Indian Ethics Questions and Answers

Q: The notion of dakṣiṇa in Vedic tradition is associated with :

Dakshina is associated with Yajña.In the Vedic tradition, dakshina is the fee or gift given to the priests who perform a sacrifice (yajna). The texts hold that a sacrifice is not complete or fruitful without it; the Rigveda even praises Dakshina as a goddess. It is therefore part of the ritual of yajna itself.Rta is the cosmic and moral order, and rna the debts every person owes to the gods, sages and ancestors. Dharma is duty or righteousness in general. These are wider ideas; dakshina belongs specifically to the sacrifice.

Q: S&amacr;dh&amacr;raṇadharmas are to be practised by ................

S&amacr;dh&amacr;raṇa dharmas are to be practised by all human beings.Hindu ethics distinguishes duties specific to one's class and stage of life (varṇ&amacr;śrama dharma, also called viśeṣa dharma) from common duties (s&amacr;dh&amacr;raṇa dharma) binding on everyone, whatever their class, stage, sex or community: non-injury, truthfulness, non-stealing, purity and self-control, in Manu's list.Restricting them to Hindus or Indians misses their point, which is universality across human beings. 'All beings' goes too far, since duties apply to moral agents, not to animals or plants.

Q: Ṛta is identified with :

Ṛta is identified with both satya and dharma.In the Ṛgveda, ṛta is the cosmic and moral order that governs the course of nature, the sacrifice and right conduct. It is constantly paired with satya, truth (one hymn, Ṛgveda 10.190, opens with ṛta and satya born from tapas), and in later thought its role as the moral and social order passes to the concept of dharma. Standard accounts of Indian ethics therefore treat ṛta as the forerunner of both.Choosing only one of the two leaves out half of this identification, and 'neither' denies it.

Q: Which of the following alternatives indicates the correct order ?

The correct order is Brahmacary&amacr;śrama, Gṛhasth&amacr;śrama, V&amacr;naprasth&amacr;śrama and Saṁny&amacr;s&amacr;śrama.The four stages of life are: the celibate student (brahmac&amacr;rin), who studies the Veda under a teacher; the householder (gṛhastha), who marries, earns and performs sacrifices; the forest-dweller (v&amacr;naprastha), who withdraws from worldly affairs; and the renunciant (saṁny&amacr;sin), who gives up all ties in pursuit of liberation.The other options put the householder first or place renunciation before the forest stage.

Q: The distinction between Shreyas and Preyas is maintained in the :

The distinction is drawn in the Katha Upanisad.In the second section of the Katha Upanisad, Yama tells Naciketas that the good (shreyas) and the pleasant (preyas) both approach a person; the wise choose the good, while the foolish, for the sake of worldly gain, choose the pleasant. Naciketas has just shown that he prefers the good by refusing the wealth and pleasures Yama offered in place of the knowledge of what lies beyond death.The Taittiriya is known for the five sheaths (kosha) and the analysis of bliss, the Brhadaranyaka for the Yajnavalkya dialogues and 'neti neti', and the Prasna for its six questions on prana and Om. None of them is the source of the shreyas-preyas contrast.

Q: 'Death as Mokṣa' is uphold by :

'Death as moksa' is the view of the Carvakas.The Carvaka materialists accept only perception as a means of knowledge and deny any soul that survives the body. Consciousness arises from the combination of the four elements and ends when the body dies. Since there is no rebirth and no other world, the only liberation they allow is death itself, the end of life and with it of pain. Their aphorism holds that once the body is reduced to ashes there is no return.The Samkhyas, Jainas and Bauddhas all hold that liberation is attained in this life or after it through knowledge and discipline, as kaivalya or nirvana, which death alone does not bring.

Q: 'Svadharma' means :

Svadharma means one's own duties.The word combines sva, one's own, with dharma, duty. In the Bhagavad Gita it refers to the duties that belong to a person according to his station and nature, as fighting belongs to Arjuna as a kshatriya. The Gita's famous line holds that one's own duty, even imperfectly done, is better than another's duty well performed.Prakriti is nature or primal matter, a different concept, though the Gita does link svadharma to one's own nature (svabhava). Self-knowledge and self-realization are goals of the spiritual life, not the meaning of svadharma.

