Class 12 History Chapter 4 — A History of Buddhism: Sanchi Stupa
Welcome to HSLC Guru. This page provides complete English-medium ASSEB Class 12 History Chapter 4 question answers from NCERT Theme 4 — Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings (c. 600 BCE – 600 CE), centred on the Sanchi Stupa and the rise of Buddhism, Jainism and other heterodox traditions. Use these notes to prepare for the HSLC / Higher Secondary final exam.
About the Chapter
This chapter explores the religious developments of the mid-first millennium BCE, a period of intense intellectual and spiritual ferment in the Indo-Gangetic plains. It examines the life and teachings of the Buddha, the rise of Jainism under Mahavira, the Ajivika sect, and the institutional growth of the Sangha. The Great Stupa at Sanchi serves as the principal archaeological case study, illustrating how Buddhist art and architecture preserved religious ideas across centuries, and how nineteenth-century preservation efforts — especially by Shahjahan Begum and Sultan Jahan Begum of Bhopal — saved Sanchi from destruction.
Summary
The sixth century BCE was a watershed in Indian religious history. Across the Ganga valley, urbanisation, the use of iron, monetised trade and the rise of mahajanapadas created social tensions that the older Vedic sacrificial religion could not address. Out of this ferment emerged a wave of new teachers, the most influential of whom were Mahavira (Jainism) and Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha. The Upanishads also belong to this age, recording philosophical dialogues about the atman and brahman.
The Buddha: Siddhartha Gautama was born in the Sakya clan at Lumbini around 563 BCE. Troubled by the sights of an old man, a sick man, a corpse and a wandering ascetic, he abandoned his palace at Kapilavastu, practised severe austerities and finally attained enlightenment under a peepal tree at Bodh Gaya. He delivered his first sermon at Sarnath (the Dhammachakkapavattana) and preached for forty-five years, dying at Kushinagara around 483 BCE (his mahaparinibbana).
The Four Noble Truths: (1) the world is full of suffering (dukkha); (2) suffering arises from desire (tanha); (3) the cessation of desire ends suffering (nirvana); (4) the path to this cessation is the Noble Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path consists of right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. The Triratna — the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha — became the threefold refuge of every Buddhist.
Sangha: The Buddha founded an order of monks (bhikkhus) and, after initial reluctance, of nuns (bhikkhunis) — his foster mother Mahaprajapati Gotami being the first. Internal rules were codified in the Vinaya Pitaka; doctrine in the Sutta Pitaka; metaphysics in the Abhidhamma Pitaka — together the Tipitaka. Around the first century CE Buddhism split into Hinayana (the older school, conservative, no image worship, dominant in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia) and Mahayana (the “Great Vehicle,” with bodhisattvas, image worship and Sanskrit texts, dominant in China, Korea, Japan and Tibet). A later esoteric current, Vajrayana, developed in Tibet.
Jainism: Mahavira (c. 540–468 BCE), the twenty-fourth and last tirthankara, taught five vows — non-violence (ahimsa), truth, non-stealing, celibacy and non-possession. Jain doctrine sees the entire world as animated by souls (even stones and water); rigorous asceticism is the path to liberation. The Jain community split into Digambara (“sky-clad”) and Svetambara (“white-clad”) sects.
Ajivikas: Founded by Makkhali Gosala, the Ajivikas were strict determinists who held that human effort was futile because everything was governed by niyati (fate). The sect flourished briefly under Mauryan patronage and survived in south India for several centuries.
The Sanchi Stupa: Stupas — earthen mounds containing relics — became the most distinctive Buddhist monument. The Great Stupa at Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh was originally built in brick by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in the third century BCE. It was enlarged in stone under the Sungas, surrounded by a railing and four ornately carved toranas (gateways) added in the first century BCE. The carvings depict Jataka stories and symbols of the Buddha — footprints, the empty throne, the Bodhi tree, the Wheel of Law — because in early Buddhist art the Buddha was never shown in human form.
Preservation: Sanchi survived because of the extraordinary patronage of Shahjahan Begum, the ruler of Bhopal, and her successor Sultan Jahan Begum. They funded the museum, the guest house, and the work of the British archaeologist John Marshall, who dedicated his volumes on Sanchi to them. Earlier, French and English collectors had wanted to ship the eastern gateway to European museums, but the Begums refused. Today Sanchi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the most complete record of early Buddhist art in India.
