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Vikramshila after Atisa’s departure in 1042 A.D.
Neyapala, son of Bheyapala, remembered for the letter sent to him from Nepal by Atisa, reigned for 35 years. Even as we learn of a Turuska raid earlier in the times of Canaka, the struggle seems to have continued as is also understood from the remarks of the monks, who considered the departure of Atisa to Tibet, as denoting the end of Buddhism in India. The account of Prajnaraksita, the great pandit monk who lived during this period further confirms the struggle, as having become extremely powerful after meditation for 5 years in a small holy place near Odantapuri, he once saved Vikramshila from the attack by the Turuska army.
He is said to have made big offerings to Cakrasamvara, which resulted in the army being struck 4 times by terrible thunder resulting in the death of many soldiers along with their, and thus intheir repulsion. The period was also one of debates with the tirthikas in which the monk is said to have emerged victorious, with the story of him once having cast his magic stare from the seat of the debate upon 8 tirthikas, who had challenged him in debate, making 6 of them dumb and 2 blind, only to be released later, being famous. He passed away later in a forest near Nalanda, where as instructed by him, his untouched relics vanished after 7 days. Other prominent scholars in this period included the kalachakra specialist Anupamsagara, and Samkarananda, a brahmana from Kashmir who was earlier a scholar of the sastras, but later composed commentaries on the seven treatises, on being so instructed by Manjusri in a dream.
To be continued....