Religion, Philosophy, Language and Heritage

Practice questions (19)

Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.

1. Consider the following pairs of philosophical school and founder:
   1. Nyaya — Gautama
   2. Vaisheshika — Kanada
   3. Samkhya — Jaimini
   How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

   1. Only one pair
   2. Only two pairs
   3. All three pairs
   4. None of the pairs
   Show answer

   Answer: B — Only two pairs

   Two pairs are correct. Samkhya is traced to Kapila; Jaimini is the founder of Mimamsa, the school of Vedic ritual. Gautama (Nyaya, logic) and Kanada (Vaisheshika, atomism) are correctly matched.

2. Which school of Indian philosophy holds that the world is made up of eternal, indivisible atoms (paramanu)?

   1. Nyaya
   2. Mimamsa
   3. Vaisheshika
   4. Samkhya
   Show answer

   Answer: C — Vaisheshika

   Atomism is the doctrine of Kanada's Vaisheshika school. Nyaya is its paired school and is the usual trap, but Nyaya's subject is logic and the means of valid knowledge; Samkhya explains the world through prakriti and its three gunas, not atoms.

3. Consider the following statements about the Charvaka school:
   1. It accepts perception as the only valid means of knowledge.
   2. It is one of the six astika darshanas, since it accepts the authority of the Vedas.
   Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

   1. Only 1
   2. Only 2
   3. Both 1 and 2
   4. Neither 1 nor 2
   Show answer

   Answer: A — Only 1

   Only statement 1 is correct. The Charvaka or Lokayata school is materialist: it admits only perception, denies a soul apart from the body and an afterlife, and rejects the Vedas — which makes it nastika, not one of the six astika schools.

4. Which one of the following is NOT among the four mathas that tradition credits to Adi Shankaracharya?

   1. Sringeri
   2. Dwarka
   3. Jyotirmath
   4. Udupi
   Show answer

   Answer: D — Udupi

   Udupi is associated with Madhvacharya, the teacher of Dvaita, not with Shankaracharya. The four mathas of the Advaita tradition are at Sringeri (south), Dwarka (west), Puri (east) and Jyotirmath (north).

5. Consider the following pairs of Vedanta school and teacher:
   1. Advaita — Shankaracharya
   2. Vishishtadvaita — Ramanuja
   3. Dvaita — Madhvacharya
   4. Shuddhadvaita — Nimbarka
   How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

   1. Only one pair
   2. Only two pairs
   3. Only three pairs
   4. All four pairs
   Show answer

   Answer: C — Only three pairs

   Three pairs are correct. Shuddhadvaita, pure non-dualism, was taught by Vallabhacharya, founder of the Pushti Marga; Nimbarka taught Dvaitadvaita. The first three pairs are the standard ones.

6. Consider the following statements about the Buddhist councils:
   1. The first council was held at Rajagriha under the patronage of Ajatashatru.
   2. The third council was held at Pataliputra under Ashoka and presided over by Moggaliputta Tissa.
   3. The fourth council was held in Kashmir under the patronage of Harsha.
   Which of the statements given above are correct?

   1. 1 and 2 only
   2. 2 and 3 only
   3. 1 and 3 only
   4. 1, 2 and 3
   Show answer

   Answer: A — 1 and 2 only

   Statements 1 and 2 are correct. The fourth council in Kashmir was held under the Kushana king Kanishka in the 1st century CE and presided over by Vasumitra; Harsha, of the 7th century, is the trap because he too convened a great Buddhist assembly, at Kannauj.

7. At which Buddhist council did the Sangha split into the Sthaviravadins and the Mahasanghikas over questions of monastic discipline?

   1. The first council, at Rajagriha
   2. The second council, at Vaishali
   3. The third council, at Pataliputra
   4. The fourth council, in Kashmir
   Show answer

   Answer: B — The second council, at Vaishali

   The split came at the second council, held at Vaishali under Kalashoka about a century after the Buddha. The fourth council is the tempting answer because it is linked to a division too, but that was the later hardening into Mahayana and Hinayana.

8. Consider the following statements:
   1. Mahayana Buddhism holds up the ideal of the bodhisattva, who delays his own nirvana to help all beings.
   2. The Madhyamika school of Nagarjuna belongs to the Mahayana tradition.
   3. Vajrayana, with its Tantric ritual, flourished in eastern India and Tibet.
   Which of the statements given above are correct?

   1. 1 and 2 only
   2. 2 and 3 only
   3. 1 and 3 only
   4. 1, 2 and 3
   Show answer

   Answer: D — 1, 2 and 3

   All three are correct. The bodhisattva ideal defines Mahayana; Nagarjuna's Madhyamika, the philosophy of emptiness (shunyata), is a Mahayana school; and Vajrayana grew around monasteries such as Vikramashila and spread to Tibet. Hinayana, by contrast, holds up the arhat and uses Pali.

9. Parshvanatha taught four vows. Which vow did Mahavira add to make the five great vows of Jainism?

   1. Aparigraha (non-possession)
   2. Brahmacharya (celibacy)
   3. Asteya (non-stealing)
   4. Ahimsa (non-violence)
   Show answer

   Answer: B — Brahmacharya (celibacy)

   Mahavira added brahmacharya. Parshvanatha's four vows were ahimsa, satya, asteya and aparigraha, so the other three options were already part of his teaching; ahimsa is the most tempting because it is so central to Jainism, but it was not new with Mahavira.

