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Prelims 2022 · Q56 · Buddhism & Jainism

With reference to Indian history, consider the following pairs :

Historical personKnown as
1. AryadevaJaina scholar
2. DignagaBuddhist scholar
3. NathamuniVaishnava scholar

How many pairs given above are correctly matched ?

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Answer: C. Pair 1 is wrong: Aryadeva was a Buddhist Madhyamaka philosopher, disciple of Nagarjuna. Pair 2 is correct: Dignaga was a Buddhist logician. Pair 3 is correct: Nathamuni was a Sri Vaishnava teacher who compiled the Alvar hymns. So only two pairs.

Watch for: 'Arya' sounds Jaina, but Aryadeva was a Buddhist thinker.

Why the other options are wrong
  • A. Wrong because two pairs are correctly matched.
  • B. Wrong because two pairs are correct, not one.
  • D. Wrong because Aryadeva was a Buddhist, not a Jaina scholar.

Source to check: Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, sections on Buddhist philosophy and Vaishnava bhakti

Answer from the official UPSC key. Written and fact-checked by AI against the official key. Spotted a mistake? Report it.