Identify the correct statements in relation to ‘Buddhism’:
A. Buddhist literature mentions several chaityas.
B. The paintings at Sanchi depict stories from the Jatakas.
C. ‘Mahayana’, literally means the “great vehicle”.
D. Early Buddhist teachings had given great importance to self-effort in achieving nibbana.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → A, C and D only
A. Buddhist literature mentions several chaityas. Correct. Chaityas were sacred sites, often with special trees or unique rocks, that had small shrines attached to them.
B. The paintings at Sanchi depict stories from the Jatakas. Incorrect. The paintings that depict stories from the Jatakas are at Ajanta, on the walls of the caves in Maharashtra. At Sanchi the Jataka stories are carved in stone sculpture, not painted.
C. ‘Mahayana’, literally means the “great vehicle”. Correct. Mahayana was the new way of Buddhist thinking from about the first century CE; its followers called the older tradition Hinayana, the ‘lesser vehicle’.
D. Early Buddhist teachings had given great importance to self-effort in achieving nibbana. Correct. Early Buddhism regarded the Buddha as a human being who attained enlightenment and nibbana through his own efforts. Later, with Mahayana, came the idea of a saviour who could ensure salvation.
NCERT (2025-26): “7. Stupas … These sites, with small shrines attached to them, were sometimes described as chaityas. Buddhist literature mentions several chaityas.… 10.1 The development of Mahayana Buddhism … By the first century CE, there is evidence of changes in Buddhist ideas and practices. Early Buddhist teachings had given great importance to self-effort in achieving nibbana.… …This new way of thinking was called Mahayana – literally, the ‘great vehicle’. Those who adopted these beliefs described the older tradition as Hinayana or the ‘lesser vehicle’.”
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