Read the passage and answer the question:
Buddha's message spread across the subcontinent and beyond – through central Asia to China, Korea and Japan and through Sri Lanka, across the seas to Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia. Historians have tried to reconstruct details of his life from Buddhist texts and hagiographies.
According to these traditions, Siddhartha, as the Buddha was named at birth, was the son of a chief of the Sakya clan. He had a sheltered upbringing. His first journey into the world outside was traumatic. Abandoning extreme methods, he meditated and attained enlightenment and was known as the Buddha.
Which among the following is not the source to reconstruct the details of Buddha's life?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Mahabharata
Historians have reconstructed the details of the Buddha’s life from Buddhist texts and hagiographies.
Option (1) Hagiographies — A source for the Buddha’s life. A hagiography is a biography of a saint or religious leader. Historians have tried to reconstruct details of the Buddha’s life from such hagiographies, though they were written down long after his time.
Option (2) The Therigatha — A Buddhist text. The Therigatha is a unique Buddhist text, part of the Sutta Pitaka, a collection of verses composed by bhikkhunis.
Option (3) Sutta Pitaka — A Buddhist text. The Sutta Pitaka is one of the three ‘baskets’ of the Tipitaka; it holds the Buddha’s teachings.
Option (4) Mahabharata — Not a Buddhist text. The central story of the Mahabharata is about two sets of warring cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas. It is not a Buddhist text and is not a source for the life of the Buddha.
NCERT (2026-27): “4. The Buddha and the Quest for Enlightenment … One of the most influential teachers of the time was the Buddha. Over the centuries, his message spread across the subcontinent and beyond – through Central Asia to China, Korea and Japan, and through Sri Lanka, across the seas to Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia. How do we know about the Buddha’s teachings? These have been reconstructed by carefully editing, translating and analysing the Buddhist texts mentioned earlier. Historians have also tried to reconstruct details of his life from hagiographies.…”
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