সাৰাংশ (Assamese Summary)
খ্ৰীষ্টপূৰ্ব ষষ্ঠ শতিকা ভাৰতীয় ধৰ্মীয় ইতিহাসৰ এক যুগান্তকাৰী কাল আছিল। গংগা উপত্যকাত নগৰায়ণ, লোহাৰ ব্যৱহাৰ, মুদ্ৰাৰ প্ৰচলন আৰু মহাজনপদৰ উত্থানে নতুন ধৰ্মীয় চিন্তাৰ দাবী জগাইছিল। এই পৰিৱেশতে মহাবীৰ (জৈন ধৰ্ম) আৰু সিদ্ধাৰ্থ গৌতম বুদ্ধৰ (বৌদ্ধ ধৰ্ম) আবিৰ্ভাৱ ঘটিছিল।
লুম্বিনীত জন্ম গ্ৰহণ কৰা সিদ্ধাৰ্থই বুঢ়া, ৰোগী, মৃতদেহ আৰু সন্ন্যাসীৰ দৃশ্য দেখি গৃহত্যাগ কৰিছিল আৰু বোধগয়াত পিপল গছৰ তলত জ্ঞান লাভ কৰিছিল। সাৰনাথত প্ৰথম উপদেশ দিছিল আৰু কুশিনগৰত মহাপৰিনিৰ্বাণ লাভ কৰিছিল। চাৰি আৰ্য সত্য আৰু অষ্টাংগিক মাৰ্গ তেওঁৰ মূল শিক্ষা। বুদ্ধ, ধৰ্ম, সংঘ — এই ত্ৰিৰত্ন বৌদ্ধ ধৰ্মৰ আশ্ৰয়। পিছত বৌদ্ধ ধৰ্ম হীনযান আৰু মহাযানত বিভক্ত হ’ল।
মহাবীৰে পাঁচটা ব্ৰত — অহিংসা, সত্য, অস্তেয়, ব্ৰহ্মচৰ্য আৰু অপৰিগ্ৰহ — শিকাইছিল। আজীৱিকসকল নিয়তিবাদী আছিল। সাঁচী স্তূপ অশোকে নিৰ্মাণ কৰিছিল আৰু ঊনবিংশ শতিকাত ভোপালৰ ছাহজাহান বেগম আৰু ছুলতান জাহান বেগমে ইয়াৰ সংৰক্ষণ কৰিছিল। ব্ৰিটিছ পুৰাতাত্ত্বিক জন মাৰ্শ্বেলৰ গৱেষণাই সাঁচীক বিশ্বৰ চকুত আনিলে। আজি ই ইউনেস্কো বিশ্ব ঐতিহ্য স্থল।
NCERT Textbook Questions and Answers
Q1. Were the ideas of the Upanishadic thinkers different from those of the fatalists and materialists? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer: Yes, the ideas of the Upanishadic thinkers were fundamentally different from those of the fatalists (Ajivikas) and materialists (Lokayatas / Charvakas).
- Upanishadic thinkers sought to understand the nature of the atman (soul) and brahman (universal essence). They believed that liberation (moksha) came from realising the unity of atman and brahman, and that the soul was eternal and underwent rebirth.
- Fatalists (Ajivikas), led by Makkhali Gosala, argued that human effort was useless. Everything was preordained by niyati; one could neither hasten nor delay one’s salvation through good deeds.
- Materialists (Lokayatas) denied the existence of soul, rebirth, karma and afterlife. They held that consciousness was a product of the body and ended with death; there was no virtue in religious ritual.
Thus the Upanishads were spiritual and idealist, while the fatalists were deterministic and the materialists empirical and sceptical.
Q2. Summarise the central teachings of Jainism.
Answer: The central teachings of Jainism are:
- The entire world — including stones, rocks, water, plants and animals — is animated by souls (jiva).
- The principle of ahimsa (non-injury) towards all living beings is supreme.
- The cycle of birth and rebirth is shaped by karma.
- Asceticism and penance are essential for liberation.
- Liberation requires renunciation of the world and entry into monastic life.
