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Q64 (IAS/2024) History & Culture â€ș Culture, Literature, Religion & Philosophy â€ș Buddhist doctrine and sects Official Key

Sanghabhuti, an Indian Buddhist monk, who travelled to China at the end of the fourth century AD, was the author of a commentary on :

Result
Your answer: —  Â·  Correct: C
Explanation

Sanghabhuti authored a commentary on the Vinaya of the Sarvastivada school, a significant early Buddhist tradition, and his work contributed to its spread and understanding in China during the late 4th century CE.[1] The Sarvastivada school was one of the major early Buddhist schools, and the Vinaya texts deal with monastic discipline and rules governing the Buddhist monastic community.

Option A (Prajnaparamita Sutra) is incorrect as these are Mahayana perfection of wisdom texts not associated with Sanghabhuti. Option B (Visuddhimagga) is incorrect because this text was written by Buddhaghosha in the 5th century CE and is a comprehensive manual of Theravada Buddhism.[2] Option D (Lalitavistara) is incorrect as this is a Mahayana biographical text about the Buddha's life, not connected to Sanghabhuti's work. Therefore, option C is the correct answer as it accurately identifies Sanghabhuti's commentary on the Sarvastivada Vinaya.

 

 

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PROVENANCE & STUDY PATTERN
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Don’t just practise – reverse-engineer the question. This panel shows where this PYQ came from (books / web), how the examiner broke it into hidden statements, and which nearby micro-concepts you were supposed to learn from it. Treat it like an autopsy of the question: what might have triggered it, which exact lines in the book matter, and what linked ideas you should carry forward to future questions.
Q. Sanghabhuti, an Indian Buddhist monk, who travelled to China at the end of the fourth century AD, was the author of a commentary on : [A

At a glance
Origin: Mostly Current Affairs Fairness: Low / Borderline fairness Books / CA: 0/10 · 10/10
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Statement 1
Was Sanghabhuti, an Indian Buddhist monk who traveled to China at the end of the fourth century AD, the author of a commentary on the Prajnaparamita Sutra?
Origin: Web / Current Affairs Fairness: CA heavy Web-answerable

Web source
Presence: 5/5
"Sarvastivada Vinaya: Sanghabhuti authored a commentary on the Vinaya of the Sarvastivada school, a significant early Buddhist tradition. Sanghabhuti's work contributed to its spread and understanding in China during the late 4th century CE."
Why this source?
  • Directly states which text Sanghabhuti authored a commentary on (Sarvastivada Vinaya).
  • Specifies his work's role in spreading that Vinaya in China in the late 4th century CE, matching the time/place in the statement.
Web source
Presence: 4/5
"A monk is closely associated with texts like the Vinaya, which govern monastic discipline. ... Sarvastivada Vinaya -> Vinaya deals with monastic discipline, central to a monk's expertise. -> Possible."
Why this source?
  • Explains that a monk would be associated with the Vinaya (monastic code), supporting the attribution of a Vinaya commentary to Sanghabhuti.
  • Treats Sarvastivada Vinaya as the plausible authorial attribution rather than Prajnaparamita.

THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART I, History CLASS XII (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 4: Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings > How Buddhist texts were prepared and preserved > p. 86
Strength: 5/5
“When Buddhism spread to East Asia, pilgrims such as Fa Xian and Xuan Zang travelled all the way from China to India in search of texts. These they took back to their own country, where they were translated by scholars. Indian Buddhist teachers also travelled to faraway places, carrying texts to disseminate the teachings of the Buddha. Buddhist texts were preserved in manuscripts for several centuries in monasteries in different parts of Asia. Modern translations have been prepared from Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan texts.”
Why relevant

States that Indian Buddhist teachers travelled to faraway places carrying texts which were translated in East Asia.

How to extend

A student could use this rule to ask whether a travelling Indian monk like Sanghabhuti might have carried or produced commentarial texts (e.g., on the Prajnaparamita) that were then translated in China.