Q: Which of the following is not covered in yamas ?

The rule not covered by the yamas is Don't drink intoxicants.Patanjali's Yoga Sutra lists five yamas, the restraints that form the first limb of yoga: ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truthfulness), asteya (not stealing), brahmacharya (continence) and aparigraha (non-possession, not hoarding).'Don't harm' is ahimsa, 'Don't steal' is asteya and 'Don't hoard' is aparigraha. Abstaining from intoxicants is a precept in Buddhist and Jaina ethics, but it is not one of the five yamas.

The notion of dakṣiṇa in Vedic tradition is associated with :

A.Ṛta
B.Ṛṇa
C.Dharma
D.Yajña

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2018, SET Exam - 2018,

Answer: D

Dakshina is associated with Yajña.

In the Vedic tradition, dakshina is the fee or gift given to the priests who perform a sacrifice (yajna). The texts hold that a sacrifice is not complete or fruitful without it; the Rigveda even praises Dakshina as a goddess. It is therefore part of the ritual of yajna itself.

Rta is the cosmic and moral order, and rna the debts every person owes to the gods, sages and ancestors. Dharma is duty or righteousness in general. These are wider ideas; dakshina belongs specifically to the sacrifice.

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Right faith, right knowledge and right conduct are known as .............

A.Triratna
B.Triguṇa
C.Tripitak
D.None of the above

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2018, SET Exam - 2018,

Answer: A

Right faith, right knowledge and right conduct are known as the Triratna.

These are the 'three jewels' of Jainism, samyag darśana, samyag jñāna and samyak cāritra, which together form the path to liberation in Umāsvāti's Tattvārtha Sūtra.

The triguṇa are Sāṅkhya's three constituents of nature (sattva, rajas and tamas), and the Tripiṭaka is the Buddhist canon. Since Triratna is correct, 'none of the above' is wrong.

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Sādhāraṇadharmas are to be practised by ................

A.All human beings
B.Hindus
C.Indians
D.All beings

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2018, SET Exam - 2018,

Answer: A

Sādhāraṇa dharmas are to be practised by all human beings.

Hindu ethics distinguishes duties specific to one's class and stage of life (varṇāśrama dharma, also called viśeṣa dharma) from common duties (sādhāraṇa dharma) binding on everyone, whatever their class, stage, sex or community: non-injury, truthfulness, non-stealing, purity and self-control, in Manu's list.

Restricting them to Hindus or Indians misses their point, which is universality across human beings. 'All beings' goes too far, since duties apply to moral agents, not to animals or plants.

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Ṛta is identified with :

A.Satya
B.Dharma
C.Both satya and dharma
D.Neither satya nor dharma

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2018, SET Exam - 2018,

Answer: C

Ṛta is identified with both satya and dharma.

In the Ṛgveda, ṛta is the cosmic and moral order that governs the course of nature, the sacrifice and right conduct. It is constantly paired with satya, truth (one hymn, Ṛgveda 10.190, opens with ṛta and satya born from tapas), and in later thought its role as the moral and social order passes to the concept of dharma. Standard accounts of Indian ethics therefore treat ṛta as the forerunner of both.

Choosing only one of the two leaves out half of this identification, and 'neither' denies it.

Discuss in Forum

Which of the following alternatives indicates the correct order ?

A.Gṛhasthās'rama, Vānapras'thās'rama, Brahmacaryās'rama and Sanyāsās'rama
B.Brahmacaryās'rama, Gṛhasthās'rama, Sanyāsās'rama and Vānaprasthās'rama
C.Brahmacaryās'rama, Gṛhasthās'rama, Vānaprasthās'rama and Sanyāsās'rama
D.Gṛahasthās'rama, Brahmacaryās'rama, Vānaprasthās'rama and Sanyāsās'rama

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2018, SET Exam - 2018,

Answer: C

The correct order is Brahmacaryāśrama, Gṛhasthāśrama, Vānaprasthāśrama and Saṁnyāsāśrama.

