacher of Nyaya Shastra in Mithila. He was a court member at the court of King Bhairava Singh of the Oiniwar Dynasty in Mithila.^[14] His academy was situated at Bhaur near the Sarisav Pahi village. His notable pupils were Vasudeva Sarvabhauma and Raghunatha Siromani. They came from Nadia in Bengal to Mithila for learning Nyaya philosophy with the teacher Pakshadhara Mishra.^[15]

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.^[16] The Mithila school of Nyaya was an Indian school of Nyaya philosophy, which flourished from the 12th-13th to the 15th century in Mithila.^[17][18]

During the mediaeval period, Shalaka Pariksha and Shadyantra Pariksha were the examinations conducted for graduation from the institution.^[19] Mahesha Thakura, the founder of Darbhanga Raj, later introduced Dhaut Pariksha.^[20] 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.^[21]

In the late 20th century, the tradition of Sanskrit and Vedic learning in Mithila continued by the establishment of the modern formal university known as Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University at the campus of the royal palace called Anand Bagh Palace of the Darbhanga Raj. Presently it is a state university in the state of Bihar.^[22][23]

Sanskrit University Building at Darbhanga donated by the Darbhanga Maharajadhiraj.

School of Sankhya

Main article: Samkhya

Sāṃkhya is one of the six schools in the Indian philosophy attributed to the Vedic sage Maharshi Kapila. His academic and residential location is known Kapila Ashram in Mithila. It is located at the Kapileshwar Sthan Mandir in the Madhubani district of Bihar in India.^[24] According to legend it is believed that the Videha King Janaka came to the ashram of the Vedic sage Kapila in Mithila to learn Samkhya philosophy from the sage. In the medieval period, Vachaspati Mishra was an eminent philosopher of the text Samkhya Shastra.^{[25][unreliable source?]}

Artistic image: The Vedic sage Maharshi Kapila

Portrait of Janaka, c. 1803-1804 CE

School of Vaisheshika

Main article: Vaisheshika

Vaisheshika is one of the six schools in the Indian philosophy attributed to the Vedic sage Maharshi Kannada. In the 15th century CE, the Indian philosopher Sankara Mishra was a famous scholar of the Vaisheshika Shastra. He wrote a commentary text on the Vaisheshika Sutras of the Maharshi Kannada. The commentary text is known as Upaskara. It is an authentic preserved text on the original Vaisheshika Sutras. He learnt the philosophy of Vaisheshika from his own father Ayachi Mishra.^{[26][unreliable source?]}

Notes

1. University:
   * R.K. Mukherjee, Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist), chapter 24
   * Bishwambhar Jha, Education in early Mithila: A reappraisal: "The whole of Mithila converted into a great university"
   J.L. Mehta, Advanced study in the history of medieval India, has used the phrase "University of Mithila" for denoting the tradition of learning in Mithila.^[4]
   * Mahamahopadhya Satis Chandra Vidyabhusana, A History of Indian Logic, describes the learning tradition of Mithila (12th -16th century CE) as 'The University of Mithila'.