With reference to the cultural history of India, consider the following pairs: 1. Parivrajaka Renunciant and Wanderer 2. Shramana : Priest with a high stat

1. A. 1 and 2 only
2. B. 1 and 3 only
3. C. 2 and 3 only
4. D. 1, 2 and 3

Answer: B

Explanation

The word Parivrajaka means “roaming ascetic”. A wandering religious mendicant. Although this term occurs in the early Brahmanic tradition of the Upaniṣ ads, it is also applicable to Buddhist and Jain monks, as well as to Hindu saṃnyāsins. The Pāli equivalent is paribbājaka. Vedic Brahmanism – drawing its identity from the Vedic corpus – was a religious form associated with socially dominant groups, supporting practices and beliefs that could be seen as an orthodoxy, there have been movements that have distanced themselves in various ways from Vedic Brahmanism. The Shramana group – Buddhism, Jainism and various ‘heterodox’ sects – is one such well- established group. shramanas did not regard the brahmans as being of the highest status. The shramanas included a variety of ascetics, as well as the monks and lay followers of various sects – Buddhist, Jaina, Ajivika and others. Monks renounced social obligations to take on an alternative life when they joined the Order. They lived as equal members of the Order, denying caste distinctions. But they lived in monasteries near villages and towns so that they could draw on the support of the lay community, namely, those who were Buddhists or Jainas but were not initiated into renunciatory groups. Lay followers were referred to as upasaka and upasika.