Practicing Success

Target Exam

CUET

Subject

History

Chapter

Ancient India: Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings

Question:

What was the purpose of writing the Puranas in simple Sanskrit verse?

Options:

To make them easy to carve on sculptures

To make them exclusive to scholars

To ensure they were read aloud to all, including women and Shudras

To preserve them for the elite

Correct Answer:

To ensure they were read aloud to all, including women and Shudras

Explanation:

Deciphering the significance embedded within these sculptures necessitates the historian's acquaintance with the narratives enshrined behind them. A multitude of these narratives found their repository in the Puranas, textual compendiums crafted by Brahmanas around the mid-first millennium CE. Within these texts, an abundance of material, including stories featuring deities, had been meticulously compiled and circulated across centuries.

Typically composed in straightforward Sanskrit verse, the Puranas were designed for oral recitation, accessible to all strata of society, including women and Shudras, who lacked access to Vedic education. The content within the Puranas dynamically evolved through interactions amongst diverse individuals – priests, merchants, and commonfolk traversing regions and sharing ideas and convictions.