The Life of Buddha Trivia Quiz

Answer: Shuddhodana

The word Shuddhodana is of Sanskrit origin. It means pure rice (shuddha in Sanskrit means "pure" and odana means "rice").

Answer: Chandaka

It is described in the scriptures that it was Buddha's charioteer friend who explained to him the inevitability of old age, sickness and death. After encountering these three scenes, Buddha decided to renounce his household life.

Answer: His true knowledge was too subtle and serious in nature to be understood by common people.

The Pali sources tell that the reluctance of Buddha to share his realisation perplexed the gods. The Sahapati Brhma, one of the celestial deities, appeared before Buddha with the request that he take on the task of spreading the knowledge he had realised. Only then did the Buddha agree to share his knowledge, despite its subtlety and depth.

Answer: True

Buddhism has the third largest following in the world. As per a study, every fourth person in world is Buddhist ("The Religions of India", Clarion books, 1983) According to the Survey of Religion for the US Congress in 2006, there are 21 countries that have a significant Buddhist following.

It ranks China with 91% on top and India at the 10th position. In India, Buddhism is often considered a form of Hinduism.

Answer: Yashodhara

The name means "stream of fame." A famous Indian poet of the 20th century wrote a poem where Yashodhara is a central character. The poet was Maithili Sharan Gupta and the poem has the same name as Buddha's wife. In the poem, Yashodhara tells her friend that Siddhartha should not have left the palace before informing her.

Then he may have found her a help and not an obstruction in his path to renunciation.

Answer: Rahula

It is described in literary sources that Prince Siddhartha himself named his son as Rahula. Etymologically, his name in the Sanskrit language means "obstruction in the way" (ra means "way" and hula means "hindrance to spiritual life"). In Buddhism, attachment (as of a father to his son) is considered to be one of the most dangerous hindrances in one's spiritual journey.

Answer: Sakya

Lumbini is the place where Prince Siddhartha was born. Her mother was making a journey to her parents' palace, but began her labour pains near a park. The child was born as his mother stood between two Shal Trees. The Sakya clan inhabits the plains of the Himalayas; nowadays the birth place of Lord Buddha is found in Nepal.

Answer: Three baskets

Tripitaka consists of three classified canonical literary works of Buddhism. The first part is Vinaya Pitaka, which contains the rules and regulation pertaining to monks and nuns. The second pitaka or box or basket is Sutta pitaka, a collection of the words of Buddha.

The third and last bucket is the collection of books and teachings of highly philosophical Buddhist masters over time. It is named the Abhidhamma pitaka.

Answer: True

Tibetan tradition holds that the works of great Buddhist masters are in the lineage of Buddha, so they should be placed under the classification of Buddha's sayings. Hence they have only two classifications of the words of Buddha: Buddha vacana or words of Buddha (Kanjur), and Buddhist treatises or Baudha shastra (Tanjur).

Answer: Both

The Himalayan regions of India (Leh, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim etc.) are under the influence of Tibetan Buddhism, and hence are followers of Mahayana. The plains of Central India (Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, etc.) follow the Hinayana path from its origin.