Target Exam

CUET

Subject

History

Chapter

Ancient India: Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings

Question:

According to which Buddhist text, Asoka distributed portions of the Buddha's relics to every important town and ordered the construction of stupas over them?

Options:

Divyavadana

Ashokavadana

Vinaya Pitaka

Sutta Pitaka

Correct Answer:

Ashokavadana

Explanation:

The correct answer is Option (2) → Ashokavadana

" The tradition of erecting stupas may have been pre-Buddhist, but they came to be associated with Buddhism. Since they contained relics regarded as sacred, the entire stupa came to be venerated as an emblem of both the Buddha and Buddhism. According to a Buddhist text known as the Ashokavadana, Asoka distributed portions of the Buddha’s relics to every important town and ordered the construction of stupas over them. By the second century BCE a number of stupas, including those at Bharhut, Sanchi and Sarnath, had been built."