23 multiple-choice (MCQ / objective) questions from this chapter, in every exam-style shape used in the paper. Every question comes with an explanation along with the answer, so you remember why the option is correct, not just which one it is.
1 Direct Questions
Direct Questions
- 1 markThe project to prepare a Critical Edition of the Mahabharata began in 1919 under whose leadership?
(A) Maurice Winternitz(B) B.B. Lal(C) J.A.B. van Buitenen(D) V.S. Sukthankar - 1 markThe main story of the Mahabharata depicts a conflict between which two sides?
(A) the Mauryas and the Shungas(B) the Shakas and the Satavahanas(C) the nishadas and the chandalas(D) the Kauravas and the Pandavas - 1 markWhich of these texts, regarded as the most important of the Dharmasutras and Dharmashastras, was compiled c. 200 BCE to 200 CE?
(A) the Rigveda(B) the Bhagavad Gita(C) the Manusmriti(D) the Ashtadhyayi - 1 markAccording to the Dharmasutras, waging war, protecting people and administering justice were the prescribed duties of which varna?
(A) Shudra(B) Brahmana(C) Vaishya(D) Kshatriya - 1 markEkalavya, the forest-dwelling youth in the story, belonged to which community?
(A) chandala(B) mlechchha(C) vanik(D) nishada (a hunting community) - 1 markIn which language is the Matanga Jataka written?
(A) Prakrit(B) Sanskrit(C) Pali(D) Tamil - 1 markWhat was a woman’s ownership over the gifts she received at her wedding called?
(A) kanyadana(B) stridhana(C) vardakshina(D) gotradana
2 Assertion-Reason
Assertion-Reason
- 1 markAssertion (A): Some Satavahana rulers were identified by metronymics.
Reason (R): Satavahana inscriptions carry titles based on the mother’s name, such as “Gotami-puta”.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R correctly explains A(B) Both A and R are true, but R does not explain A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true - 1 markAssertion (A): Ekalavya gained mastery in archery through his own practice.
Reason (R): Drona formally accepted him as a disciple and taught him archery.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R correctly explains A(B) Both A and R are true, but R does not explain A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true - 1 markAssertion (A): Chandalas were placed at the very lowest rank in society.
Reason (R): Activities such as cremating the dead and touching dead animals were considered “polluting”, and chandalas performed exactly these tasks.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R correctly explains A(B) Both A and R are true, but R does not explain A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true
3 Match the Following
Match the Following
- 1 markMatch List I with List II.
List I: (i) Brahmana (ii) Kshatriya (iii) Vaishya (iv) Shudra
List II: (a) agriculture, pastoralism and trade (b) study and teach the Vedas, perform sacrifices (c) warfare, protecting people, administering justice (d) serve the other three varnas
(A) i-a, ii-d, iii-b, iv-c(B) i-b, ii-c, iii-a, iv-d(C) i-c, ii-b, iii-d, iv-a(D) i-d, ii-a, iii-c, iv-b - 1 markMatch List I with List II.
List I: (i) the Manusmriti (ii) the Matanga Jataka (iii) the Purananuru (iv) the Mandasor inscription
List II: (a) Tamil (b) Sanskrit (c) Pali (d) Sanskrit (inscription)
(A) i-b, ii-a, iii-c, iv-d(B) i-a, ii-d, iii-b, iv-c(C) i-c, ii-b, iii-d, iv-a(D) i-b, ii-c, iii-a, iv-d
4 Statement-Based Questions
Statement-Based Questions
- 1 markStatement I: The Mahabharata war ended with the proclamation of patrilineal succession.
Statement II: Patriliny did not exist before the epic itself was composed.
(A) Both statements are true, and Statement II explains Statement I(B) Both statements are true, but Statement II does not explain Statement I(C) Statement I is true, Statement II is false(D) Statement I is false, Statement II is true - 1 markStatement I: According to the Sutta Pitaka myth, people collectively chose one person to be their ruler.
Statement II: In return for this choice, people gave that ruler a share of the rice they grew, as tax.
(A) Both statements are true, and Statement II explains Statement I(B) Both statements are true, but Statement II does not explain Statement I(C) Statement I is true, Statement II is false(D) Statement I is false, Statement II is true - 1 markStatement I: B.B. Lal excavated a village named Hastinapura in 1951-52.
Statement II: This excavation definitively proved that this village was the Hastinapura described in the Mahabharata.
(A) Both statements are true, and Statement II explains Statement I(B) Both statements are true, but Statement II does not explain Statement I(C) Statement I is true, Statement II is false(D) Statement I is false, Statement II is true
5 Chronological Ordering
Chronological Ordering
- 1 markArrange the following literary traditions in chronological order.
1. the Manusmriti and Tamil Sangam literature
2. Panini’s Ashtadhyayi
3. Sanskrit plays of Kalidasa and the works of Aryabhata
4. the compilation of the Puranas
(A) 2-1-3-4(B) 2-1-4-3(C) 4-2-1-3(D) 1-2-4-3 - 1 markArrange the following in the order Yudhisthira staked them in the dice game.
1. the kingdom and his subjects’ wealth
2. gold, elephants, chariots, slaves
3. himself
4. his younger brothers
(A) 2-1-4-3(B) 3-1-2-4(C) 1-2-3-4(D) 2-4-1-3
6 Fill in the Blanks
Fill in the Blanks
- 1 markThe part of the Mahabharata that lays down norms of social behaviour is called its ______ content.
(A) timeline(B) didactic(C) narrative(D) smriti - 1 markThe son of Bhima and the rakshasa Hidimba was named ______.
(A) Ghatotkacha(B) Iravan(C) Abhimanyu(D) Barbarika
7 Odd One Out
Odd One Out
- 1 markWhich of the following is NOT one of the four varnas?
