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 & explanation
Answer: (c) Sarvastivada Vinaya
Sanghabhuti, a monk from Kabul, worked in China in the late 4th century (AD 381–85). The other titles belong to different traditions and periods.
- ✓ (c) UPSC's official key treats this option as correct; we could not confirm the detail from an official source, so we do not explain it here. A Vinaya is the rulebook for those who join the sangha. The Sarvastivada Vinaya was itself translated into Chinese in AD 404 by Punyatara with Kumarajiva, about two decades after Sanghabhuti's years in China.
- ✗ (b) Visuddhimagga is Buddhaghosa's exposition of Theravada teaching, written in Sri Lanka in the 5th century, a Pali work of a later date and a different school.
- ✗ (d) Lalitavistara is a legendary biography of the Buddha, not a commentary on monastic rules.
Remember · Sanghabhuti: monk from Kabul, in China AD 381–85. Visuddhimagga is Buddhaghosa's; Lalitavistara a Buddha biography.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 4 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- IGNCA, India and China: Beyond and the Within (Lokesh Chandra) ↗ “Sanghabhuti from Kabul translated three works in AD 381-85. In AD 404 Punyatara of Kabul translated the Sarvastivada-vinaya, together with Kumarajiva.”
- NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part I, Chapter 4 “The Vinaya Pitaka included rules and regulations for those who joined the sangha or monastic order”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, Visuddhimagga ↗ · reference work “It was written during the reign of the Sri Lankan king Mahanama in the 5th century ce by the great Buddhist commentator Buddhaghosa.”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, Lalitavistara ↗ · reference work “legendary life of the Gautama Buddha, written in a combination of Sanskrit and a vernacular”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2024, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·