• Source: Vedic learning in Mithila

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




History



The Ramayana refers to the court of King Janaka in Mithila, attracting scholars and philosophers. 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.
During the Gupta period Mithila was a center for disputes between Buddhists, Jains and Brahmins, with prominent Mimamsa authors writing defenses of Vedic ritual. Education took place through "Tols, Pathshāla and Chatušpathi or Chaupari," 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."




Mithila school of logic


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. According to Vidyabhusana, the science of logic developed out of parishad, councils of learned Brahmins. The Mithila school of Nyaya was an Indian school of Nyaya philosophy, which flourished from the 12th-13th to the 15th century in Mithila.
During the mediaeval period, Shalaka Pariksha and Shadyantra Pariksha were the examinations conducted for graduation from the institution. Mahesha Thakura, the founder of Darbhanga Raj, later introduced Dhaut Pariksha. 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.




References






Sources

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Vedic learning in Mithila
• Brahmanical System of Education
• Vedic Parishad
• Assamese Brahmin
• History of Bihar
• Ashtavakra
• Ubhay Bharati
• Maithils
• Bihar
• Gārgī Vāchaknavī