| > User name checks out. :) Joking aside, thank you for the correction. Haha no issues! > I did learn that there's a 19th-century play called Gayopakhyanam, where they almost fight. Yes there are many Sthala Puranas that have their own variations/additions to the main storyline. Which is why we stick to the oldest manuscripts that are available as we do not know if/when distortions happened as this story spans multiple thousands of years. We have sadly also lost scriptures to invasions. Especially with the burning of Nalanda University (by Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji: by some estimates, 9 million scriptures were destroyed) and Takshashila University (by Persians, Greeks, Parthians, Hephthalites, Shakas and Kushanas) though Alexander and future Greeks revived the University again in partnership with Chandragupta Maurya. Hepthalites were most destructive of the lot. Both these Universities contained tomes of Dharmic scriptures/manuscripts (both Buddhist and Hindu). Nalanda supposedly burned for 3 months. |
About the latter ("considered to be one of the earliest universities in the world") and the revival of the university - I recently started reading a book called, The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies. I'm interested in learning about the influence of Buddhism on Greek (and later European) philosophy. I know almost nothing about the history of India, so it's been a fun educational journey.
The name of Chandragupta Maurya I hadn't heard before, but I see he is an important historical figure, the grandfather of Ashoka. And they're said to be from the Shakya family from which Gautama Buddha descended.
I've enjoyed your other thoughtful comments in this thread, even the controversial one criticising the "deliberately mistranslated" scriptures. I don't know the truth of the matter, but perhaps the translators simply lacked understanding? And I can see that some words are impossible to translate, with so much meaning lost or wrongly transformed in the process.
Anyway, thanks for sharing your knowledge and perspective. Especially this comment ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32929993 ) was very thought-provoking, one of my favorite comments ever on this forum.