Buddhism, Jainism and other sects: previous-year questions
23 real UPSC Prelims questions (2011–2026) with the official answer and a clear explanation. 8 of them came in the last five papers.
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Among the four main forms of existence of life recognized in Jainism, which one of the following is not included ?
Answer (b) & explanation
Yaksha is not one of the four forms (b). Jainism names four gatis, or states of birth. Option (a) is one: deva, heavenly beings. Option (c) is one: manushya, humans. Option (d) is one: tiryancha, animals, plants and other beings. The fourth is naraki, beings in hell. Option (b) is not a gati: yakshas are a kind of deva in Jain texts, not a separate form.
Notice the goal: only from human birth can a soul reach moksha, freeing itself from all four gatis. Jain temples often show a yaksha and yakshi guarding each Tirthankara, such as Ambika with Neminatha. Jainism also sees life in earth, water, fire and air, so ahimsa is very strict.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
What does an empty seat represent in early Buddhist iconography ?
Answer (a) & explanation
An empty seat represents the Buddha's meditation (a). Early Buddhist art at Bharhut and Sanchi does not show the Buddha in human form. Symbols stand in for him: an empty seat, often under the Bodhi tree, for his meditation and enlightenment. Option (b) is wrong: a wheel stands for the First Sermon at Sarnath. Option (c) is wrong: a stupa stands for the Mahaparinibbana, his death. Option (d) is wrong: a horse stands for the Great Departure (Mahabhinishkramana).
Notice the later change: the Gandhara and Mathura schools, under the Kushanas, first showed the Buddha as a human. Other symbols: a lotus or elephant for his birth, and footprints for his presence. This early stage is called aniconic.
The key follows UPSC's provisional key. The usual symbol table pairs each event with a different sign, so learn all four together.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Sanghabhuti, an Indian Buddhist monk, who travelled to China at the end of the fourth century AD, was the author of a commentary on :
Answer (c) & explanation
Sanghabhuti wrote a commentary on the Sarvastivada Vinaya (c). Sanghabhuti, a monk from Kashmir, reached Chang'an around 381 AD and helped translate texts of the Sarvastivada school, including a commentary on its Vinaya, the rules of monastic life. Option (a) is wrong: the Prajnaparamita sutras are Mahayana texts, later translated by others such as Kumarajiva. Option (b) is wrong: the Visuddhimagga is Buddhaghosa's Theravada manual, written in Sri Lanka in the 5th century. Option (d) is wrong: the Lalitavistara is a biography of the Buddha.
Notice the flow of monks between India and China: Fa-Hien came under Chandragupta II, Xuanzang under Harsha, and Kumarajiva translated in China. Kashmir was a big Sarvastivada centre.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to ancient India, Gautama Buddha was generally known by which of the following epithets ?
- 1. Nayaputta
- 2. Shakyamuni
- 3. Tathagata
Select the correct answer using the code given below :
Answer (b) & explanation
Only Shakyamuni and Tathagata are Buddha's epithets (b). Item 2 is right: Shakyamuni means "sage of the Shakyas", the Buddha's clan at Kapilavastu. Item 3 is right: Tathagata means "one who has thus gone" (or thus come), the name the Buddha uses for himself in the suttas. Item 1 is wrong: Nayaputta (Nataputta), "son of the Natas (Jnatrikas)", is the name of Mahavira in the Pali texts, where he appears as Nigantha Nataputta. So options (a), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice other names of the Buddha: Siddhartha (birth name), Gautama (clan name), Sugata and Bhagavat. Mahavira, in turn, is called Vardhamana, Jina ("conqueror") and Nirgrantha. UPSC likes such swaps between the two teachers, who were contemporaries.
Nigantha Nataputta in the Pali canon is Mahavira, the Buddha's rival teacher.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
“Souls are not only the property of animal and plant life, but also of rocks, running water and many other natural objects not looked on as living by other religious sects.”
The above statement reflects one of the core beliefs of which one of the following religious sects of ancient India?
Answer (b) & explanation
This is a core belief of Jainism (b). Jainism holds that the world is full of jivas, or souls. Not only plants and animals but also earth, water, fire and air bodies have souls. Even these beings with just one sense, touch, are alive and can suffer. That is why Jain ahimsa is so strict: monks sweep their path, cover their mouths and strain water. Option (a) is wrong: Buddhism does not accept a permanent soul (anatta). Options (c) and (d), Shaivism and Vaishnavism, centre on devotion to a personal God, not souls in rocks and water.
