Read the passage and answer the question:
The Therigatha
This unique Buddhist text, part of the Sutta Pitaka, is a collection of verses composed by bhikkhunis. It provides an insight into women's social and spiritual experiences. Punna, a dasi or slave woman, went to the river each morning to fetch water for her master's household. There she would daily see a Brahmana performing bathing rituals. One morning she spoke to him. The following are verses composed by Punna, recording her conversation with the Brahmana:
I am a water carrier:
Even in the cold
I have always gone down to the water
frightened of punishment
Or the angry words of high-class women.
So what are you afraid of Brahmana,
That makes you go down to the water
(Though) your limbs shake with the bitter cold?
The Brahmana replied:
I am doing good to prevent evil;
anyone young or old
Who has done something bad
is freed by washing in water.
Punna said:
Whoever told you
You are freed from evil by washing in the water?...
In that case all the frogs and turtles
Would go to heaven, and so would the water snakes
and crocodiles!
(Instead) Don't do that thing,
the fear of which
leads you to the water.
Stop now Brahmana!
Save your skin from the cold...
Identify the correct teachings of Buddhist philosophy.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → According to Buddhist philosophy, world is transient and constantly changing; it is also soulless.
Option (1) Important idea is that the entire world is animated. — Incorrect. This is the most important idea in Jainism, not Buddhism: even stones, rocks and water have life, and so non-injury to living beings is central to Jaina philosophy.
Option (2) Severe penance and asceticism are required to free oneself from the cycle of karma. — Incorrect. This, too, is a Jaina teaching: asceticism and penance are required to free oneself from the cycle of karma. The Buddha taught the opposite – the path of moderation between severe penance and self-indulgence.
Option (3) Buddha tried to convince people through display of supernatural power. — Incorrect. The Buddha tried to convince people through reason and persuasion rather than through displays of supernatural power. When a grief-stricken woman whose child had died came to him, he gently convinced her about the inevitability of death rather than bring her son back to life.
Option (4) According to Buddhist philosophy, world is transient and constantly changing; it is also soulless. — Correct. According to Buddhist philosophy, the world is transient (anicca) and constantly changing; it is also soulless (anatta), as there is nothing permanent or eternal in it. Within this transient world, sorrow (dukkha) is intrinsic to human existence.
NCERT (2026-27): “5. The Teachings of the Buddha … The Buddha’s teachings have been reconstructed from stories, found mainly in the Sutta Pitaka. Although some stories describe his miraculous powers, others suggest that the Buddha tried to convince people through reason and persuasion rather than through displays of supernatural power. For instance, when a grief-stricken woman whose child had died came to the Buddha, he gently convinced her about the inevitability of death rather than bring her son back to life.… 5. The Teachings of the Buddha … According to Buddhist philosophy, the world is transient (anicca) and constantly changing; it is also soulless (anatta) as there is nothing permanent or eternal in it. Within this transient world, sorrow (dukkha) is intrinsic to human existence. It is by following the path of moderation between severe penance and self-indulgence that human beings can rise above these worldly troubles.… 2.3 Debates and discussions … The most important idea in Jainism is that the entire world is animated: even stones, rocks and water have life. Non-injury to living beings, especially to humans, animals, plants and insects, is central to Jaina philosophy. In fact the principle of ahimsa, emphasised within Jainism, has left its mark on Indian thinking as a whole. According to Jaina teachings, the cycle of birth and rebirth is shaped through karma. Asceticism and penance are required to free oneself from the cycle of karma. This can be achieved only by renouncing the world; therefore, monastic existence is a necessary condition of salvation.…” |