(A) Kshatriya(B) chandala(C) Brahmana(D) Vaishya
8 Passage-Based Questions
Passage-Based Questions
Passage
The Adi Parvan of the Mahabharata explains why the cousins quarrelled. The Kauravas were the sons of Dhritarashtra, and the Pandavas were their cousins. Since Dhritarashtra was blind, his younger brother Pandu ascended the throne of Hastinapura. However, after the premature death of Pandu, Dhritarashtra became king, as the royal princes were still very young. As the princes grew up together, the citizens of Hastinapura began to express their preference for the Pandavas, for they were more capable and virtuous than the Kauravas. This made Duryodhana, the eldest of the Kauravas, jealous.
- 1 markAccording to the passage, why did Dhritarashtra become king after Pandu?
(A) because the people chose him(B) because all the royal princes were still very young after Pandu’s premature death(C) because he was not blind(D) because Pandu himself had declared him king
Passage
A stone inscription (c. fifth century CE), found at Mandasor (Madhya Pradesh), records the history of a guild of silk weavers who originally lived in Lata (Gujarat). They migrated to Mandasor, then known as Dashapura, along with their children and kinfolk, as they had heard about the greatness of the local king and wanted to settle in his kingdom. Membership of the guild was based on a shared craft specialisation, but some members also adopted other occupations. Collectively, they spent the wealth they had earned on building a temple to the sun god.
- 1 markAccording to the passage, why did the silk weavers of Lata migrate to Dashapura (Mandasor)?
(A) they had heard about the local king’s greatness and wanted to settle there(B) to escape a war(C) for the convenience of a trade route(D) for a religious pilgrimage
9 True / False
True / False
- 1 markConsider the following statements.
(i) The Manusmriti was compiled c. 200 BCE to 200 CE.
(ii) The Manusmriti is written in Sanskrit.
(A) both are true(B) only (i) is true(C) only (ii) is true(D) both are false
Answer Key and Explanations
Direct Questions
- (D) This ambitious project began in 1919 under the leadership of the noted Sanskritist V.S. Sukthankar, and took forty-seven years to complete.
- (D) The Mahabharata is fundamentally the story of a feud over land and power between the Kauravas and Pandavas, cousins of the ruling Kuru lineage.
- (C) Among the Dharmasutras and Dharmashastras, the most important was the Manusmriti, compiled c. 200 BCE to 200 CE.
- (D) Kshatriyas were assigned the tasks of warfare, protecting people and administering justice, in addition to studying and sacrificing.
- (D) Ekalavya was a forest-dwelling nishada whom Drona, a Brahmana teaching archery to the Kuru princes, refused to accept as a student.
- (C) The Matanga Jataka is a Pali-language story in which the Bodhisattva is born as the son of a chandala.
- (B) Women retained the gifts they received at the time of marriage as stridhana, “a woman’s wealth”, which was free of the husband’s control and inheritable by her children.
Assertion-Reason
- (B) Both are true, but R does not explain A: titles such as Gotami-puta in the inscriptions are the evidence that these rulers were identified by metronymics. R restates A; it gives no reason for it.
- (C) A is true, but R is false: Drona refused to accept Ekalavya as a disciple; Ekalavya instead returned to the forest, made a clay image of Drona, and practised alone in front of it.
- (A) Both are true and R explains A: it was precisely their association with tasks regarded as “polluting” that placed chandalas at the very bottom of the hierarchy.
Match the Following
- (B) A Brahmana’s work was studying the Vedas and performing sacrifices, a Kshatriya’s was warfare, protection and justice, a Vaishya’s was agriculture, pastoralism and trade, and a Shudra’s was to serve the other three varnas.
- (D) The Manusmriti is in Sanskrit, the Matanga Jataka in Pali, the Purananuru in Tamil Sangam literature, and the Mandasor inscription is engraved in Sanskrit.
Statement-Based Questions
- (C) Statement I is true: patrilineal succession was proclaimed after the war. Statement II is false: patriliny existed before the epic was composed; the epic’s central story only reinforced this already-existing ideal.
- (B) Both statements are true, but Statement II does not explain Statement I. People chose a ruler because their idyllic state deteriorated as they became greedy, vindictive and deceitful; the share of rice was what they gave the chosen ruler (the mahasammata) in return, a form of payment for his services.
- (C) Statement I is true. Statement II is false: the name and the site’s location certainly suggest a connection, but this could equally well be a coincidence; historians do not treat it as definitive proof.
Chronological Ordering
- (B) Panini’s Ashtadhyayi (c. 500 BCE) came first, then the Manusmriti and Tamil Sangam literature (c. 200 BCE-200 CE), then the compilation of the Puranas (c. 200 CE onwards), and last the plays of Kalidasa and the works of Aryabhata (c. 400-500 CE): 2-1-4-3.
- (A) Yudhisthira first staked gold, elephants, chariots and slaves, then the kingdom and his subjects’ wealth, then his younger brothers, and finally himself.
Fill in the Blanks
- (B) Didactic content lays down social norms; the Bhagavad Gita is its most important example.
- (A) After Hidimba married Bhima, she gave birth to a son named Ghatotkacha.
Odd One Out
- (B) Chandalas were placed entirely outside the varna order, considered “untouchable”; the four varnas are Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra.
Passage-Based Questions
- (B) After Pandu’s premature death, since the royal princes were still very young, Dhritarashtra (despite being blind, which is why Pandu had become king first) became king.
- (A) According to the passage, the weavers had heard about the greatness of the local king, and so migrated there with their children and kinfolk, wanting to settle in his kingdom.
True / False
- (A) The Manusmriti was compiled c. 200 BCE to 200 CE and is a Sanskrit dharmashastra text: both statements are true.
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