Q. 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?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: (b) 2 only
Notes:
- Sautrantikas and Sammtiyas are the sects of Buddhism.
- The word “Sautrantika” means a follower of the sutras.
- Sautrantika is generally considered to be another school of Buddhism that developed within the Sarvastivada sect.
- Sarvastivadin: While, like all Buddhists, the Sarvastivadins consider everything empirical to be impermanent, they maintain that the dharma factors are eternally existing realities. This sect of Buddhism believes that all things exist, and exist continuously, in the past and the future as well as in the present.
