UPSC Prelims 2024 Q54: Epithets of Gautama Buddha — Explained

With reference to ancient India, Gautama Buddha was generally known by which of the following epithets?

1. Nayaputta

2. Shakyamuni

3. Tathagata

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 and 3 only
  3. 1, 2 and 3
  4. None of the above are epithets of Gautama Buddha

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

Statement-wise explanation

  • 1: incorrect — Nayaputta (also written Nataputta) is a name for Vardhamana Mahavira, the 24th Jain Tirthankara, not for the Buddha. It means 'son of the Naya (Jnatrika) clan'. Mahavira's father was chief of the Jnatrika clan. Early Buddhist texts call him Nigantha Nataputta, 'the naked ascetic of the Jnatrika clan', and list him among the rival teachers of the Buddha's time.
  • 2: correct — Shakyamuni means 'sage (muni) of the Shakyas'. Siddhartha Gautama was born into the Shakya clan. His father Shuddhodana was a chief of this clan, which had its seat at Kapilavastu in the Himalayan foothills. Mahayana texts and the art of Gandhara and Mathura often use this name, partly to tell the historical Buddha apart from other Buddhas.
  • 3: correct — Tathagata can be read as tatha-gata, 'one who has thus gone', or tatha-agata, 'one who has thus come'. The Pali texts show the Buddha using it for himself after his enlightenment, and it became a standard epithet of a Buddha. Government of India material still uses the name, as in the 'Sacred Exposition of the Holy Relics of Tathagata'.

How to eliminate

Most aspirants know Shakyamuni as a name of the Buddha, since he came from the Shakya clan. That one fact rules out the option that says 'None of the above' and the option that names only statement 1. Two codes are then left. They differ only on Nayaputta, so this question can be settled only by knowing that one fact. A word clue helps: 'putta' is the Pali/Prakrit form of 'putra' (son), so Nayaputta means 'son of the Naya/Nata clan', a clan name. The Buddha's clan name is Shakya, so a different clan name points to another teacher. That teacher is Mahavira of the Jnatrika (Naya) clan. Remember this pair: Shakyamuni = Buddha (Shakya clan), Nayaputta/Nataputta = Mahavira (Jnatrika clan). UPSC often tests whether you can keep the names of these two contemporaries apart.

Know more

Buddha and Mahavira: two contemporaries, many names

Buddha and Mahavira both lived in the 6th–5th century BCE. Both were kshatriyas from gana-sanghas (clan-based oligarchies) in the middle Ganga plain. Both are known by several epithets, and UPSC likes to mix them up.

Gautama Buddha Vardhamana Mahavira
Birth name Siddhartha (gotra Gautama) Vardhamana
Clan Shakya (Kapilavastu) Jnatrika / Naya (near Vaishali)
Birthplace Lumbini (now in Nepal) Kundagrama, near Vaishali (Bihar)
Father Shuddhodana Siddhartha
Clan-based epithet Shakyamuni (sage of the Shakyas) Nayaputta / Nataputta (son of the Naya clan)
Title after awakening Buddha (awakened one), Tathagata Jina (conqueror), Kevalin
Other epithets Sugata, Bhagavat, Shakyasimha Vira, Nigantha (one without bonds)

How the epithets are built

  • Clan names: Shakyamuni and Shakyasimha (lion of the Shakyas) come from the clan. So does Nayaputta, which is why it belongs to Mahavira and not to the Buddha.
  • Spiritual titles: Buddha, Tathagata and Sugata ('well-gone') describe the state reached. Tathagata is the word the Buddha uses for himself in the Pali texts.
  • Followers' names: 'Jaina' comes from Jina, and 'Bauddha' comes from Buddha.

Where the Shakya link shows up today An inscription on a relic casket found in 1898 at Piprahwa (Siddharthnagar, Uttar Pradesh) refers to relics of the Buddha of the Sakyas. Scholars link the site with Kapilavastu. The relics from these excavations are the 'Kapilavastu relics' that India sends abroad for public veneration, often under the title 'Holy Relics of Tathagata'.

NCERT Concepts to Revise

  • Gautama Buddha: Gives the Buddha's birth name and clan-based titles, which are the core of what this question tests.
  • Lumbini: Lumbini lay in Shakya territory, so it explains the clan behind one of the epithets in the question.
  • Piprahwa relics: The Piprahwa casket inscription names the Shakyas, which is physical evidence of the Buddha's clan identity.
  • Bodh Gaya: Enlightenment at Bodh Gaya is when the Buddha began using spiritual titles for himself, which matters for weighing statement 3.

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