- The Five Vows (panch mahavrata) — non-violence (ahimsa), truth (satya), non-stealing (asteya), celibacy (brahmacharya) and non-possession (aparigraha).
Q3. Discuss the role of the begums of Bhopal in preserving the stupa at Sanchi.
Answer: The Sanchi stupa survived almost intact because of the patronage of the Muslim rulers of Bhopal:
- Shahjahan Begum (ruled 1868–1901) and her successor Sultan Jahan Begum provided money for the preservation of the ancient site.
- French and English collectors approached them seeking permission to ship away one of the carved gateways for European museums; the Begums refused, but allowed plaster casts to be taken so the gateway itself could remain at Sanchi.
- Sultan Jahan Begum funded the construction of a museum and a guest house at the site.
- She also financed the publication of John Marshall‘s monumental volumes on Sanchi, to which Marshall dedicated his work in gratitude.
- Without the Begums’ active intervention, the western gateways might have ended up in Paris and London, and the brick mound itself would have crumbled.
Q4. Read the following excerpt from the Sutta Pitaka and answer the question that follows.
Answer: The excerpt — the Buddha’s deathbed advice to Ananda — illustrates that the Buddha did not believe in the authority of a personal teacher. He told his disciples to be “lamps unto themselves” and to take refuge only in themselves and in the Dhamma. This shows that Buddhism rejected priestly mediation and emphasised individual effort, self-reliance and personal experience as the path to liberation.
Q5. Why do you think women and men joined the Sangha?
Answer: Men and women joined the Sangha for many reasons:
- Spiritual longing — they sought liberation from suffering and the cycle of rebirth.
- Equality — the Sangha admitted people from all varnas, including shudras, with little discrimination based on birth.
- Escape from social restrictions — particularly for women, the Sangha offered relief from the constraints of married household life.
- Intellectual freedom — many were drawn by the teaching’s emphasis on reason rather than ritual.
- Devotion — kings, merchants, slaves and craftsmen alike found the Buddha’s personality and message irresistible.
- Therigatha records nuns who joined to find peace after the loss of children, to escape unhappy marriages, or simply to seek wisdom.
Q6. To what extent does knowledge of Buddhist literature help in understanding the sculpture at Sanchi?
Answer: Buddhist literature is indispensable for interpreting the sculptures of Sanchi.
- Many panels depict Jataka stories — earlier lives of the Buddha. Without the Jataka collection, scenes such as the Vessantara Jataka (the prince who gave away everything he owned) cannot be identified.
- The sculptors did not show the Buddha in human form. They used symbols — the empty throne, the Bodhi tree, footprints, the wheel and the stupa itself. Recognising what each symbol represents requires familiarity with the texts.
- The Dream of Maya, the Great Departure and the First Sermon can only be identified by readers who know the biographical narratives in the Sutta Pitaka and the Lalitavistara.
- However, art historians like James Fergusson initially interpreted the panels as scenes of tree and serpent worship — only after Buddhist literature became known did the true subjects become clear.
Q7. Figs. 4.32 and 4.33 are two scenes from Sanchi. Describe what you see in each of them, focusing on the architecture, plants and animals, and the activities. Identify which one shows a rural scene and which an urban one, giving reasons for your answer.
Answer: Fig. 4.32 shows a forest setting — leafy trees, animals such as elephants and deer, and ascetics in simple thatched huts; this is clearly a rural / forest scene. Fig. 4.33 shows fortified gateways, multi-storeyed buildings, balconies, pillared halls and figures riding horses or being received in court — this is clearly an urban scene, probably depicting a city like Kushinagara or Kapilavastu. The contrast tells us that early Indian sculptors faithfully recorded both the village world of the ascetic and the prosperous city world of the royal patron.
Q8. Discuss the development in sculpture and architecture associated with the rise of Vaishnavism and Shaivism.
Answer: The Puranic Hinduism of the early centuries CE expressed itself through stone temples and divine images.
- Sculpture: Vishnu was carved with his ten avatars; Shiva was represented by the linga or as Nataraja. Iconography drew on the texts of the Puranas. Each god was given a vehicle (vahana) — Garuda for Vishnu, Nandi for Shiva.