Notice the Jain idea of anekantavada, many-sidedness of truth, and the three jewels: right faith, right knowledge and right conduct.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
In which one of the following regions was Dhanyakataka, which flourished as a prominent Buddhist centre under the Mahasanghikas, located?
Answer (a) & explanation
Dhanyakataka was in Andhra (a). Dhanyakataka, today's Dharanikota next to Amaravati on the lower Krishna, was a capital of the Satavahanas and a great Buddhist centre of the Mahasanghika school, with sub-sects such as the Purvashaila and Aparashaila. Tradition links Nagarjuna and the Kalachakra teaching to the place. Option (b) is wrong: Gandhara, in the north-west, was a centre of Mahayana and Greco-Buddhist art. Option (c) is wrong: Kalinga is Odisha. Option (d) is wrong: Magadha is Bihar, home of Nalanda.
Notice the Amaravati school of art, in white marble-like limestone, one of three great schools along with Gandhara and Mathura. Andhra's new capital, Amaravati, is named after this ancient site.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to Indian history, consider the following texts :
- 1. Nettipakarana
- 2. Parishishtaparvan
- 3. Avadanashataka
- 4. Trishashtilakshana Mahapurana
Which of the above are Jaina texts ?
Answer (b) & explanation
Parishishtaparvan and the Trishashtilakshana Mahapurana are Jaina texts (b). Parishishtaparvan was written by Hemachandra (12th century), the Jain scholar of Gujarat; it tells how Chandragupta Maurya became a Jain and went south with Bhadrabahu. The Trishashtilakshana Mahapurana, by Jinasena and Gunabhadra (9th century), tells the lives of the 63 great men (shalakapurushas) of Jainism. Item 1 is wrong: the Nettipakarana is a Pali Buddhist guide to interpreting the scriptures. Item 3 is wrong: the Avadanashataka is a Sanskrit Buddhist collection of a hundred stories of good deeds. So options (a), (c) and (d) fall.
Notice the shortcut: words like avadana, jataka and nikaya point to Buddhism, while purana with 63 great men, anga or agama usually signal Jainism.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to Indian history, consider the following pairs :
| Historical person | Known as
| 1. Aryadeva | Jaina scholar
| 2. Dignaga | Buddhist scholar
| 3. Nathamuni | Vaishnava scholar
How many pairs given above are correctly matched ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Two pairs are correct (c). Pair 1 is wrong: Aryadeva was a pupil of Nagarjuna and a leading Madhyamaka Buddhist philosopher, author of the Chatuhshataka, not a Jaina scholar. Pair 2 is right: Dignaga (5th–6th century) is called the founder of Buddhist logic, and his work shaped Dharmakirti after him. Pair 3 is right: Nathamuni (10th century) collected the Alvar hymns into the Nalayira Divya Prabandham and is counted the first Sri Vaishnava acharya, a line later led by Yamunacharya and Ramanuja.
Notice the pattern: UPSC keeps asking about thinkers of Buddhism (Nagarjuna, Asanga, Vasubandhu, Dignaga) and the Bhakti acharyas (Nathamuni, Ramanuja, Madhva). Group them by school, and such pair questions become easy marks.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the religious history of India, consider the following statements :
- 1. Sthaviravadins belong to Mahayana Buddhism.
- 2. Lokottaravadin sect was an offshoot of Mahasanghika sect of Buddhism.
- 3. The deification of Buddha by Mahasanghikas fostered the Mahayana Buddhism.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Answer (b) & explanation
Statements 2 and 3 are correct (b). Statement 1 is wrong because the Sthaviravadins ("elders") are the root of the Hinayana schools, such as Theravada, not Mahayana. At the Second Buddhist Council (Vaishali, about 383 BCE), the Sangha split into the Sthaviravadins and the Mahasanghikas over monastic rules. Statement 2 is right because the Lokottaravadins were an offshoot of the Mahasanghikas. They saw the Buddha as lokottara, above the world. Statement 3 is right because this raising of the Buddha into a divine figure led towards Mahayana.
