Buddhist Monasteries and Monastic Life in Ancient India: From the 3rd Century BC to the 7th Century AD

The work begins by distinguishing asceticism as an individual spiritual discipline from monasticism as its organized social expression. It situates Buddhist monasticism within the broader Śramaṇa movement and explores the possible pre-Vedic and pre-Aryan origins of wandering mendicancy in India. The study then follows the institutionalization of the Buddhist community, showing how shared beliefs, discipline, ordination, and communal residence created a stable religious order. The subsequent analysis focuses on sectarian development, internal monastic life, education, social relations, merit-making, royal patronage, and architecture. The book demonstrates that Buddhist monasteries were not isolated centres of renunciation alone; they became influential institutions of religion, scholarship, social exchange, economic support, and cultural transmission. Through literary, epigraphic, archaeological, and travel-account evidence, the study presents Buddhist monasticism as a dynamic institution continuously adapting to changing historical conditions.