The Jataka tales are stories of
- A.the earlier births of the Buddha
- B.the exploits of King Vikramaditya
- C.the adventures of the Pandavas
- D.the childhood of Mahavira
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, the earlier births of the Buddha. The Jataka tales form part of the Buddhist canon in Pali and number over five hundred. Each one shows the Bodhisattva, the being who would become the Buddha, in an earlier life as an animal, a merchant, a monk or a king, and each closes with a moral of generosity, patience or truth. Many of them are carved on the railings and gateways of the stupas at Sanchi, Bharhut and Amaravati, which is why history papers use them too. Option B is wrong because the thirty two tales of Vikramaditya make up the Simhasana Dvatrimshika, the Singhasan Battisi. Option C is wrong because the deeds of the Pandavas belong to the Mahabharata. Option D is wrong because the lives of Mahavira belong to Jain texts such as the Kalpasutra, not to the Jatakas.
Read the full article: Children's Literature and Fables: Authors and Collections
Practice Questions
View allWho is traditionally regarded as the author of the Panchatantra?
- A.Narayana Pandita
- B.Vishnu Sharma
- C.Somadeva
- D.Kalidasa
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The Panchatantra, a collection of animal fables in Sanskrit arranged in five books, is traditionally said to have been composed by Vishnu Sharma to teach practical statecraft to the dull witted sons of a king.
Read the full explanation →The Panchatantra reached Europe mainly through an Arabic version titled
- A.Kalila wa Dimna
- B.Alf Layla wa Layla
- C.Kitab al-Hind
- D.Shahnama
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The Panchatantra was first rendered into Middle Persian, and from that version it was turned into Arabic as Kalila wa Dimna, the two names being those of the jackals of the first book.
Read the full explanation →International Children's Book Day is observed on 2 April to mark the birthday of
- A.the Brothers Grimm
- B.Hans Christian Andersen
- C.Lewis Carroll
- D.Rudyard Kipling
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The Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen was born on 2 April, and the International Board on Books for Young People chose that date for International Children's Book Day; the same body gives the Hans Christian Andersen Award, often called the little Nobel of children's literature.
Read the full explanation →Mowgli, Baloo and Shere Khan are characters created by
- A.Rudyard Kipling
- B.Robert Louis Stevenson
- C.Roald Dahl
- D.Kenneth Grahame
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Mowgli the boy raised by wolves, Baloo the bear, Bagheera the panther, Kaa the python and Shere Khan the tiger are the characters of The Jungle Book, written by Rudyard Kipling and set in the forests of central India.
Read the full explanation →Which Indian writer for children received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1992 for Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra?
- A.R. K. Narayan
- B.Ruskin Bond
- C.Sudha Murty
- D.Anant Pai
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Ruskin Bond, who has lived in Mussoorie for most of his life, won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1992 for the collection Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra.
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