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Indian HistoryEasyAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · CSE Prelims 2018, GS Paper I

With reference to Indian history, who among the following is a future Buddha, yet to come to save the world ?

  1. A.Avalokiteshvara
  2. B.Lokesvara
  3. C.Maitreya
  4. D.Padmapani

Correct answer

C. Maitreya

Explanation

The correct answer is C, Maitreya. In Buddhist belief Maitreya is the Buddha of the future, a bodhisattva who now waits in the Tushita heaven and will be born on earth when the teaching of Gautama Buddha has been forgotten. He will then attain enlightenment and teach the Dharma afresh. Both Theravada and Mahayana traditions accept him, and his images, often seated with legs lowered or holding a water pot, are common in Gandhara and Mathura art. Option A is wrong because Avalokiteshvara is the bodhisattva of compassion, already active in the world to help beings, not a Buddha still to come. Option B is wrong because Lokesvara, meaning Lord of the World, is another name for Avalokiteshvara. Option D is wrong because Padmapani, the one holding a lotus, is also a form of Avalokiteshvara, famously painted in Cave 1 at Ajanta. So three of the four options are names of the same compassionate bodhisattva. Exam tip: Maitreya is the future Buddha; Avalokiteshvara, Lokesvara and Padmapani are one bodhisattva of compassion.

Practice Questions

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Q1.Indian HistoryAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · CSE Prelims 2016, GS Paper IEasy

The plan of Sir Stafford Cripps envisaged that after the Second World War

  1. A.India should be granted complete independence.
  2. B.India should be partitioned into two before granting independence
  3. C.India should be made a republic with the condition that she will join the Commonwealth
  4. D.India should be given Dominion status
Show answer
Correct answer: D. India should be given Dominion status

The Cripps Mission of March 1942 offered India Dominion status after the Second World War, not full independence. Sir Stafford Cripps, a member of Churchill's War Cabinet, came as Japan advanced in South-East Asia.

Q2.Indian HistoryAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · CSE Prelims 2016, GS Paper IMedium

What was the main reason for the split in the Indian National Congress at Surat in 1907?

  1. A.Introduction of communalism into Indian politics by Lord Minto
  2. B.Extremists' lack of faith in the capacity of the moderates to negotiate with the British Government
  3. C.Foundation of Muslim League
  4. D.Aurobindo Ghosh's inability to be elected as the President of the Indian National Congress
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Extremists' lack of faith in the capacity of the moderates to negotiate with the British Government

The Surat split of December 1907 came from a basic difference in method.

Q3.Indian HistoryAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · CSE Prelims 2018, GS Paper IHard

Which among the following events happened earliest?

  1. A.Swami Dayanand established Arya Samaj.
  2. B.Dinabandhu Mitra wrote Neeldarpan.
  3. C.Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay wrote Anandmath.
  4. D.Satyendranath Tagore became the first Indian to succeed in the Indian Civil Services Examination.
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Dinabandhu Mitra wrote Neeldarpan.

Neeldarpan, the Bengali play about the cruelty of European indigo planters towards the peasants of Bengal, was written by Dinabandhu Mitra in 1858–59 and published in 1860, earlier than the other three events.

Q5.Indian HistoryAsked in: NDA · NDA-II 2024, GATHard

Maize (makka) was introduced into India via

  1. A.America and England
  2. B.Africa and Spain
  3. C.France and Russia
  4. D.Portugal and Italy
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Africa and Spain

Maize is a crop of the Americas, and it reached India in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries via Africa and Spain; by the seventeenth century it had become one of the major crops of western India.