UPSC Previous Year Question | Prelims GS | 2024

With reference to ancient India, Gautama Buddha was generally known by which of the following epithets? 1. Nayaputta 2. Shakyamuni 3. Tathagata Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 and 3 only
  3. 1, 2 and 3
  4. None of the above are epithets of Gautama Buddha

Answer

Correct Answer

2 and 3 only

Explanation

Shakyamuni, meaning “sage of the Shakya clan,” is a well-known epithet of Gautama Buddha. Tathagata is another title used by the Buddha for himself and in Buddhist texts. Nayaputta (often rendered as Nataputta) is associated with Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism, not Gautama Buddha. Therefore, only statements 2 and 3 are correct.

Topics: ancient india, buddhist epithets and terminology, gautama buddha, history