Aspirant Academy
ENHI

RAS question

Consider the following about the six schools (Shad Darshanas) of Indian philosophy: 1. Nyaya school founded by Gautama is known for its theory of inference (anumana) 2. Vaisheshika school is known for its atomic theory of matter (paramanu) 3. Samkhya school is dualistic and proposes Purusha (consciousness) and Prakriti (matter) as two eternal realities How many of the above statements are correct?

Correct answer: (C) All three.

In the Shad Darshanas, Nyaya is linked with Gautama and inference, Vaisheshika with paramanu-based atomic theory, and Samkhya with the dual realities of Purusha and Prakriti.

  1. (A)

    Only one

  2. (B)

    Only two

  3. (C)

    All three

  4. (D)

    No statement is correct

Explanation

All three statements are correct. Nyaya is accurately described because the fetched eGyanKosh unit identifies it as Gautama's work and places inference, or anumana, among its accepted sources of true knowledge. Vaisheshika is also correctly matched with atomic theory: the same unit says Kanada founded the system and explains paramanu as an indivisible, eternal particle of matter, with physical things produced through combinations of atoms. Samkhya is correctly called dualistic because the fetched Samkhya unit describes it as holding two ultimate realities, Prakriti and Purusha, and treats Prakriti as the ultimate cause of objects while the self is pure consciousness. The count, therefore, is all three.

Why the other options are wrong

  • (A) Only one is too low because Nyaya's link with inference, Vaisheshika's atomic theory and Samkhya's Purusha-Prakriti dualism are all supported.
  • (B) Only two leaves out one correct statement even though the cited material supports all three school-doctrine matches.
  • (D) None is untenable because each statement accurately describes one of the schools named in the question: Nyaya, Vaisheshika and Samkhya.

Concept

This tests the Shad Darshanas portion of ancient Indian intellectual history through school-founder-doctrine matching. It recurs in RAS because statement-count questions often combine epistemology, metaphysics and material theory in one compact item.

Source

Related questions