‘Hagiography’ is a ____________ of a saint or a religious leader.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Biography
A hagiography is a biography of a saint or religious leader, usually written by his followers. Many accounts of the Buddha’s life were written in this way, at least a century after his time, to preserve the memory of their teacher. Hagiographies often praise the saint’s achievements and may not be literally accurate, but they tell us what the followers of that tradition believed.
It is not an autobiography, because the saint does not write it himself.
NCERT (2025-26): “4.The Buddha and the Quest for Enlightenment … 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. Many of these were written down at least a century after the time of the Buddha, in an attempt to preserve memories of the great teacher.… 4.The Buddha and the Quest for Enlightenment … Hagiography is a biography of a saint or religious leader. Hagiographies often praise the saint’s achievements, and may not always be literally accurate. They are important because they tell us about the beliefs of the followers of that particular tradition.” |