- Architecture: Early temples (4th–5th c. CE) were small square sanctums (garbhagriha) housing the chief image, with a flat roof. Over time the shikhara tower developed above the sanctum, and pillared halls (mandapas) were added in front. Walls were covered with sculpted panels narrating mythology.
- Some temples were rock-cut, like those at Udayagiri (Madhya Pradesh), where Vishnu’s Varaha avatara is shown lifting the earth out of the cosmic ocean.
- The Gupta period saw the standardisation of temple plan that culminated in the great structural temples of Aihole, Deogarh and later Khajuraho and Konark.
Q9. Discuss how and why stupas were built.
Answer: A stupa is a hemispherical mound built over the bodily relics or possessions of the Buddha or other holy persons.
- Origin: Before his death, the Buddha was asked what should be done with his body. He told his disciples to cremate him and enshrine the ashes at the four crossroads. After his death his relics were divided into eight portions and stupas built over each. Later, Ashoka opened these stupas, redistributed the relics and built 84,000 stupas across his empire.
- Structure: A solid drum (medhi) supported a hemispherical dome (anda) symbolising the world mountain. Above the dome rose a square railing (harmika) from which a mast (yashti) carried tiered umbrellas (chhatris). A processional path (pradakshina patha) ran around the drum, fenced by railings (vedika) and entered through four ornamental gateways (toranas).
- Why they were built: Stupas housed sacred relics and so were considered part of the Buddha’s body. Devotees walked clockwise around them to acquire merit. Donors recorded their gifts in inscriptions, hoping for spiritual reward. Stupas thus served as objects of worship, centres of pilgrimage and visual reminders of the Buddha’s teachings in the absence of his physical presence.
Short Answer Questions
Q1. Who was the founder of Buddhism?
Answer: Siddhartha Gautama, later known as the Buddha (“the enlightened one”), was the founder of Buddhism. He was born around 563 BCE at Lumbini in the Sakya clan and attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya.
Q2. What is the Tipitaka?
Answer: The Tipitaka (“Three Baskets”) is the canonical scripture of Theravada Buddhism, comprising the Vinaya Pitaka (rules of monastic life), the Sutta Pitaka (discourses of the Buddha) and the Abhidhamma Pitaka (philosophical analysis).
Q3. What are the Triratna of Buddhism?
Answer: The Triratna or Three Jewels are the Buddha (the teacher), the Dhamma (his teaching) and the Sangha (the community of monks and nuns). Every Buddhist takes refuge in these three.
Q4. Where did the Buddha deliver his first sermon?
Answer: The Buddha delivered his first sermon at the Deer Park (Mrigadava) in Sarnath, near Varanasi. This event is called the Dhammachakkapavattana — the turning of the wheel of law.
Q5. Who were the Ajivikas?
Answer: The Ajivikas were a heterodox sect founded by Makkhali Gosala in the sixth century BCE. They were strict determinists who held that fate (niyati) governed all events and that human effort had no role in salvation.
Q6. Who were the founders of the two main sects of Jainism?
Answer: Jainism split into two sects: the Digambaras (“sky-clad,” followers of Bhadrabahu) who insisted on complete nudity, and the Svetambaras (“white-clad,” followers of Sthulabhadra) who wore white robes.
Q7. Who was Mahaprajapati Gotami?
Answer: Mahaprajapati Gotami was the foster mother of the Buddha and the first woman to be ordained as a bhikkhuni (nun). Her admission opened the Sangha to women.
Q8. What does the word “stupa” mean?
Answer: The word “stupa” comes from a Sanskrit term meaning “heap” or “mound.” A stupa is a hemispherical structure raised over the bodily relics or possessions of the Buddha or another revered person.
Q9. Where is Sanchi located?
Answer: Sanchi is located in the Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh, about 46 km north-east of Bhopal. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Q10. Who was John Marshall?
Answer: Sir John Marshall was the Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India in the early twentieth century. He produced the definitive three-volume study of Sanchi (1940), funded by Sultan Jahan Begum.
Q11. What are bodhisattvas?
Answer: Bodhisattvas are deeply compassionate beings who, although they have accumulated enough merit to attain nirvana, choose to remain in the world to help suffering humanity. They are central figures of worship in Mahayana Buddhism.
