भारत के धार्मिक इतिहास के संदर्भ में निम्नलिखित कथनों पर विचार कीजिए :
- 1.बोधिसत्त्व, बौद्धमत के हीनयान सम्प्रदाय की केंद्रीय संकल्पना है।
- 2.बोधिसत्त्व अपने प्रबोध के मार्ग पर बढ़ता हुआ करुणामय है।
- 3.बोधिसत्त्व समस्त सचेतन प्राणियों को उनके प्रबोध के मार्ग पर चलने में सहायता करने के लिए स्वयं की निर्वाण प्राप्ति विलम्बित करता है।
उपर्युक्त कथनों में से कौन-सा/से सही है/हैं?
Read this question in English
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?
(a) 1 only · (b) 2 and 3 only · (c) 2 only · (d) 1, 2 and 3
उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English
Answer: (b) केवल 2 और 3
A Bodhisattva is a deeply compassionate being who uses his accumulated merit to help others reach liberation instead of taking nibbana for himself, so statements 2 and 3 are correct. This idea belongs to Mahayana Buddhism, not to the tradition Mahayanists called Hinayana, so statement 1 is wrong.
- ✗ 1. The concept of the Bodhisatta (Bodhisattva) developed with the Mahayana school, the 'great vehicle'. Its followers used the name Hinayana, the 'lesser vehicle', for the older tradition.
- ✓ 2. Bodhisattas are described as deeply compassionate beings who gather merit through their efforts.
- ✓ 3. They use that merit not to attain nibbana and leave the world, but to help others.
Remember · Bodhisattva: a compassionate being who delays his own nirvana to help others; the ideal is central to Mahayana, and 'Hinayana' was Mahayana's name for the older school.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 4 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 4 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part I, Chapter 4 “Bodhisattas were perceived as deeply compassionate beings who accumulated merit through their efforts but used this not to attain nibbana and thereby abandon the world, but to help others.”
- NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part I, Chapter 4 “This new way of thinking was called Mahayana – literally, the "great vehicle". Those who adopted these beliefs described the older tradition as Hinayana or the "lesser vehicle".”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·