With reference to the religious history of India, consider the following statements : Sautrantika and Sammitiya were the sects of Jainism. Sarvastivadin held that the constituents of phenomena were not wholly momentary, but existed forever in a latent form. Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

Q 15 / 33

UPSC CSE Prelims 2017

With reference to the religious history of India, consider the following statements :

Sautrantika and Sammitiya were the sects of Jainism.
Sarvastivadin held that the constituents of phenomena were not wholly momentary, but existed forever in a latent form.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

EXPLANATION

Correct Option (B)

Statement 2 is correct. The Sarvastivada school of Buddhism maintained that the fundamental constituents of phenomena (dharmas) were not entirely momentary. They asserted that these constituents possessed a real existence across time, persisting in a latent form through the past, present, and future. This doctrine, known as "sarvam asti" (everything exists), distinguished them from other Buddhist schools that emphasized the impermanence and momentariness of all phenomena.

Incorrect Options:

Statement 1 is incorrect. Sautrantika and Sammitiya were prominent schools within Buddhism, not Jainism. The Sautrantika school emphasized the authority of the sutras (discourses of the Buddha) over the Abhidharma texts. The Sammitiya school was notable for its unique doctrine regarding the existence of a 'person' (pudgala) that was neither identical to nor distinct from the five aggregates, a position that diverged from the mainstream Buddhist concept of anatta (non-self).