Q12. What is the Eightfold Path?
Answer: The Eightfold Path is the Buddha’s prescription for ending suffering: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration.
Long Answer Questions
Q1. Discuss the religious conditions of India in the sixth century BCE that led to the rise of Buddhism and Jainism.
Answer: By the sixth century BCE, the older Vedic religion had hardened into expensive sacrificial ritual dominated by Brahmana priests. Society had stratified into rigid varnas, and the lower varnas resented this. Iron tools had spread agriculture across the Ganga plain; new towns flourished and trade gave rise to a wealthy vaishya class which sought religions that did not subordinate them to priests. The Upanishads had already begun a movement away from ritual towards inward enquiry. In this atmosphere, dozens of new teachers — called shramanas — questioned the Vedas, the caste system and the value of sacrifice. Of these, two — Mahavira and the Buddha — built lasting institutions. Their emphasis on personal effort, ethical conduct, ahimsa, and equal access for all castes attracted merchants, artisans, women and rulers. Patronage from kings such as Bimbisara, Ajatashatru and especially Ashoka turned these movements into world religions.
Q2. Describe the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha.
Answer: Siddhartha Gautama was born to king Suddhodana and queen Mahamaya in 563 BCE at Lumbini, in the Sakya republic. Brought up in luxury at Kapilavastu, he was shielded from sorrow until on four successive trips outside the palace he saw an old man, a sick man, a corpse and a wandering ascetic — the Four Sights. Disturbed, he renounced his wife Yashodhara and infant son Rahula at the age of 29 (the Great Departure). For six years he practised severe austerities under various teachers, but found no answer. Sitting under a peepal tree at Bodh Gaya, he attained enlightenment at the age of 35. He preached for forty-five years, gathering thousands of followers, and died at Kushinagara at the age of 80. His central teachings are the Four Noble Truths (suffering, its cause, its cessation, and the path), the Noble Eightfold Path, the doctrine of anatta (no permanent self), the law of karma and rebirth, ahimsa, and the middle way between extremes of indulgence and asceticism. He rejected caste, the authority of the Vedas, and the necessity of priestly ritual.
Q3. Describe the architecture of the Great Stupa at Sanchi.
Answer: The Great Stupa at Sanchi was begun under emperor Ashoka in the third century BCE as a brick mound about half its present size. Under the Sungas (second century BCE) it was encased in stone and doubled in diameter. The hemispherical dome (anda), about 36.5 metres across and 16.4 metres high, sits on a high circular drum (medhi) reached by a double staircase. A railing (vedika) encloses the procession path (pradakshina patha); a square railing called the harmika crowns the dome and supports a triple umbrella (chhatraavali). Four magnificent gateways or toranas were added in the first century BCE — the southern gateway first, then the northern, eastern and western. Each gateway has two pillars supporting three curved cross-bars, all densely sculpted with Jataka stories, scenes from the life of the Buddha (depicted only through symbols), guardian yakshas and yakshis, lotuses, elephants and processional figures. The whole monument is a stone encyclopedia of early Buddhist art.
Q4. Compare and contrast Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhism.
Answer: The Fourth Buddhist Council, held under the Kushana emperor Kanishka in the first century CE, witnessed a doctrinal split into two great branches.
- Hinayana (“Lesser Vehicle”) preserved the original teachings. It treated the Buddha as a great human teacher, not a god; rejected image worship; used Pali; and emphasised individual liberation through monastic discipline. It survives today as Theravada in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand and Cambodia.
- Mahayana (“Greater Vehicle”) deified the Buddha, introduced bodhisattva worship, accepted image worship, used Sanskrit, and held that liberation was open to laypeople. It became dominant in China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Tibet.
- Common ground: both accept the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, the law of karma, the goal of nirvana, and reverence for the Buddha.
- The split helped Buddhism spread by adapting to many cultures, but also weakened doctrinal unity.
Q5. Explain the importance of the Sanchi Stupa as a source for early Indian history.
