UGC NTA NET/JRF Exam, INDIAN CULTURE, JUNE-2025

Total Questions: 100

91. Read the following paragraph and answer the questions.

He asserted that 'the Bible had been anticipated in the Vedas'. Another thinker claimed that all knowledge-scientific and rational-existed in Vedic India. During the war described in the Mahabharata, knowledgeable persons were killed leading to decline, resulting in priestcraft and superstition.

Sasadhar Tarakachudamani justified all Hindu practices and rituals on a scientific basis-Thinkers of a group further deepened this sense of past glory. Indian spirituality was declared to be a much superior achievement from which the West should learn.

The author of Hindu Superiority (1906), asserted the glories of the ancient Indian civilization. According to him, 'The Vedas are universally admitted to be not only by far the most important work in the Sanskrit language but the greatest work in all literature'.

Who asserted that 'the Bible had been anticipated in the Vedas'?

Correct Answer: 1. Rev K.M. Banerjea
Solution:

Rev. K.M. Banerjea, a Christian missionary and scholar in colonial India, asserted that "the Bible had been anticipated in the Vedas." His intention was to show a continuity between Hindu sacred texts and Christian revelation, presenting the Vedas as a preparatory stage leading to Biblical truths.

92. Who claimed that all knowledge-scientific and rational-existed in Vedic India?

Correct Answer: 1. Dayanand Saraswati
Solution:

Swami Dayanand Saraswati, founder of the Arya Samaj, claimed that all knowledge-scientific and rational-existed in Vedic India. He believed the Vedas contained eternal truths covering religion, science, and philosophy, and urged Indians to return to Vedic wisdom to regain their past glory.

93. Thinkers of which group declared Indian spirituality to be a much superior achievement from which the west should learn?

Correct Answer: 2. Theosophists
Solution:

The Theosophists, led by figures like H.P. Blavatsky and later Annie Besant, emphasized that Indian spirituality was a far superior achievement from which the West should learn. They promoted Hindu and Buddhist traditions as rich sources of universal wisdom, countering colonial claims of Indian inferiority.

94. Who wrote the work 'Hindu Superiority'?

Correct Answer: 4. Har Bilas Sharda
Solution:

The book Hindu Superiority (1906) was authored by Har Bilas Sharda, a nationalist writer who glorified India's ancient civilization. He argued that Hindu culture and the Vedas represented the highest achievements of human thought, countering colonial denigration of Indian traditions.

95. Who stated, 'the Vedas are universally admitted to be not only by far the most important work in the Sanskrit language but the greatest work in all literature'?

Correct Answer: 3. Har Bilas Sarda
Solution:

The quote "The Vedas are universally admitted to be not only by far the most important work in the Sanskrit language but the greatest work in all literature" comes from Har Bilas Sharda in his work Hindu Superiority. It reflects his belief that Indian civilization, rooted in the Vedas, surpassed all others.

96. Read the following paragraph and answer the questions.

His conviction about the fundamental unity of human civilization was reinforced by his 'study of mysticism and action in modern India' which led him to deal with the lives of its two great saints, both of whom, as he noted, belonged to 'the great army of the Spirit marching on in their own time', He writes in the Prelude to his text: 'If there is one place on the face of the earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India......For more than thirty centuries, the tree of Vision, with all its thousand branches and their millions of twigs, has sprung from that torrid land, the burning womb of the gods.' Addressing his Western readers he wrote in this book. For a century in new India Unity has been the target for the arrows of all archers. Fiery personalities throughout this century have sprung from her sacred earth, a veritable Ganga of peoples and thought. Whatever may be the differences between them, their goal is ever the same - human unity through God. And through all the changes of workmen Unity itself has expanded and gained in precision.

Who is being referred to as 'He' in the passage?

Correct Answer: 2. Romain Rolland
Solution:

The description matches Romain Rolland, a French Nobel laureate who studied Indian mysticism deeply and wrote biographies of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda. He emphasized India's role in nurturing spirituality and human unity.

97. Who are two great Saints who belong to 'the great army of the spirit marching on in their own time'?

Correct Answer: 2. Ramakrishna and Vivekanand
Solution:

Romain Rolland wrote about Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda in his works. He described them as torchbearers of spirituality who represented India's spiritual legacy in the modern world.

98. The person who is referred to as 'He' in the passage wrote a text titled .................... .

Correct Answer: 3. Life of Ramakrishna
Solution:

Romain Rolland authored Life of Ramakrishna (1929) and Life of Vivekananda (1930). These were widely read in both Europe and India, reinforcing India's image as a land of profound spirituality.

99. The person who is referred to as 'He' in the passage described whom as the St. Paul?

Correct Answer: 2. Swami Vivekanand
Solution:

Romain Rolland described Swami Vivekananda as the St. Paul to Ramakrishna's Christ. Just as St. Paul carried Christ's message to the wider world, Vivekananda spread Ramakrishna's message and Indian spirituality to the West.

100. Out of the following what is the focus of the passage?

Correct Answer: 2. Unity
Solution:

The repeated emphasis is on unity-human unity, spiritual unity, and unity of civilizationshighlighted by Rolland's words about India's spiritual contribution.