UPSC Prelims 2021— Question 51

Bhavabhuti, Hastimalla and Kshemeshvara are associated with Sanskrit literary traditions and are remembered as playwrights. They were not principally Jain monks, temple architects or philosophers in the sense required by the question. Bhavabhuti is especially known for Sanskrit dramas such as Malatimadhava and Uttararamacharita. The final answer-key position for Set C identifies option B as the correct option. Option A — Jain monks — is not correct because it does not satisfy the specific condition tested in the question; it represents an alternative that is contradicted, incomplete, or less precise than the accepted answer. Option B — playwrights — is correct because it is the alternative that matches the constitutional, historical, geographical, scientific or economic principle established above. Option C — temple architects — is not correct because it does not satisfy the specific condition tested in the question; it represents an alternative that is contradicted, incomplete, or less precise than the accepted answer. Option D — philosophers — is not correct because it does not satisfy the specific condition tested in the question; it represents an alternative that is contradicted, incomplete, or less precise than the accepted answer. For PYQ interpretation, the distinction between the correct alternative and merely related facts is important. UPSC often places plausible distractors beside the precise statement that matches the underlying rule, chronology, definition or empirical relationship. The answer should therefore be read against the exact wording of the question rather than against a broadly related fact.