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 & explanation
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only
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). ·