Question

The Indian Grammarian Panini was a student of which university?

• A. Nalanda
• B. Vikramshila
• C. Valabhi
• D. Taxila

Hint:

Panini was from Gandhara, near Taxila, in the 5th century BCE.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Step 1: Understand the question.
Panini wrote the Ashtadhyayi, the famous Sanskrit grammar. The question asks which ancient centre of learning he studied at.

Step 2: Recall his background.
Panini was born at Shalatura, near the Indus in the north-west, in the region then called Gandhara. He lived around the 5th or 4th century BCE. The nearest great centre of that time was Taxila.

Step 3: Check Nalanda.
Nalanda in Bihar was set up many centuries later, in the Gupta period. Panini lived long before that. So option 1 is wrong.

Step 4: Check Vikramshila.
Vikramshila was founded by the Pala king Dharmapala in the 8th or 9th century CE. It is far too late. So option 2 is wrong.

Step 5: Check Valabhi.
Valabhi in Gujarat flourished under the Maitrakas in the 6th to 8th centuries CE. Again, it is much too late. So option 3 is wrong.

Step 6: Check Taxila.
Taxila (Takshashila) was already a famous seat of learning in Panini's time, near his homeland. He is said to have studied there. So option 4 is right.

Final Answer:
Panini studied at the university of Taxila, which is option 4. \[ \boxed{\text{Taxila}} \]