RAS Pre 2021, held on 27 October 2021. Question text as printed in RPSC's booklet; answer as per RPSC's final answer key.

Which of the following Doctrines are associated with Jainism? (i) Anekantavada (ii) Sarvastivada (iii) Sunyavada (iv) Syadvada Select the correct answer using the code given below-

Q: What is the answer to RAS Pre 2021 Q4?

(1). Correct — option (1), (i) and (iv). Of the four doctrines, (i) Anekantavada and (iv) Syadvada are Jain; (ii) Sarvastivada and (iii) Sunyavada are Buddhist. The code that picks exactly the two Jain ones is (i) and (iv). (i) Anekantavada is the Jain doctrine of "many-sidedness": reality has many aspects, and no single statement captures the whole truth. Its origins are traced to the teachings of Mahavira. (iv) Syadvada is the Jain theory of conditioned predication. Every statement is qualified by "syat" (in some respect), and later Jain texts set this out as a sevenfold scheme, saptabhangi. A. L. Basham writes of "the orthodox Jaina syadvada and nayavada". (ii) Sarvastivada, "the theory of all that exists", was an early Buddhist school. (iii) Sunyavada, the doctrine of emptiness, is another name for the Madhyamika school of Buddhist philosophy associated with Nagarjuna. Anekantavada and Syadvada are Jain; Sarvastivada and Sunyavada are Buddhist.

(1)(i) and (iv)
(2)(ii) and (iv)
(3)(i), (ii) and (iii)
(4)(ii) and (iii)

Answer

(1)

Why

Correct — option (1), (i) and (iv).

Of the four doctrines, (i) Anekantavada and (iv) Syadvada are Jain; (ii) Sarvastivada and (iii) Sunyavada are Buddhist. The code that picks exactly the two Jain ones is (i) and (iv).

(i) Anekantavada is the Jain doctrine of "many-sidedness": reality has many aspects, and no single statement captures the whole truth. Its origins are traced to the teachings of Mahavira.

(iv) Syadvada is the Jain theory of conditioned predication. Every statement is qualified by "syat" (in some respect), and later Jain texts set this out as a sevenfold scheme, saptabhangi. A. L. Basham writes of "the orthodox Jaina syadvada and nayavada".

(ii) Sarvastivada, "the theory of all that exists", was an early Buddhist school. (iii) Sunyavada, the doctrine of emptiness, is another name for the Madhyamika school of Buddhist philosophy associated with Nagarjuna.

Anekantavada and Syadvada are Jain; Sarvastivada and Sunyavada are Buddhist.

Why the others are wrong

(2)
(ii) and (iv) — This code keeps Syadvada, which is Jain, but adds (ii) Sarvastivada, an early Buddhist school. Basham discusses "the Sarvastivadin school of Buddhism" and its atomic theory.
It also leaves out (i) Anekantavada, the Jain doctrine of many-sidedness, so it fails twice.
(3)
(i), (ii) and (iii) — This code keeps Anekantavada but adds two Buddhist doctrines: (ii) Sarvastivada and (iii) Sunyavada, the Buddhist doctrine of emptiness.
It also drops (iv) Syadvada, the Jain theory of conditioned predication. Only one of its three picks is Jain.
(4)
(ii) and (iii) — This code picks the two Buddhist doctrines and neither Jain one. It would answer a question asking which of these doctrines are associated with Buddhism.
Sarvastivada was an early Buddhist school, and Sunyavada is the Madhyamika teaching of emptiness.

Concept

Anekantavada holds that truth and reality are complex and have many aspects. Jain thinkers built two tools on it. Syadvada qualifies every statement with "syat" (in some respect), and nayavada treats each statement as one partial standpoint.

Syadvada's sevenfold scheme (saptabhangi) runs: in some ways it is; in some ways it is not; in some ways it is and is not; and four further combinations.

