Buddhism, Jainism & other schools

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

Coins in the Pali (Buddhist) texts and the silver punch-marked coins found at many sites both belong to the age of the mahajanapadas (c. sixth century BCE). That age saw the Second Urbanisation of the Ganga valley, and coins came into use because trade was growing, so the evidence speaks to both urban life and a shift to money.

• ✓ 1. Punch-marked coins appear alongside the rise of towns and cities in the Ganga valley (c. 600–500 BCE); coinage was a product of the growing urban trade of this period.
• ✓ 2. Named coins such as the kahapana and actual silver punch-marked coins show exchange moving from barter towards payment in money.

Remember · Sixth century BCE: mahajanapadas, Second Urbanisation in the Ganga valley and the first Indian coins, silver punch-marked coins (kahapana in Pali texts).

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 2 (practise this chapter) · Class 7 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Ch 4 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Yaksha (demi-gods)

Jainism holds that an unliberated soul is reborn, according to its karma, in one of four gatis (states): deva (heavenly being), manushya (human), naraka (hell being) and tiryancha (animal or plant). Yaksha is not one of the four; the missing fourth is the hell being.

• ✓ (b) Yaksha is not named among the four gatis. The fourth gati is naraka, birth as a being in the hells.
• ✗ (a) Deva-gati, birth as a heavenly being, is one of the four states.
• ✗ (d) Tiryancha (tiryag-gati) covers animals, plants and earth-, water-, air- and fire-bodied beings, and is one of the four states.

Remember · Jain four gatis: deva (gods), manushya (humans), tiryancha (animals and plants), naraka (hell beings). Only liberation (moksha) ends the cycle.

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

Answer: (a) The meditation of the Buddha

Early Buddhist sculptors did not carve the Buddha in human form; they suggested his presence through symbols. An empty seat stood for his meditation (the seat of enlightenment under the tree), the wheel for his first sermon at Sarnath, and the stupa for his mahaparinibbana.

• ✓ (a) The empty seat marks the place where the Buddha sat in meditation and attained enlightenment.
• ✗ (b) The first sermon at Sarnath was shown by the wheel (dhammachakka), not by an empty seat.
• ✗ (c) The mahaparinibbana, the Buddha's final passing away, was represented by the stupa.

Remember · Aniconic symbols: empty seat = meditation/enlightenment; wheel = first sermon; stupa = mahaparinibbana; horse = the great departure.

📘 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)

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error