Person Mahavira
Asked 5 times across 3 UPSC exams over 9 years (2014–2023), peaking in 2023.
Key insights
- Most tested in CSE — 2 of 5 PYQs
- Most asked in 2023
- Recurs across 3 years (2014–2023)
How it travelled across exams
First appearance in each exam — the same idea, reframed.
CDS 2014 → CAPF 2023
How the concept evolved
Long-running — most appearances (3 of 5) predate 2016, and it still returns.
Related concepts
Ideas UPSC tests alongside this one — keep exploring.
Sample questions
You've seen the pattern — here are a few of the actual PYQs.
CAPF2023
Consider the following statements with reference to Jainism
- Vardhamana Mahavira attained Kaivalyajnana outside the town of Jrimbhikagrama, on the banks of river Rijupalika and in the field of a householder named Samaga
- The state when the Karma particles actually begin to flow towards the Jiva to bind it is known as Asrava
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
- A 1 only
- B 2 only
- C Both 1 and 2 ✓
- D Neither 1 nor 2
✓ Correct answer: (C)
Art & Culture › Religion & Philosophy
CDS2017
Which of the following statements with regard to the heterodox sect between sixth and fourth century BC are correct?
- The Jain ideas were already being circulated in the seventh century BC by Parshva
- Although Buddhism, and to a lesser extent Jainism, took account of the changes in material life and reacted against orthodoxy, neither of these sought to abolish the caste system
- The first female disciple of Mahavira is said to have been a captured slave woman
- Buddha held that nuns could attain spiritual liberation just like a monk and granted them an equal status in the mendicant order
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
- A 3 and 4 only ✓
- B 1, 2 and 3 only
- C 1, 2 and 4 only
- D 3 and 4 only
✓ Correct answer: (A)
History › Ancient India
CDS2014
Consider the following statements
- The Jains believed that Mahavira had twenty-three predecessors
- Parshvanatha was twenty-third Tirthankara
- Rishava was immediate successor of Mahavira
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- A 1 and 2 ✓
- B 2 and 3
- C 1 only
- D 3 only
✓ Correct answer: (A)
History › Ancient India
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