Test: Buddhism & Jainism - 1 - UPSC MCQ

There was a further split between Digambaras and Svetambaras around the sixth century A.D. on the point of whether or not the monks should wear clothes.

Dignaga was an Indian Buddhist scholar and one of the Buddhist founders of Indian logic. Dignāga's work laid the groundwork for the development of deductive logic in India and created the first system of Buddhist logic and epistemology (Pramana).

Nagarjuna was the founder of Madhyamika school which teaches that the whole world is a mere illusion (Shunvavada). He propounded the theory of Shunyavada similar to Einstein's theory of Relativity.

One of the most popular belief systems was Buddhism. There are many reasons why Buddhism became popular in China. Buddhism united the Chinese people into a community of believers. This unification helped the Chinese overcome a period of war and unrest during the Warring States period.

Indigenous religions like Confucianism and Taoism were there. Buddhism was, however, a much richer religion than Confucianism and it possessed a much more profound philosophy than Taoism.

Buddhism, unlike other religions, does not believe in a creator God or an eternal or everlasting soul, whereas Jainism acknowledges a permanent entity or an immortal soul.

The extremism of its ethical code and religious discipline was not the cause of the decline of Jainism, but the cause of its limited following/appeal.

Mahasanghika is the name of an early Buddhist school in India, during the Second Buddhist council held at Vaishali. The Mahasanghika school represents the first major schism ever recorded in Buddhism.

Rummindei Pillar Inscription says that- The Beloved of the Gods, the king Piyadassi, when he had been consecrated twenty years, came in person and found the place where Buddha Shakyamuni was born. He caused a stone enclosure to be made and a stone pillar to be erected. As the Lord was born here in the village of Lumbini, he has exempted it from tax, and fixed its contribution [i.e. of grain] at one-eighth.

In the Buddhist Pali Canon, Mahavira is referred as Nigantha Nataputta. Nirgrantha Nataputta refers to Jains. A person who has attained Kevalya can be a Nirgrantha.

Gautam Buddha, who was prince Siddhartha of Kapilavastu in India/Asia before his enlightenment, is called “The Light of Asia”.