Mahajanapada Period Questions and Answers

Correct answer: वेदों की प्रामाणिकता का निषेध और कठोर अहिंसा. Jainism does not accept Vedic authority or a creator God and places exceptional emphasis on ahimsa. Mahavira was the twenty-fourth Tirthankara who reorganised and powerfully propagated an older tradition rather than creating it from nothing.

Standard comparative accounts note parallels between Jain and Sankhya thought, including non-theistic reasoning, liberation through knowledge and a distinction between conscious selves and material reality. This should be understood as philosophical similarity, not a proven claim that Jainism simply borrowed all spiritual ideas from Sankhya. Hence the remaining options do not match the specific Jain doctrine, person, place, title or chronological context asked in the question.

The Jain temples at Khajuraho were built under the Chandela rulers, mainly in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Hence the remaining options do not match the specific Jain doctrine, person, place, title or chronological context asked in the question.

Jain tradition states that Chandragupta Maurya accepted Jainism, followed Bhadrabahu to Shravanabelagola and ended his life through sallekhana. Ashoka is primarily associated with Buddhism, Kanishka with Buddhist patronage and Harsha with broad religious patronage including Buddhism.

The Kalpasutra is traditionally attributed to Bhadrabahu and includes accounts of the Tirthankaras, especially Mahavira, as well as monastic rules. Devardhigani is associated with the later council at Valabhi, Hemachandra was a medieval Jain scholar and Sthulabhadra an early Jain teacher. Hence the remaining options do not match the specific Jain doctrine, person, place, title or chronological context asked in the question.

The two major Jain sectarian traditions are Digambara and Shvetambara. Their differences concern monastic clothing, scriptures, the status of women’s liberation and details of Mahavira’s life; Hinayana and Mahayana are Buddhist, while Sthanakavasi and Terapanth are later Shvetambara branches.

Syadvada expresses the conditional character of statements—‘in a certain respect’—and is linked with Anekantavada, the doctrine that reality has many aspects. It does not mean that truth is arbitrary; rather, any single ordinary statement captures only a limited standpoint. Hence the remaining options do not match the specific Jain doctrine, person, place, title or chronological context asked in the question.

Mahavira attained nirvana at Pavapuri in present-day Bihar, traditionally at the age of seventy-two. Kushinagar is the place of the Buddha’s mahaparinirvana, Sarnath of his first sermon and Rajagriha an important centre of both Jain and Buddhist activity.

The five Jain Mahavratas are non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, celibacy and non-possession. Parshvanatha is traditionally linked with four vows; Mahavira made brahmacharya explicit as the fifth. The Noble Eightfold Path is Buddhist.

The Jain Triratna are right faith or perception, right knowledge and right conduct. Together they form the path toward liberation. Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha are the Buddhist three jewels, while Dharma-Artha-Kama are three of the four purusharthas.