The four stages of life are: the celibate student (brahmacārin), who studies the Veda under a teacher; the householder (gṛhastha), who marries, earns and performs sacrifices; the forest-dweller (vānaprastha), who withdraws from worldly affairs; and the renunciant (saṁnyāsin), who gives up all ties in pursuit of liberation.

The other options put the householder first or place renunciation before the forest stage.

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The distinction between Shreyas and Preyas is maintained in the :

A.Taittirīya Upaniṣad
B.Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad
C.Kaṭha Upaniṣad
D.Praśna Upaniṣad

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2019, SET Exam - 2019,

Answer: C

The distinction is drawn in the Katha Upanisad.

In the second section of the Katha Upanisad, Yama tells Naciketas that the good (shreyas) and the pleasant (preyas) both approach a person; the wise choose the good, while the foolish, for the sake of worldly gain, choose the pleasant. Naciketas has just shown that he prefers the good by refusing the wealth and pleasures Yama offered in place of the knowledge of what lies beyond death.

The Taittiriya is known for the five sheaths (kosha) and the analysis of bliss, the Brhadaranyaka for the Yajnavalkya dialogues and 'neti neti', and the Prasna for its six questions on prana and Om. None of them is the source of the shreyas-preyas contrast.

Discuss in Forum

'Death as Mokṣa' is uphold by :

A.Sāṁkhyas
B.Jainas
C.Bauddhas
D.Cārvākas

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2019, SET Exam - 2019,

Answer: D

'Death as moksa' is the view of the Carvakas.

The Carvaka materialists accept only perception as a means of knowledge and deny any soul that survives the body. Consciousness arises from the combination of the four elements and ends when the body dies. Since there is no rebirth and no other world, the only liberation they allow is death itself, the end of life and with it of pain. Their aphorism holds that once the body is reduced to ashes there is no return.

The Samkhyas, Jainas and Bauddhas all hold that liberation is attained in this life or after it through knowledge and discipline, as kaivalya or nirvana, which death alone does not bring.

Discuss in Forum

'Svadharma' means :

A.One's own duties
B.Prakṛti
C.Self-knowledge
D.Self-realization

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2019, SET Exam - 2019,

Answer: A

Svadharma means one's own duties.

The word combines sva, one's own, with dharma, duty. In the Bhagavad Gita it refers to the duties that belong to a person according to his station and nature, as fighting belongs to Arjuna as a kshatriya. The Gita's famous line holds that one's own duty, even imperfectly done, is better than another's duty well performed.

Prakriti is nature or primal matter, a different concept, though the Gita does link svadharma to one's own nature (svabhava). Self-knowledge and self-realization are goals of the spiritual life, not the meaning of svadharma.

Discuss in Forum

Which of the following is not given in Vedic tradition ?

A.Pitṛ-ṛṇa
B.Deva-ṛṇa
C.Mānava-ṛṇa
D.Rṣī-ṛṇa

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2019, SET Exam - 2019,

Answer: C

The debt not given in the Vedic tradition, on the paper's reading, is the Manava-rna.

The standard teaching, stated in the Taittiriya Samhita, is that every person is born with three debts (rna): to the gods (deva-rna), repaid through sacrifice; to the seers (rsi-rna), repaid through study of the Veda; and to the ancestors (pitr-rna), repaid by raising offspring. These are the three debts the Dharmashastras build on.

A debt to fellow human beings is not among them. One Brahmana passage does add a fourth debt, to men, repaid through hospitality, but the paper follows the familiar three-debt scheme, in which the other three options are all present.

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10.

Which of the following is not covered in yamas ?

A.Don't drink intoxicants
B.Don't steal
C.Don't harm
D.Don't hoard

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2019, SET Exam - 2019,

Answer: A

The rule not covered by the yamas is Don't drink intoxicants.

Patanjali's Yoga Sutra lists five yamas, the restraints that form the first limb of yoga: ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truthfulness), asteya (not stealing), brahmacharya (continence) and aparigraha (non-possession, not hoarding).

'Don't harm' is ahimsa, 'Don't steal' is asteya and 'Don't hoard' is aparigraha. Abstaining from intoxicants is a precept in Buddhist and Jaina ethics, but it is not one of the five yamas.

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