Answer: Sanchi is the single most important surviving monument of early Indian Buddhism and a primary source for understanding social, religious and artistic life of the period c. 300 BCE – 100 CE. Its inscriptions name hundreds of donors — monks, nuns, merchants, artisans, ivory carvers and even individual women — giving us a vivid social profile of the lay community. Its sculptural panels depict Jataka tales and scenes of city and forest life, providing the only large-scale image bank of early Indian dress, architecture, craft and worship. The development from brick (Mauryan) to stone (Sunga) to elaborately carved gateways (Satavahana) shows the evolution of Indian stone architecture. Most importantly, because it lay in a remote spot in central India, it survived the destruction that overtook Buddhist sites in the Ganga plain, allowing later archaeologists to recover an almost complete site. Today Sanchi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a textbook of early Indian art.
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
1. The Buddha was born at —
(a) Bodh Gaya (b) Sarnath (c) Lumbini (d) Kushinagara
Answer: (c) Lumbini.
2. The Buddha attained enlightenment at —
(a) Sarnath (b) Bodh Gaya (c) Vaishali (d) Rajagriha
Answer: (b) Bodh Gaya.
3. The first sermon of the Buddha is called —
(a) Mahaparinibbana (b) Dhammachakkapavattana (c) Vinaya (d) Tipitaka
Answer: (b) Dhammachakkapavattana.
4. The Buddha died at —
(a) Lumbini (b) Vaishali (c) Kushinagara (d) Rajagriha
Answer: (c) Kushinagara.
5. The original language of the Tipitaka is —
(a) Sanskrit (b) Pali (c) Prakrit (d) Apabhramsa
Answer: (b) Pali.
6. The Triratna of Buddhism are —
(a) Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha (b) Karma, Maya, Moksha (c) Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva (d) Sat, Chit, Ananda
Answer: (a) Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha.
7. Mahavira was the —
(a) 22nd tirthankara (b) 23rd tirthankara (c) 24th tirthankara (d) 25th tirthankara
Answer: (c) 24th tirthankara.
8. The founder of the Ajivika sect was —
(a) Makkhali Gosala (b) Ajita Kesakambalin (c) Pakudha Kachchayana (d) Purana Kassapa
Answer: (a) Makkhali Gosala.
9. The Sanchi Stupa was originally built by —
(a) Bimbisara (b) Ajatashatru (c) Ashoka (d) Kanishka
Answer: (c) Ashoka.
10. Sanchi is in the modern Indian state of —
(a) Uttar Pradesh (b) Bihar (c) Madhya Pradesh (d) Rajasthan
Answer: (c) Madhya Pradesh.
11. The four ornamented gateways of a stupa are called —
(a) toranas (b) chhatris (c) harmikas (d) yashtis
Answer: (a) toranas.
12. The two main sects of Jainism are —
(a) Hinayana and Mahayana (b) Digambara and Svetambara (c) Theravada and Vajrayana (d) Saiva and Vaishnava
Answer: (b) Digambara and Svetambara.
13. The first Buddhist nun was —
(a) Yashodhara (b) Mahamaya (c) Mahaprajapati Gotami (d) Sujata
Answer: (c) Mahaprajapati Gotami.
14. The Fourth Buddhist Council, which formalised the Hinayana–Mahayana split, was held under —
(a) Ashoka (b) Kanishka (c) Harsha (d) Chandragupta Maurya
Answer: (b) Kanishka.
15. The dome of a stupa is called —
(a) anda (b) harmika (c) yashti (d) medhi
Answer: (a) anda.
16. The Begums of Bhopal who preserved Sanchi belonged to —
(a) Hyderabad (b) Bhopal (c) Awadh (d) Mysore
Answer: (b) Bhopal.
17. John Marshall was the —
(a) Viceroy of India (b) Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India (c) Governor of Bombay (d) President of the Asiatic Society
Answer: (b) Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India.
18. The collection of stories of the Buddha’s previous lives is called —
(a) Jataka (b) Sutta (c) Vinaya (d) Abhidhamma
Answer: (a) Jataka.
19. The five vows of Jainism include all of the following EXCEPT —
(a) ahimsa (b) satya (c) bhakti (d) aparigraha
Answer: (c) bhakti.
20. In early Buddhist sculpture the Buddha was represented by —
(a) a human figure (b) symbols such as footprints, the empty throne and the Bodhi tree (c) a lion (d) a horse
Answer: (b) symbols such as footprints, the empty throne and the Bodhi tree.
