UPSC STATIC QUIZ – Ancient & Medieval India : 5 January 2024

Solution: b)

Statement 3 is incorrect.

• The conception of bhakti did away with the elite tradition of Sanskrit and accepted the more acceptable language of the common man.
• Bhakti also attacked the age-old caste system and devoted itself to the worship of humanity, because the catchword of bhakti is that God is there in every human being. The movement was in essence subaltern, as most of its poets belonged to the so-called ‘lower’ castes.
• Bhakti is anti-theology and against any kind of conceptual erudition.

Solution: b)

Statement 1 is incorrect.

The principal deities of the Vedic pantheon, Agni, Indra and Soma, become marginal figures, rarely visible in textual or visual representations.

And while we can catch a glimpse of Vishnu, Shiva and the goddess in Vedic mantras, these have little in common with the elaborate Puranic mythologies.

However, in spite of these obvious discrepancies, the Vedas continued to be revered as authoritative. Not surprisingly, there were sometimes conflicts as well—those who valued the Vedic tradition often condemned practices that went beyond the closely regulated contact with the divine through the performance of sacrifices or precisely chanted mantras.

Also, devotees often tended to project their chosen deity, either Vishnu or Shiva, as supreme.

During this time, expressions of devotion ranged from the routine worship of deities within temples to ecstatic adoration where devotees attained a trance-like state. The singing and chanting of devotional compositions was often a part of such modes of worship. This was particularly true of the Vaishnava and Shaiva sects.

Solution: a)

Only Statement 2 is correct.

Ramananda belonged to Ramanuja’s philosophical thought. He visited the holy places of North India and preached Vaishnavism. Ramananda introduced radical changes in Vaishnavism by founding his own sect based on the doctrine of love and devotion to Rama and Sita.

He preached equality before God. He rejected caste system, particularly the supremacy of Brahmins as the sole custodians of Hindu religion.

The people from the lower strata of the society became his followers. His twelve disciples included Ravidas, Kabir and two women.

Ramananda was the first to preach his doctrine of devotion in Hindi, the vernacular language.

Solution: b)

• Tasawwuf is another name for Sufism.
• In Sufism, self-discipline was considered an essential condition to gain knowledge of God by sense of perception.
• While orthodox Muslims emphasise external conduct and rituals, the Sufis lay stress on inner purity.

According to them, one must have the guidance of a pir or guru, without which spiritual development is impossible.

Solution: a)

Sufi silsilas began to crystallise in different parts of the Islamic world around the 12th century. The word silsila literally means a chain, signifying a continuous link between master and disciple, stretching as an unbroken spiritual genealogy to the Prophet.

• Chisti silsila, tracing its origin to Khwaja Chisti, was one such popular silsila.