UPSC Mains 2022 GS Paper 4 Q3c: model answer
"Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it." - Dalai Lama.
What the question wants
Explain what the Dalai Lama's line on judging success by its sacrifices means to you.
How to structure it
Two readings, examples, me.
- Cost of success
- Reading 1: noble sacrifice
- Reading 2: was it worth the values lost
- Me
How to think it through
Two meanings: (a) value of success measured by sacrifice made for it (dedication); (b) caution—if success cost integrity, health, relationships, it's failure. Examples: freedom fighters gave up careers (C.R. Das, Motilal Nehru); athletes. Negative: corporate frauds, doping (athletes stripped of medals), burnout. Officer: success at cost of honesty is failure.
Model answer
Two people can reach the same position. One got there by working nights for years; the other by flattering, cheating and dropping friends. The title is the same; the success is not.
What it means
- The line can be read in two ways, and both are useful.
Reading one: sacrifice gives success its worth
- Success earned through effort and sacrifice has more value than success that fell into one's lap.
- C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru gave up flourishing legal practices to join the freedom movement; their success was measured by what they surrendered.
Reading two: count what you gave up
- If success cost integrity, health or relationships, it may be a loss disguised as a win.
- Doping scandals show athletes who gave up honesty for medals and later lost both.
In the present context
- Hustle culture glorifies burnout; many professionals sacrifice health and family for promotions.
What it means to me
- Some sacrifices are worth making: comfort, leisure, convenience.
- Some are never worth it: honesty, health, and the people who love me.
For a public servant
- A posting won by compromise is not success; a transfer accepted for honesty is not failure.
Before celebrating a summit, look back at what you left on the way up.
Draw: A scale: success on one pan; on the other, two baskets: 'worthy sacrifices' (comfort, leisure) and 'never trade' (honesty, health, family).
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
Dalai Lama, cost of success, sacrifice, C.R. Das, Motilal Nehru, doping, burnout, hustle culture, integrity, worthy vs unworthy sacrifice.
Where most answers lose marks
- Giving only one reading; the richer answer shows both.
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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.
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