21. The procession path around a stupa is called —
(a) pradakshina patha (b) garbhagriha (c) mandapa (d) shikhara
Answer: (a) pradakshina patha.
22. The wife of the Buddha was —
(a) Yashodhara (b) Mahamaya (c) Sujata (d) Khema
Answer: (a) Yashodhara.
23. Mahavira’s first disciple (chief ganadhara) was —
(a) Sthulabhadra (b) Bhadrabahu (c) Indrabhuti Gautama (d) Sudharman
Answer: (c) Indrabhuti Gautama.
24. The branch of Buddhism that became dominant in Tibet is —
(a) Theravada (b) Mahayana (c) Vajrayana (d) Hinayana
Answer: (c) Vajrayana.
25. Sanchi was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in —
(a) 1972 (b) 1989 (c) 1995 (d) 2002
Answer: (b) 1989.
Religions Comparison Table
| Feature | Buddhism | Jainism | Ajivikas |
|---|---|---|---|
| Founder | Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) | Mahavira (24th tirthankara) | Makkhali Gosala |
| Period | c. 563–483 BCE | c. 540–468 BCE | 6th century BCE |
| Core idea | Four Noble Truths and the Middle Path | Liberation through severe ascetic discipline | Strict determinism — niyati rules all |
| View of soul | Anatta — no permanent self | Jiva — every being and even matter has a soul | Soul exists but is bound by fate |
| Ahimsa | Strongly emphasised | The supreme virtue | Practised, but secondary to fatalism |
| Sacred language | Pali (later Sanskrit in Mahayana) | Ardha-Magadhi Prakrit | Prakrit |
| Main sects | Hinayana, Mahayana, Vajrayana | Digambara, Svetambara | (declined; absorbed by other sects) |
| Caste | Rejected | Rejected | Rejected |
| God | No creator god; Buddha worshipped in Mahayana | No creator god; tirthankaras venerated | No creator god; fate is supreme |
| Modern presence | ~500 million worldwide | ~5 million in India and diaspora | Extinct (sect died by ~14th c.) |
Key Terms and Concepts
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Stupa | Mound built over the relics of the Buddha or another revered teacher. |
| Anda | The hemispherical dome of a stupa, symbolising the world mountain. |
| Harmika | The square railing on top of the dome, surrounding the central mast. |
| Yashti | The mast rising from the harmika, bearing the umbrellas (chhatris). |
| Vedika | The stone railing surrounding the stupa. |
| Torana | An ornamentally carved gateway in the railing of a stupa; Sanchi has four. |
| Pradakshina patha | The clockwise circumambulation path around the stupa. |
| Sangha | The community of Buddhist monks (bhikkhus) and nuns (bhikkhunis). |
| Tipitaka | The “Three Baskets” of Buddhist scripture — Vinaya, Sutta and Abhidhamma. |
| Jataka | A story of the Buddha’s earlier lives. |
| Bodhisattva | An enlightened being who postpones nirvana to help others; central to Mahayana. |
| Nirvana | Liberation from the cycle of rebirth, the end of all suffering. |
| Dhamma / Dharma | The teaching of the Buddha; moral order of the universe. |
| Tirthankara | “Ford-maker” — a Jain spiritual teacher who has crossed the ocean of suffering. |
| Ahimsa | Non-injury to any living being — the core ethical principle of Jainism and Buddhism. |
| Niyati | Fate or destiny — the central doctrine of the Ajivikas. |
| Mahaparinibbana | The Buddha’s final passing away at Kushinagara. |
| Hinayana | The “Lesser Vehicle” school — conservative; uses Pali; rejects image worship. |
| Mahayana | The “Greater Vehicle” school — uses Sanskrit; reveres bodhisattvas; accepts image worship. |
| Vajrayana | The “Diamond Vehicle” — esoteric Tantric Buddhism, dominant in Tibet. |
| Shahjahan Begum | Ruler of Bhopal (1868–1901) who funded the preservation of Sanchi. |
| Sultan Jahan Begum | Successor of Shahjahan Begum who built the museum and guest house at Sanchi. |
| John Marshall | Director-General of the ASI; author of the three-volume study of Sanchi (1940). |