The ancient buildings named Ratnasagara, Ratnadadhi and Ratnaranjaka were part…
2024
The ancient buildings named Ratnasagara, Ratnadadhi and Ratnaranjaka were part of which of the following universities of ancient India?
Answer: C. Nalanda — ConceptAn ancient Indian mahavihara (monastic university) is identified in the historical sources by the named structures on its own campus, and above all by…
- A.
Takshashila
- B.
Odantapuri
- C.
Nalanda
- D.
Sridhanya Katak
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept
An ancient Indian mahavihara (monastic university) is identified in the historical sources by the named structures on its own campus, and above all by its library complex, which carried a proper name of its own.
A named group of buildings therefore works as a fingerprint: it points to one specific institution rather than describing a feature shared by ancient learning centres in general. To answer such an item, match the given building names to the institution whose library those names belong to.
Application
The Tibetan monk-historian Taranatha records that the library complex of Nalanda Mahavihara was called Dharmaganja, literally the "Mart of Religion" or treasury of learning.
Dharmaganja consisted of three multi-storeyed buildings, named Ratnasagara ("Ocean of Jewels"), Ratnadadhi ("Sea of Jewels") and Ratnaranjaka ("Delighter in Jewels").
Ratnadadhi is described as the tallest of the three, a nine-storeyed structure that housed the rarest manuscripts, including the tantric texts.
Since all three names given in the question belong to this single library complex, the university referred to is Nalanda, the mahavihara in Magadha, in present-day Bihar.
Cross-check and contrast
Testing the same three building names against the other ancient centres of learning named in the item shows that only one institution fits:
Ancient centre of learning | What the sources record about its buildings |
|---|---|
Takshashila (Gandhara) | Jataka and Brahmanical sources describe students attaching themselves to individual master-teachers; no corporate library complex of these names is recorded there. |
Odantapuri (Bihar) | A Pala-period mahavihara remembered chiefly for its ground plan, which Tibetan tradition treats as the model for the Samye monastery; the Dharmaganja buildings are not attributed to it. |
Nalanda (Bihar) | Taranatha and the archaeological literature place Ratnasagara, Ratnadadhi and Ratnaranjaka together inside its Dharmaganja library quarter. |
Sridhanya Katak (Andhra Pradesh) | Remembered in Vajrayana tradition as the site of the Kalachakra exposition; no three-building library of these names is recorded there. |
A note on spellings: the same three buildings appear in the literature as Ratnodadhi for Ratnadadhi, and as Ratnaranjak or Ratnaranjana for Ratnaranjaka. These are transliteration variants of the same structures, not different buildings.
Answer: Nalanda.