Notice the four councils: Rajagriha (Ajatashatru), Vaishali (Kalashoka), Pataliputra (Ashoka) and Kashmir (Kanishka). Pali was declared a classical language in 2024.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the cultural history of India, which one of the following is the correct description of the term ‘paramitas’ ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Paramitas are perfections on the bodhisattva path (c). In Mahayana Buddhism, the paramitas are the "perfections" that a bodhisattva practises on the way to Buddhahood. The six classic ones are dana (generosity), shila (morality), kshanti (patience), virya (effort), dhyana (meditation) and prajna (wisdom). They are sometimes extended to ten. The Prajnaparamita sutras, which include the Heart Sutra, are named after the last. Option (a) describes the Dharmasutras. Option (b) describes the nastika schools, such as Buddhism, Jainism and Charvaka. Option (d) describes guilds such as the Ayyavole (Ainnurruvar) and Manigramam.
Notice Nagarjuna, who founded the Madhyamaka school and taught at Nagarjunakonda and Amaravati in Andhra.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the cultural history of India, consider the following pairs :
- 1. Parivrajaka — Renunciant and Wanderer
- 2. Shramana — Priest with a high status
- 3. Upasaka — Lay follower of Buddhism
Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched ?
Answer (b) & explanation
Pairs 1 and 3 are correct (b). Pair 1 is right: a parivrajaka was a wandering renouncer who left home to seek truth, common in the age of the Buddha and Mahavira. Pair 2 is wrong: shramanas were ascetics outside the Brahmanical order, such as Buddhist, Jain and Ajivika monks, and they rejected priestly rank and Vedic ritual. A priest of high status would be a Brahmin or purohita. Pair 3 is right: an upasaka (male) or upasika (female) was a lay Buddhist who took the three refuges and the five precepts but did not become a monk.
Notice the Buddhist community: the sangha of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis, plus lay followers. Notice too Makkhali Gosala, who led the Ajivikas.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following :
- 1. Deification of the Buddha
- 2. Treading the path of Bodhisattvas
- 3. Image worship and rituals
Which of the above is/are the feature/features of Mahayana Buddhism?
Answer (d) & explanation
All three are features of Mahayana Buddhism (d). Mahayana, the "great vehicle", grew around the start of the Common Era under the Kushanas. It treated the Buddha as a divine, eternal being who could be worshipped (1). It made the bodhisattva the ideal: one who delays his own nirvana to help others reach it (2). It brought in images, worship, rituals and devotion (3). This gave rise to Buddha images in Gandhara and Mathura art. Early Buddhism, later called Hinayana or Theravada, saw the Buddha as a teacher and showed him by symbols such as the footprint and the bodhi tree.
Notice the Fourth Buddhist Council under Kanishka in Kashmir, linked to Mahayana's rise. Its texts used Sanskrit, not Pali.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the religious practices in India, the “Sthanakvasi” sect belongs to
Answer (b) & explanation
The Sthanakvasis belong to Jainism (b). They are a Shvetambara Jain sect that rejects idol worship. They pray in simple halls called sthanakas, not temples, and their monks wear a cloth over the mouth (muhpatti). They grew out of the reform of Lonka Shah in the 15th century, who argued that idol worship was not in the scriptures. The Terapanthis, founded by Acharya Bhikshu in 1760, later split from them. The sect has no link to Buddhism (a), Vaishnavism (c) or Shaivism (d).
Notice the main divide: Digambaras (sky-clad monks) and Shvetambaras (white-clad) split after the Council of Vallabhi fixed the canon. Shvetambara murtipujakas do worship images.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to Indian history, who among the following is a future Buddha, yet to come to save the world ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Maitreya is the future Buddha (c). In Buddhist belief, Maitreya is the bodhisattva now living in the Tushita heaven. He will come down to Earth and teach the dharma afresh when Gautama's teaching has been forgotten. Avalokiteshvara (a) is the bodhisattva of compassion. Lokeshvara (b), "lord of the world", is another name for him. Padmapani (d), "lotus in hand", is his form holding a lotus, as in the famous Ajanta Cave 1 painting. None of them is the future Buddha.
Notice the context: bodhisattvas are central to Mahayana Buddhism, which grew under the Kushanas. Other key figures are Manjushri (wisdom) and Vajrapani (power). The Dalai Lama is seen as a form of Avalokiteshvara.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the religious history of India, consider the following statements :
- 1. Sautrantika and Sammitiya were the sects of Jainism.
- 2. Sarvastivadin held that the constituents of phenomena were not wholly momentary, but existed forever in a latent form.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Answer (b) & explanation
Only statement 2 is correct (b). Statement 1 is wrong because the Sautrantikas and Sammitiyas were early Buddhist schools, not Jain ones. The Sautrantikas relied on the sutras rather than the Abhidharma. The Sammitiyas were the main pudgalavada ("person-exists") school, and Xuanzang found them strong in western India. Statement 2 is right because the Sarvastivadins ("all exists") held that dharmas, the building blocks of reality, exist in past, present and future in a latent form. They are not purely momentary.
