''Shaunaka Mahashala'' was a higher educational institution founded by the ancient Indian Vedic philosopher Shaunaka Rishi in the ancient Naimisaranya forest.

Etymology

''Shaunaka Mahashala'' is constituted with two words Shaunaka and Mahashala. Shaunaka was the name of the sage who was the chancellor. Mahashala or ''Mahāśāla'' is used instead of one who has ten thousand students under him. Also, ''Maha'' means great and ''Shala'' means institution. Therefore, Mahashala means a ''great institution''.

Background

According to the

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed ...

texts, Shaunaka Rishi's full name was Indrotdaivaya Shaunaka. He was a Vedic teacher and the son of the sage Bhriguvanshi Shunak. Shaunaka Rishi was running a Gurukul having ten thousand students and he was honoured as (chancellor). It is said that before him no other sage had received such an honour. He wrote Rigveda Chandanukramani, Rigveda Chandanukramani, Rigveda Rishyanukramani, Rigveda Anuvakanukramani, Rigveda Suktanukramani, Rigveda Kathanukramani, Rigveda Padvidhan, Brihadevata, Shaunak Smriti, Charanvyuh, Rigvidhan.

Description

The location of the Gurukul was Nimisharanya. It is said that

Shaunaka Shaunaka (, ) is the name applied to teachers, and to a Shakha of the Atharvaveda. It is especially the name of a celebrated Sanskrit grammarian, author of the , the , the , six Anukramaṇīs (indices) to the Rigveda, and the Vidhāna of the Rig ...

performed a 12-year-long

Yajna In Hinduism, ''Yajna'' or ''Yagna'' (, Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐd͡ʒɲə ) also known as Hawan, is a ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras. Yajna has been a Vedas, Vedic tradition, described in a layer of Vedic literature ...

at his ashram, which attracted a large number of learned men, who held incessant discussions about religion and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. He wrote Shaunaka Grihasutra, Shaunaka Grihyaparishit, and Vastushastra Granth. He helped sages Romaharsha and Ugrasrava Sutha to spread the

Puranas Puranas (Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature
(1995 Editio ...

and

Itihasa In Hinduism, Itihasa-Purana, also called the fifth Veda, refers to the traditional accounts of cosmogeny, myths, royal genealogies of the lunar dynasty and solar dynasty, and legendary past events, as narrated in the ''Itihasa'' (Mahabhara ...

among a large masses. Ugrashravas was an auditor at Takshila. He travelled to Naimiṣāraṇya forest. There he met with the sage

and a large group of

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

s studying at the Shaunaka Mahashala. The Shaunaka Mahashala is considered as the ancient form of university in the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

by scholars. It is also known as Naimishyaranya University. The Brahmin scholars in the ashram asked about Janamejaya's snake sacrifice with the sage Ugrashravas. Then Ugrashravas recited the story of the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

as recited by Vaishampayana to him with some additional materials. This is the place where Shrimad Bhagavatam was preached. The life of the university is mentioned in

Adi Parva The Adi Parva ("Book of the Beginning") is the first of the eighteen ''parvas'' (books) of the Indian epic ''Mahabharata''. "Ādi" (wiktionary:आदि#Sanskrit, आदि) in Sanskrit means "first". Adi Parva traditionally has 19 parts and 236 ' ...

of the

. The philosophical conversation between the sage

Pippalada Pippalada () was a sage and philosopher in Hindu tradition. He is best known for being attributed the authorship of the Prashna Upanishad, which is among the ten Mukhya Upanishads. He is believed to have founded the Pippalada school of thought, ...

and the sage

at the Shaunaka Mahashala was recorded as Brahma Upanishad or ''Brahmopanishad.''{{Cite web , title=Brahma Upanishad – Vyasa Mahabharata , url=https://www.vyasaonline.com/brahma-upanishad/ , access-date=2023-05-13 , language=en-US

References

Ashramas Hindu educational institutions Ancient Indian philosophy