Vedadots
Q55·GS Paper 1 · Prelims 2022

Identifying Jain texts from a list of ancient literature

HistoryAncient India (general)Statement-basedHardStatic

Question

With reference to Indian history, consider the following texts: Which of the above are Jaina texts?

  1. 1.

    Nettipakarana

  2. 2.

    Parishishtaparvan

  3. 3.

    Avadanashataka

  4. 4.

    Trishashtilakshana Mahapurana

Options

a

1, 2 and 3

b

2 and 4 only

Answer
c

1, 3 and 4

d

2, 3 and 4

Explanation

Texts 2 and 4 are Jaina. Parishishtaparvan is a 12th-century Jaina text by Hemachandra. Trishashtilakshana Mahapurana is a major Jaina hagiography by Jinasena. Texts 1 and 3 are Buddhist: Nettipakarana is a Pali Buddhist text of the Theravada school, and Avadanashataka is a Sanskrit Buddhist anthology of past lives.

Suffixes like "pakarana" (Pali) and "avadana" (noble deeds) almost universally indicate Buddhist texts, whereas "parvan" and "mahapurana" often point to Jaina or Hindu epics.

Answer: (b).

Question details

Year

2022

Paper

GS Paper 1

Question

Q55

Subject

History

Sub-topic

Ancient India (general)

Type

Statement-based

Difficulty

Hard

Nature

Static

Source hint

NCERT History Cl.11 Ch.4

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