Previous Year Question
With reference to the cultural history of India, the memorizing of chronicles, dynastic histories and epic tales was the profession of who of the following?
Correct Answer: D
Detailed Solution
The Maagadhas were professional bards, genealogists and reciters of chronicles. Their work involved remembering and reciting royal genealogies, historical events, the achievements of rulers and heroic narratives. Thus, before the widespread use of written historical records, they helped preserve historical and cultural memories through oral tradition.
Here, the term Maagadha does not refer to the ancient kingdom of Magadha or merely to its ordinary inhabitants. It denotes a particular class of professional bard or genealogical reciter. Ancient literature also refers to the Sutas alongside the Maagadhas as reciters of royal genealogies and heroic narratives.
The remaining options are different:
(a) A Shramana was a renunciant or spiritual practitioner who left household life to undertake austerities and spiritual discipline. The Buddhist and Jain traditions formed part of the wider Shramana tradition.
(b) A Parivraajaka was a wandering ascetic or religious-philosophical seeker who did not live permanently at one place.
(c) An Agrahaarika was associated with an agrahara. An agrahara was generally a tax-free grant of land or a village made to Brahmanas or for religious and educational purposes.