UPSC Mains 2020 GS Paper 4 Q3a: model answer
What teachings of Buddha are most relevant today and why? Discuss.
What the question wants
Discuss which of the Buddha's teachings are most relevant today and why.
How to structure it
Teachings, each mapped to a modern problem.
- Four Noble Truths and middle path
- Compassion, non-violence
- Equality
- Rational inquiry
- Mindfulness
How to think it through
Four Noble Truths; Eightfold Path; Middle Path (between extremes—sustainable consumption); karuna, maitri; ahimsa; rejecting caste (sangha open); Kalama Sutta (don't accept on authority—critical thinking vs fake news); mindfulness (stress, mental health—Tele-MANAS); impermanence; Ambedkar's Navayana 1956; Buddhist councils /democratic sangha. Relevance: conflicts, consumerism, mental health, inequality, misinformation.
Model answer
In 1956, B.R. Ambedkar embraced Buddhism with lakhs of followers at Nagpur because he found in it a faith built on equality and reason. Twenty-five centuries after the Buddha, his teachings still answer modern problems.
Most relevant teachings
- Four Noble Truths: suffering has a cause, craving, and can end.
- Today: consumerism and debt-fuelled desire produce stress and ecological damage.
- The Middle Path: avoid extremes of indulgence and denial.
- Today: sustainable consumption; India's Mission LiFE carries the same spirit.
- Compassion (karuna) and non-violence:
- Today: wars, terrorism and mob violence.
- Equality: the sangha admitted people of all castes and, later, women.
- Today: caste discrimination and gender inequality still persist.
- Rational inquiry: the Kalama Sutta advises not to accept anything merely on tradition or authority, but to test it.
- Today: a guide against fake news and blind faith.
- Mindfulness: right mindfulness in the Eightfold Path.
- Today: anxiety and burnout.
For a public servant
- Compassion in service, the middle path in policy, and inquiry before decision.
The Buddha's prescription has not aged, because the disease it treats has not changed.
Draw: A table: teaching on the left, modern problem it solves on the right.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
Buddha, Four Noble Truths, craving, Middle Path, Mission LiFE, karuna, non-violence, equality in sangha, Kalama Sutta, rational inquiry, mindfulness, Ambedkar 1956 Nagpur.
Where most answers lose marks
- Listing teachings without explaining why each is relevant today.
Related Mains PYQs
- In what ways can an Indian Administrative Officer apply Gandhi’s notion of ‘trusteeship’ to ensure fairness in governance? UPSC 2026 · GS-IV
- Owing to paucity of time, a university professor generates a Ph.D. evaluation report using Artificial Intelligence and submits it with some modifications.… UPSC 2026 · GS-IV
- Some moral philosophers argue that spending some of your resources—without significantly affecting your financial stability—to help other people who badly suffer is… UPSC 2026 · GS-IV
- Discuss how national security can be balanced with concerns of human rights. UPSC 2026 · GS-IV
Fresh examples from current affairs
Supreme Court: no prior approval under Section 17A needed to probe a bribe demand
In a judgment of 16 October 2026, a Supreme Court Bench of Justices S.V.N. Bhatti and N.V. Anjaria held that investigating a bribe demand by a public servant does not need prior approval under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Asking for a bribe, the court said, is not part of discharging official duties.
UPSC angle: Prelims: Sections 7, 7A, 17A and 19 of the PC Act. · Mains GS-II/GS-IV: honest officers versus accountability.
19 Oct 2026Learn the concept
Question text as printed in the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) question paper. The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.
Want every PYQ in one place? See the Battle IAS PYQ Book.