SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 17 September 2025, Shift 1 · English Comprehension · Question 17 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 13 September 2026.

Read the following passage and answer the questions based on the passage :
India’s legacy of healing practices—embodied in disciplines such as Yoga, Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani—presents a complex synthesis of philosophy, biology, and metaphysics. Far from being static relics of the past, these systems have exhibited an evolving dynamism, continuously negotiating their space within both indigenous frameworks and global health discourses. At the heart of this healing ethos lies the idea that the human body is not an isolated physiological entity but a site of interconnected energies and rhythms. Yoga, as codified in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, is not merely a physical regimen but a holistic path aimed at harmonizing the body, mind, and spirit. In the modern era, however, it has undergone commodification, particularly in the West, where its philosophical moorings are often diluted into mere physical exercise or stress-reduction techniques. This recontextualization, while facilitating global popularity, raises questions about cultural appropriation and epistemic erosion. Traditional medicine systems such as Ayurveda view disease as an imbalance in the tridosha—vata, pitta, and kapha—principles that regulate bodily function. These systems emphasize prakriti (constitution), ahara (diet), and dinacharya (daily routine) as central to preventive healthcare. Unlike allopathy’s symptom-targeting approach, traditional Indian medicine is premised on restoring equilibrium in the body’s internal ecology. This integrative vision aligns with contemporary calls for personalized and preventive medicine, though methodological differences continue to stoke skepticism in the biomedical community. State patronage of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy) underlines a renewed institutional interest in traditional systems. However, critics caution against uncritical endorsement, citing the lack of standardized clinical trials, variability in diagnostic models, and challenges in evidence-based validation. Furthermore, pharmaceutical commercialization of Ayurvedic formulations often sidelines traditional knowledge holders, reducing centuries-old practices to marketable commodities. The interface between Yoga and traditional medicine with modern healthcare is therefore both promising and fraught. While integrative models are being explored—especially in palliative care, mental health, and chronic disease management—they require epistemic humility and regulatory rigor. The danger lies in either romanticizing these systems as panaceas or discarding them as pre-scientific relics. Ultimately, the relevance of Yoga and traditional medicine in contemporary India will depend on the country’s ability to safeguard their philosophical depth while subjecting them to transparent, rigorous scrutiny. Neither dogmatic revivalism nor dismissive scientism will suffice. What is needed is a dialogical framework where tradition and modernity co-evolve—not in opposition, but in mutual enrichment.

Which of the following best reflects the Ayurvedic approach to disease?

(a)Eradicating bacteria via antibiotics
(b)Using synthetic drugs for immediate relief
(c)Restoring internal bodily balance through lifestyle
(d)Targeting genetic mutations

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The passage states the view directly: 'Traditional medicine systems such as Ayurveda view disease as an imbalance in the tridosha'.

The remedy follows from that. These systems stress 'prakriti (constitution), ahara (diet), and dinacharya (daily routine)', and are 'premised on restoring equilibrium in the body’s internal ecology.'

Imbalance corrected through diet and daily routine is restoring internal bodily balance through lifestyle → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Eradicating bacteria via antibiotics — Antibiotics appear nowhere in the passage. Killing bacteria attacks an outside cause, while the passage's Ayurveda sees disease as an internal imbalance.
(b)
Using synthetic drugs for immediate relief — Immediate relief from a drug fits the 'symptom-targeting approach' the passage gives to allopathy, which it sets up as the contrast with traditional Indian medicine.
(d)
Targeting genetic mutations — Genetic mutations are never mentioned. The passage places disease in the tridosha, 'principles that regulate bodily function', not in genes.

Concept

A question on what a school of medicine believes is answered from the sentence that states its view, not from general knowledge.

The passage gives Ayurveda's view as a chain: disease is imbalance in the tridosha, prevention rests on constitution, diet and daily routine, and treatment aims at equilibrium.

Option (c) compresses that chain into balance restored through lifestyle. The wrong options describe drug-based modern medicine; the nearest the passage comes to it is 'allopathy’s symptom-targeting approach', offered as a contrast.

Key facts

The passage names the tridosha as vata, pitta and kapha, principles that regulate bodily function.
The passage glosses prakriti as constitution, ahara as diet and dinacharya as daily routine.
Equilibrium means balance, the word option (c) uses for the passage's 'restoring equilibrium'.
The passage sets traditional Indian medicine against allopathy's symptom-targeting approach.

Study next

Contrast signals in reading passages: unlike, whereas, whileParaphrase matching: equilibrium to balance, diet and daily routine to lifestyleDetail questions against inference questions on the same passage

Common traps

Choosing an option that is true of medicine in general, when the question asks what the passage says Ayurveda does.
Attaching quick symptom relief to Ayurveda, when the passage gives the symptom-targeting approach to allopathy as the contrast.

The same passage also carries 17 Sep 2025, 09:00, English Q.16, on the tension in Yoga's global spread, and Q.20, on what Yoga and traditional medicine need to stay relevant.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Reading comprehension — all 128 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.

Read the following passage and answer the questions based on the passage :
India’s legacy of healing practices—embodied in disciplines such as Yoga, Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani—presents a complex synthesis of philosophy, biology, and metaphysics. Far from being static relics of the past, these systems have exhibited an evolving dynamism, continuously negotiating their space within both indigenous frameworks and global health discourses. At the heart of this healing ethos lies the idea that the human body is not an isolated physiological entity but a site of interconnected energies and rhythms. Yoga, as codified in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, is not merely a physical regimen but a holistic path aimed at harmonizing the body, mind, and spirit. In the modern era, however, it has undergone commodification, particularly in the West, where its philosophical moorings are often diluted into mere physical exercise or stress-reduction techniques. This recontextualization, while facilitating global popularity, raises questions about cultural appropriation and epistemic erosion. Traditional medicine systems such as Ayurveda view disease as an imbalance in the tridosha—vata, pitta, and kapha—principles that regulate bodily function. These systems emphasize prakriti (constitution), ahara (diet), and dinacharya (daily routine) as central to preventive healthcare. Unlike allopathy’s symptom-targeting approach, traditional Indian medicine is premised on restoring equilibrium in the body’s internal ecology. This integrative vision aligns with contemporary calls for personalized and preventive medicine, though methodological differences continue to stoke skepticism in the biomedical community. State patronage of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy) underlines a renewed institutional interest in traditional systems. However, critics caution against uncritical endorsement, citing the lack of standardized clinical trials, variability in diagnostic models, and challenges in evidence-based validation. Furthermore, pharmaceutical commercialization of Ayurvedic formulations often sidelines traditional knowledge holders, reducing centuries-old practices to marketable commodities. The interface between Yoga and traditional medicine with modern healthcare is therefore both promising and fraught. While integrative models are being explored—especially in palliative care, mental health, and chronic disease management—they require epistemic humility and regulatory rigor. The danger lies in either romanticizing these systems as panaceas or discarding them as pre-scientific relics. Ultimately, the relevance of Yoga and traditional medicine in contemporary India will depend on the country’s ability to safeguard their philosophical depth while subjecting them to transparent, rigorous scrutiny. Neither dogmatic revivalism nor dismissive scientism will suffice. What is needed is a dialogical framework where tradition and modernity co-evolve—not in opposition, but in mutual enrichment.