UPSC Prelims 2020 Question:

With reference to the religious history of India

consider the following statements:

1. Sthaviravadins belong to Mahayana Buddhism.
2. Lokottaravadin sect was an offshoot of Mahasanghika sect of Buddhism.
3. The deification of Buddha by Mahasanghikas fostered the Mahayana Buddhism.
   
   

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Explanation:

• Buddhism is divided into two sects, Mahayana and Hinayana. Hinayana, also known as Theravadins, accept the Pali canon of ancient Indian Buddhism as authoritative and trace their sectarian lineage back to the Elders (Sthaviras or Theras), who followed in the tradition of the first Buddhist sangha, or community. As a result, Theravada is also known as Sthaviravada. They are not associated with Mahayana Buddhism. So, statement 1 is not correct.
  
  
• The Lokottaravadins was an early Buddhist school and a branch of the Mahasanghika sect. So, statement 2 is correct. 
  
  
• Mahasanghika was an early Buddhist school in India that was a precursor of the Mahayana tradition in its views on the nature of the Buddha. The Mahasanghikas believed in a plurality of supramundane Buddhas (lokottara). Deification means the action of making someone or something into a god. Mahayana Buddhism believed in the believed in the divinity of the Buddha. So, statement 3 is correct.
  

Therefore, option (2) is the correct answer.

Subject: History | Buddhism and Jainism