Prelims · Ancient India · 20 questions

Buddhism, Jainism & other schools

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Prelims 2022 · Q55

Hard

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 & explanation

Answer: (b) 2 and 4 only

Parishishtaparvan and the Trishashtilakshana Mahapurana are Jaina works. Avadanashataka (a collection of avadanas) is Buddhist. UPSC's key gives only 2 and 4 as Jaina.

✗ 1. UPSC's official key treats this statement as incorrect; we could not confirm the detail from an official source, so we do not explain it here.
✓ 2. Parishishtaparvan is a Jaina work: IGNOU's study material lists it among the Jain scriptures known as the Parvas.
✗ 3. Avadanashataka means 'a hundred avadanas'. Avadanas are Buddhist stories, centred on the Buddha's explanations of a person's worthy deeds in a previous life, so this is a Buddhist work.
✓ 4. The Mahapurana is a Jaina work; NCERT names it among the manuscript works portraying Jain subjects.

Remember · Jaina: Parishishtaparvan and the Mahapurana. Buddhist: Avadanashataka (a collection of avadanas).

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 An Introduction to Indian Art, Part II, Ch 1 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 An Introduction to Indian Art, Part I, Ch 4 (practise this chapter)

Sources

NCERT Class 12 · An Introduction to Indian Art, Part II, Chapter 1 “A large group of works of the same period, portraying Hindu and Jain subjects, such as the Mahapurana, Chaurpanchashika, Aranyaka Parvan of the Mahabharata, Bhagvata Purana, Gita Govinda”
NCERT Class 11 · An Introduction to Indian Art, Part I, Chapter 4 “The themes of the paintings are the events from the life of the Buddha, the Jatakas and the Avadanas.”
IGNOU (eGyankosh), Unit 6: Jain, Buddhist and Other Sects ↗ · reference work “Jain scriptures are collectively referred to as the Parvas. These texts have a religious perspective and include notable works such as Parishishtaparvan, Bhadra Bahucharita, Avasyakasutra, Acharanga Sutra, Bhagwati Sutra, and Kalika Purana”
Encyclopaedia Britannica: avadana ↗ · reference work “legendary material centring on the Buddha’s explanations of events by a person’s worthy deeds in a previous life”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2022 · Q56

Medium

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 & explanation

Answer: (c) Only two pairs

Two pairs are correct: Dignaga was a Buddhist logician and Nathamuni a Vaishnava (Shrivaishnava) teacher. Aryadeva was a Buddhist, a disciple of Nagarjuna, not a Jaina.

✗ 1. Aryadeva was a Mahayana Buddhist philosopher, the disciple of Nagarjuna, who with him is credited with founding the Madhyamaka school; he was not a Jaina.
✓ 2. Dignaga (c. 480-540 CE) was a Buddhist logician whose Pramanasamuccaya laid the foundations of Buddhist logic.
✓ 3. Nathamuni (10th century), the first acharya of the Shrivaishnava sect, gathered the hymns of the Alvars and had them sung in Vaishnava temples.

Remember · Aryadeva: Buddhist (Madhyamaka, Nagarjuna's disciple). Dignaga: Buddhist logic. Nathamuni: Shrivaishnava, collected the Alvars' hymns.

Sources

India Science Heritage (Government of India): Nagarjuna ↗ “Along with his disciple Aryadeva, he is credited with founding the Madhyamaka school of Mahayana Buddhism.”
Encyclopaedia Britannica: Dignaga ↗ · reference work “Dignāga (born c. 480 ce —died c. 540) was a Buddhist logician and author of the Pramāṇasamuccaya (“Compendium of the Means of True Knowledge”), a work that laid the foundations of Buddhist logic.”
Central Institute of Buddhist Studies, Leh: Dialectical System ↗ · reference work “introduced Buddhist Logics or Dialectical System for analytical study of Buddhism in his book named”
Encyclopaedia Britannica: Alvar ↗ · reference work “The hymns of the Alvars were gathered in the 10th century by Nathamuni, a leader of the Shrivaishnava sect, who introduced the regular singing of the hymns in Vaishnava temples of South India.”
IGNOU (eGyankosh), Unit 22: Socio-Religious Movements ↗ · reference work “Nathamuni introduced the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, i.e. the hymns of the Alvars as a part of the ritual singing in the temples.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

The same topic in Mains

Indian art, literature & architectureGS 1 syllabus

Read it in NCERT

Class 12 An Introduction to Indian Art, Part II, Chapter 1cited in 1 explanation
Class 11 An Introduction to Indian Art, Part I, Chapter 4cited in 1 explanation