Prelims 2017 · Q53
HardWith 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 & explanation
Answer: (b) 2 only
Sautrantika and Sammitiya were schools of Buddhism, not Jainism, so statement 1 is wrong. Sarvastivadins held that the basic factors of existence (dharmas) are lasting realities even though they show up only momentarily in the world, so statement 2 is correct.
- ✗ 1. NCERT calls Sautrantika a philosophical sect of Hinayana Buddhism, and IGNOU places Sarvastivada in the same early Buddhist tradition. Sammitiya is likewise an early Buddhist school. Sautrantika arose around the 2nd century BCE as an offshoot of the Sarvastivada, and Sammitiya (also spelt Sammatiya) taught a distinctive theory of the ‘person’ (pudgala). Neither is a Jain sect.
- ✓ 2. Sarvastivadins treated everything in the empirical world as impermanent but maintained that the underlying dharma factors are eternally existing realities. Sautrantikas rejected this and held that dharmas exist only momentarily.
Remember · Sarvastivada, Sautrantika and Sammitiya are early Buddhist schools. Sarvastivadins said dharmas are enduring realities; Sautrantikas said they are only momentary.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India, Part I, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 11 · Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India, Part I, Chapter 2 “Vaibhasika and Sautrantika are the philosophical sects of Hi-nayana.”
- IGNOU eGyanKosh, Buddhism II (schools of Hinayana: Vaibhasika/Sarvastivada and Sautrantika; Internet Archive copy) ↗ · reference work “The first two belong to Hinayana tradition (Early Buddhism, Abhidharma Buddhism, Staviravada, Philosophy of the Elders, Theravada Buddhism, Sarvastivada Buddhism”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Sarvastivada ↗ · reference work “While, like all Buddhists, the Sarvastivadins consider everything empirical to be impermanent, they maintain that the dharma factors are eternally existing realities.”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Sautrantika ↗ · reference work “ancient school of Buddhism that emerged in India about the 2nd century bc as an offshoot of the Sarvāstivāda”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Sammatiya ↗ · reference work “ancient Buddhist school or group of schools in India that held a distinctive theory concerning the pudgala”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·