RAS question
Buddhism rejects the concept of:
Correct answer: (A) Permanent self/soul (Atman) — doctrine of Anatman/Anatta.
Buddhism rejects the idea of a permanent, unchanging self or soul, expressed in the doctrine of Anatman or Anatta.
Explanation
Buddhism's doctrine of Anatta, also called Anatman, rejects the idea that a person has a permanent underlying substance that can be called the soul. Encyclopaedia Britannica describes the individual instead as compounded of five changing factors, the khandhas or skandhas. The five aggregates are form, sensation, perception, mental formations and consciousness. The point is not that Buddhism denies moral action or rebirth; it denies that an eternal Atman transmigrates unchanged through them. This is why Anatta marks a clear doctrinal departure from Hindu belief in Atman and also differs from Jainism's affirmation of an eternal Jiva.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Karma is not rejected here; Buddhism accepts karma while denying a permanent soul behind it.
- (C) Rebirth is not the rejected concept; Buddhism accepts rebirth without accepting an unchanging Atman that transmigrates.
- (D) Meditation is not the doctrine under dispute; the question turns on Anatta, which rejects a permanent self or soul.
Concept
This tests a recurring Ancient Indian religious-philosophy distinction: Buddhism's Anatta doctrine against Atman and Jiva-based traditions. RAS asks it because it cleanly separates Buddhist metaphysics from neighbouring Hindu and Jain ideas.