The Buddhist doctrines here come from different schools. Sarvastivada held that phenomena (dharmas) exist in past, present and future. Sunyavada, the Madhyamika school linked with Nagarjuna, is the Buddhist doctrine of emptiness (sunyata).

RPSC's 2021 Prelims syllabus lists "Renunciatory tradition and new religious ideas of 6th Century BC- Ajivakas, Buddhism and Jainism." under ancient and medieval Indian history.

Jainism and Buddhism grew in the same period, and their later philosophical schools argued with each other. The "-vada" names of their doctrines look alike, so each name has to be tied to its tradition.

Key facts

Anekantavada, the Jain doctrine of many-sidedness, is traced to the teachings of Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara.
Syadvada is the Jain theory of conditioned predication, set out in later texts as the sevenfold saptabhangi.
Nayavada, the doctrine of partial standpoints, is the Jain companion of syadvada.
Sarvastivada was an early Buddhist school; its Kashmiri branch composed the Abhidharma Mahavibhasha, and orthodox followers of that text were called Vaibhashikas.
Sunyavada, the doctrine of emptiness, is associated with the Madhyamika school of Nagarjuna.

Doctrine → tradition

(i) Anekantavada→Jain — many-sidedness of reality

(ii) Sarvastivada→Buddhist — early school: all dharmas exist in the three times

(iii) Sunyavada→Buddhist — Madhyamika doctrine of emptiness

(iv) Syadvada→Jain — conditioned predication, sevenfold scheme

The two Jain doctrines, (i) and (iv), make option (1).

Study next

Saptabhangi: the sevenfold predication of Jain logicNayavada and the Jain theory of standpointsSchools of Buddhism: Sarvastivada, Sautrantika, Madhyamika and YogacharaNagarjuna and the Madhyamika doctrine of emptinessAjivikas and the doctrine of niyati (destiny)

Common traps

The doctrines here share the ending "-vada"; the ending says nothing about the tradition.
Sarvastivada ("all exists") and Sunyavada ("emptiness") are both Buddhist even though they sound like opposites.
Syadvada and anekantavada are not rival Jain schools: syadvada is a method of statement built on anekantavada.

A question can list philosophical doctrines and ask which belong to Jainism, as this one does.

A question can also ask which tradition a single doctrine belongs to, pair doctrines with Buddhist or Jain thinkers, or ask what syadvada means.

Related PYQs

RPSC_2024_PRE_GS_Q1382024Open & attempt →

Consider the following statements related to Aajivaka Sect : A. Belief in Determinism B. The order of reincarnation can be changed. C. Belief in Austerity Select the correct answer using the codes given below : Codes :

(1) Only A is correct.
(2) Only B is correct.
(3) A and B are correct.
(4) A and C are correct.

Answer(4)

Same syllabus line on the renunciatory sects of the 6th century BC. That item tests three statements about the beliefs of the Aajivaka sect (RPSC's key: option (4), A and C are correct.); this one sorts Jain doctrines from Buddhist ones.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
The sevenfold scheme of predication (saptabhangi) belongs to which doctrine ?
- (a)Syadvada
- (b)Sunyavada
- (c)Kshanikavada
- (d)Sarvastivada
Answer(1) — Syadvada, the Jain theory of conditioned predication, is set out in later Jain texts as the sevenfold saptabhangi. Option (2), Sunyavada, is the Buddhist doctrine of emptiness; option (3), Kshanikavada, the doctrine of momentariness, is also Buddhist; option (4), Sarvastivada, was an early Buddhist school.
practice — not a real PYQ
Sunyavada, the doctrine of emptiness, is associated with
- (a)the Madhyamika school of Buddhism
- (b)the Digambara sect of Jainism
- (c)the Ajivikas
- (d)the Svetambara sect of Jainism
Answer(1) — Sunyavada is another name for the Madhyamika school of Buddhist philosophy associated with Nagarjuna. Option (2) and option (4) are the two sects of Jainism, whose logic uses syadvada. Option (3), the Ajivikas, held a doctrine of destiny (niyati).