Exploring Society:India and Beyond ,Social Science-Class VII . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 7: The Gupta Era: An Age of Tireless Creativity > A Traveller's Account of Indian Society in the Gupta Age > p. 153
Strength: 4/5
“Chinese traveller Faxian (pronounced as Fa-Shi-Anne) visited India in the early 5th century CE. He set out on this long and difficult pilgrimage to visit sacred Buddhist sites, learn from renowned Indian scholars and collect manuscripts of Buddhist texts so he could take them back to China. Faxian travelled extensively across India, observing her culture, governance and society, and recorded his experiences and observations for the people of his homeland — and for us too — since his travelogue has survived to this day!”
Why relevant

Gives the concrete example of Faxian (early 5th c.) who collected manuscripts in India and took them back to China.

How to extend

Compare dates/routes: if Sanghabhuti was active around end-4th c., a student could check whether similar pilgrim activity (collecting/commenting texts) occurred slightly earlier and thus was plausible.

Exploring Society:India and Beyond. Social Science-Class VI . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 5: India, That Is Bharat > DON'T MISS OUT > p. 83
Strength: 4/5
“Xuanzang (formerly spelt Hiuen Tsang, Hsuan Tsang, etc.) travelled from China to India in the 7th century CE. He visited many parts of India, met scholars, collected Buddhist texts, and returned to China after 17 years. There, he translated the manuscripts he took back with him from Sanskrit into Chinese. Several other Chinese scholars visited India over the centuries. Another Chinese word, also derived from 'Sindhu', was 'Tianzhu'; but this word could also be understood as 'heavenly master'. This reflects the respect the ancient Chinese had for India as the land of the Buddha. You are probably quite familiar with a more recent term, 'Hindustān', but you may not know that it was first used in a Persian inscription some 1,800 years ago!”
Why relevant

Notes Xuanzang’s practice of bringing Sanskrit manuscripts back to China and translating them—showing a pattern of textual transmission between India and China.

How to extend

Use this pattern to investigate whether commentaries authored in India were known in Chinese catalogues or translation histories (search Chinese bibliographies for Sanghabhuti or Prajnaparamita commentaries).

History , class XI (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 6: Polity and Society in Post-Mauryan Period > Kanishka > p. 81
Strength: 3/5
“Kanishka's coins as well as his statue found near Mathura show him dressed in a belted tunic along with overcoat and wearing boots, testifying to his Central Asian origins. The Karakoram highway, a joint project between China and Pakistan, which was completed in 1979, has yielded great dividends for archaeologists and historians. The rock of Hunza mentions the first two Kadphises and the Kusanadevaputra (son of God) Maharaja Kaniska. This inscription confirms that Kanishka's empire stretched from Central Asia till eastern India. Buddhist sources record that he had conquered Magadha and Kashmir and Khotan in Sinkiang. The artefacts found along the Karakoram highway also establish that this was the route taken by Buddhist monks travelling to China on their mission to spread Buddhism.”
Why relevant

Mentions the Karakoram/central Asian routes used by Buddhist monks travelling to China, establishing plausible physical routes for textual transmission.

How to extend

A student could map Sanghabhuti’s proposed travel date against known use of these routes to assess logistical plausibility of him carrying a commentary to China.

THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART I, History CLASS XII (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 4: Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings > 4.The Buddha and the Quest for Enlightenment > p. 89
Strength: 3/5
“One of the most influential teachers of the time was the Buddha. Over the centuries, his message spread across the subcontinent and beyond – through Central Asia to China, Korea and Japan, and through Sri Lanka, across the seas to Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia. 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.”
Why relevant

Describes the broad spread of Buddhism from India through Central Asia to China and that Buddhist teachings were reconstructed from translated/edited texts.

How to extend

This suggests checking whether the Prajnaparamita and its commentaries were among works transmitted along these channels and whether author attributions appear in surviving Chinese or Tibetan editions.

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Statement analysis

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Statement analysis

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