UPSC Previous Year Question | Prelims GS | 2017

With reference to the religious history of India, consider the following statements: 1. Sautrantika and Sammitiya were the sects of Jainism. 2. Sarvastivadin held that the constituents of phenomena were not wholly momentary, but existed forever in a latent form. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer

Correct Answer

2 only

Explanation

Sautrantika and Sammitiya were actually sects/schools of Buddhism, not Jainism, so statement 1 is wrong. The Sarvastivadin school did hold that phenomena/dharmas exist in latent form across time (past, present, future), making statement 2 correct.

Topics: art and culture, buddhist schools of thought, religious history of india, sautrantika/sammitiya/sarvastivadin