UPSC 2021 GS-IV · 10 marks · 150 words
What teachings of Buddha are most relevant today and why? Discuss.
What “Discuss” demands
present several distinct facets of the issue and connect them into an argument, giving the competing views real weight rather than one line each.
The characteristic failure: a list of points with no argument running through them.
What a top answer must contain
These are the checkable specifics from the marking standard for this question — the actual case, committee, datum or thinker, not an instruction to “give examples”.
- Middle Path against consumerism-austerity extremes; work-life application
- Eightfold Path operationalised: right speech (social media), right livelihood (ethical careers), right mindfulness (attention economy)
- Karuna/ahimsa for conflict and climate ethics; anicca/anatta against ego-polarisation
- Applied evidence: sangha's deliberative method (Ambedkar's reading), vipassana in Tihar
The band thresholds and the pre-scored sample answers behind this standard stay private — they are the calibration your copy is placed against.
Now write it, and find out what you actually scored
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