The Sarvastivadins were strong in Kashmir and Gandhara and linked to Kanishka's Fourth Council. Notice the Jain sects to keep apart: Digambara and Shvetambara, which split after Bhadrabahu's migration south.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the religious history of India, consider the following statements :
- 1. The concept of Bodhisattva is central to Hinayana sect of Buddhism.
- 2. Bodhisattva is a compassionate one on his way to enlightenment.
- 3. Bodhisattva delays achieving his own salvation to help all sentient beings on their path to it.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (b) & explanation
Statements 2 and 3 are correct (b). Statement 1 is wrong: the Bodhisattva ideal is central to Mahayana, not Hinayana. Hinayana (Theravada) aims at becoming an arhat, one who wins his own liberation. A Bodhisattva is a compassionate being on the path to enlightenment (2) who delays his own nirvana to help all sentient beings reach it (3).
Famous Bodhisattvas include Avalokiteshvara, embodying compassion, painted at Ajanta as Padmapani, and Maitreya, the future Buddha. Mahayana grew strong under Kanishka and the Fourth Buddhist Council. Notice how the shift from personal salvation to compassion for all shaped Buddhism across Tibet, China and Japan.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following kingdoms were associated with the life of the Buddha?
- 1. Avanti
- 2. Gandhara
- 3. Kosala
- 4. Magadha
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (d) & explanation
The Buddha lived and taught mostly in Kosala and Magadha, so the answer is (d). In Kosala he spent many rainy seasons at Shravasti, with King Prasenajit. In Magadha he attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya and was patronised by Bimbisara and later Ajatashatru at Rajagriha. Avanti and Gandhara were mahajanapadas he did not visit, so options with 1 or 2 fail.
Buddhism later spread to Avanti through disciples like Mahakachchana, and Gandhara became a great centre of Buddhist art under the Kushanas. Notice how UPSC repeated this exact question from 2014.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following Kingdoms were associated with the life of the Buddha?
- 1. Avanti
- 2. Gandhara
- 3. Kosala
- 4. Magadha
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (c) & explanation
The Buddha's life centred on the middle Ganga plain. In Magadha he attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya and was patronised by Bimbisara at Rajagriha. In Kosala he often stayed at Jetavana in Shravasti under King Prasenajit. So 3 and 4 are correct (c). There is no record of him travelling to Avanti (Ujjain) or Gandhara in the north-west, though Buddhism later spread to both.
Gandhara became a great centre of Buddhist art under the Kushanas. Notice how the sixteen mahajanapadas give the political backdrop to the rise of Buddhism and Jainism.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following describes best the concept of Nirvana in Buddhism?
Answer (a) & explanation
The extinction of the flame of desire is correct (a). Nirvana literally means 'blowing out': the flame of desire (tanha), along with greed, hatred and delusion, is put out, ending suffering and the cycle of rebirth. (b) is wrong: Buddhism does not teach the annihilation of a self; it denies a permanent self (anatta) in the first place. (c) describes a feeling, not the core concept, though nirvana is peaceful. (d) is wrong: the Buddha described it clearly enough as the end of craving.
Notice the framework: the Four Noble Truths say suffering has a cause, desire, and an end, nirvana, reached by the Eightfold Path. Mahaparinirvana is the Buddha's final passing at Kushinagar. Trap: (b) confuses nirvana with nihilism.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following statements is/are applicable to Jain doctrine?
- 1. The surest way of annihilating Karma is to practice penance.
- 2. Every object, even the smallest particle has a soul.
- 3. Karma is the bane of the soul and must be ended.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below.
Answer (d) & explanation
All three are correct (d). In Jainism, karma is fine matter that sticks to the soul (jiva) and binds it to rebirth, so it is the bane of the soul and must be ended (3). Severe penance, fasting and self-discipline burn away karma, and Jains see this as the surest path (1). Every object, even stones, water, earth and the smallest particles, has a soul, which is why ahimsa is so strict (2). So options (a), (b) and (c) leave out real doctrines.
Notice the path: the three jewels (right faith, knowledge and conduct) and five vows, ahimsa, satya, asteya, aparigraha and brahmacharya, the last added by Mahavira. Liberation (kaivalya) frees the soul. Jains split into Digambara and Svetambara. Trap: statement 2 seems extreme but is core Jain belief.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.