10. Consider the following statements about Jainism:
    1. According to tradition, Bhadrabahu led a group of monks to Karnataka during a famine, accompanied by Chandragupta Maurya.
    2. The Jain canon was finally written down at a council held at Vallabhi.
    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    1. Only 1
    2. Only 2
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Show answer

    Answer: C — Both 1 and 2

    Both are correct. The migration under Bhadrabahu is the Digambara tradition's account of its origin in the south, linked with Shravanabelagola. The canon was arranged at Pataliputra but written down only at the second council at Vallabhi in Gujarat, under Devardhi Kshamashramana.

11. Which group of languages was added to the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution in 2003?

    1. Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali
    2. Maithili, Bhojpuri, Rajasthani and Santali
    3. Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santali
    4. Sindhi, Konkani, Bodo and Dogri
    Show answer

    Answer: C — Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santali

    The 92nd Amendment of 2003 added Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santali. Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali came in 1992 and Sindhi in 1967. Bhojpuri and Rajasthani are not in the Eighth Schedule at all, which rules out that option.

12. Consider the following statements about the classical languages of India:
    1. Tamil was the first language to be declared classical, in 2004.
    2. Odia was declared a classical language before Malayalam.
    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    1. Only 1
    2. Only 2
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Show answer

    Answer: A — Only 1

    Only statement 1 is correct. Tamil was declared classical in 2004. Malayalam received the status in 2013 and Odia in 2014, so Odia came after Malayalam, not before it.

13. Consider the following statements:
    1. The Brahmi script was deciphered by James Prinsep.
    2. The Kharosthi script was written from right to left and was used in the north-west.
    3. Ashokan edicts found in Afghanistan include versions in Greek and Aramaic.
    Which of the statements given above are correct?

    1. 1 and 2 only
    2. 2 and 3 only
    3. 1 and 3 only
    4. 1, 2 and 3
    Show answer

    Answer: D — 1, 2 and 3

    All three are correct. Prinsep deciphered Brahmi in 1837, unlocking Ashoka's edicts; Kharosthi ran right to left in Gandhara; and the Kandahar edicts are in Greek and Aramaic. The common error is to assume all Ashokan inscriptions are in Brahmi.

14. Consider the following pairs of work and author:
    1. Silappadikaram — Ilango Adigal
    2. Rajatarangini — Kalhana
    3. Gita Govinda — Jayadeva
    4. Amuktamalyada — Krishnadevaraya
    How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

    1. Only one pair
    2. Only two pairs
    3. Only three pairs
    4. All four pairs
    Show answer

    Answer: D — All four pairs

    All four pairs are correct: the Tamil epic Silappadikaram by Ilango Adigal, Kalhana's 12th-century history of Kashmir, Jayadeva's Sanskrit Gita Govinda, and the Telugu Amuktamalyada of the Vijayanagara king Krishnadevaraya. The trap is to suspect a king of not being the author.

15. The National Calendar of India, adopted in 1957 alongside the Gregorian calendar, is based on which era?

    1. Vikram Samvat (57 BCE)
    2. Gupta era (319–320 CE)
    3. Hijri era (622 CE)
    4. Shaka era (78 CE)
    Show answer

    Answer: D — Shaka era (78 CE)

    The National Calendar is based on the Shaka era of 78 CE and was adopted on 22 March 1957, with 1 Chaitra falling on 22 March. Vikram Samvat is the most tempting option because it is widely used in north India, but it was not chosen as the national calendar.

16. Consider the following pairs of festival and state:
    1. Hornbill Festival — Nagaland
    2. Wangala — Meghalaya
    3. Chapchar Kut — Mizoram
    4. Nuakhai — Kerala
    How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

    1. Only one pair
    2. Only two pairs
    3. Only three pairs
    4. All four pairs
    Show answer

    Answer: C — Only three pairs

    Three pairs are correct. Nuakhai, the festival of eating the season's new rice, belongs to western Odisha, not Kerala. Hornbill (Nagaland), Wangala of the Garos (Meghalaya) and Chapchar Kut (Mizoram) are correctly matched.

17. Which one of the following is NOT inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity?

    1. Ramman of Garhwal
    2. Hornbill Festival of Nagaland
    3. Durga Puja in Kolkata
    4. Garba of Gujarat
    Show answer

    Answer: B — Hornbill Festival of Nagaland

    The Hornbill Festival, though widely known, is not on the intangible heritage list. Ramman was inscribed in 2009, Durga Puja in Kolkata in 2021 and Garba in 2023. Fame is not the test: only elements a state party nominates and UNESCO inscribes are on the list.

18. Consider the following statements:
    1. The first World Heritage Sites inscribed from India, in 1983, were the Ajanta Caves, the Ellora Caves, the Agra Fort and the Taj Mahal.
    2. The Kumbh Mela is inscribed on the World Heritage List as a cultural site.
    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    1. Only 1
    2. Only 2
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Show answer

    Answer: A — Only 1

    Only statement 1 is correct. The Kumbh Mela is a living practice and was inscribed in 2017 on the intangible heritage list; the World Heritage List records places — monuments, sites and natural areas — not festivals.

19. Consider the following pairs of institution and field:
    1. Sahitya Akademi — literature
    2. Lalit Kala Akademi — music and dance
    3. Sangeet Natak Akademi — music, dance and drama
    How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

    1. Only two pairs
    2. Only one pair
    3. All three pairs
    4. None of the pairs
    Show answer

    Answer: A — Only two pairs

    Two pairs are correct. The Lalit Kala Akademi is the national academy of the visual arts — painting, sculpture and graphics; music and dance belong to the Sangeet Natak Akademi. The word "kala" (art) is what makes the wrong pair look plausible.