GS Paper IV — Q3
Given below are three quotations of great thinkers. What do each of these quotations convey to you in the present context? (a)…
Given below are three quotations of great thinkers. What do each of these quotations convey to you in the present context?
"Those who in trouble untroubled are, Will trouble trouble itself." – Thiruvalluvar (Answer in 150 words) 10 marks
"The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes." – William James (Answer in 150 words) 10 marks
"The strength of a society is not in its laws, but in the morality of its people." – Swami Vivekananda (Answer in 150 words) 10 marks
हिंदी में प्रश्न पढ़ें
महान विचारकों के तीन उद्धरण नीचे दिए गए हैं। वर्तमान संदर्भ में, प्रत्येक उद्धरण आपको क्या संप्रेषित करता है ?
"जो लोग मुसीबत में भी शांत रहते हैं, मुसीबत ही स्वयं परेशान होगी।" – तिरुवल्लुवर (उत्तर 150 शब्दों में दीजिए) 10 अंक
"मेरी पीढ़ी की सबसे बड़ी खोज यह है कि मनुष्य अपना दृष्टिकोण बदलकर अपना जीवन बदल सकता है।" – विलियम जेम्स (उत्तर 150 शब्दों में दीजिए) 10 अंक
"किसी समाज की शक्ति उसके कानूनों में नहीं, बल्कि उसके लोगों की नैतिकता में होती है।" – स्वामी विवेकानंद (उत्तर 150 शब्दों में दीजिए) 10 अंक
Model answer
Drafted with AI by UPSC Answer Check against this question's marking rubric, to the 150-word length. UPSC does not publish answers for Mains — this is one way to score well, not an official key. How we build rubrics and answers.
(a) Thiruvalluvar on Resilient Equanimity
Thiruvalluvar underscores the power of stoic equanimity and emotional resilience in the face of adversity. When an individual maintains an untroubled mind during distress, panic is arrested, preventing the crisis from clouding rational judgment. Emotional stability preserves cognitive clarity, which allows one to deconstruct complex problems and systematically dismantle their root causes, thereby disarming and exhausting the crisis itself. In contemporary public administration and disaster management, such as the frontline response during the COVID-19 pandemic or supercyclone evacuations, an administrator’s inner calm prevents administrative paralysis and collective hysteria. Equanimity converts acute vulnerability into strategic control, ensuring effective decision-making under severe pressure.
(b) William James on Psychological Agency
William James highlights the human capacity for cognitive reframing and an internal locus of control. External circumstances do not deterministically dictate human destiny; rather, the subjective attitude through which one interprets reality governs behavioral outcomes. By deliberately shifting from a fatalistic, reactive posture to a proactive growth mindset, an individual alters their actions and transforms their life trajectory. In the present context of civil service reforms like Mission Karmayogi, transitioning from a rigid, rule-bound mindset to an empathetic, role-based attitude directly enhances governance outcomes. Similarly, addressing modern mental health challenges and administrative burnout requires this psychological agency, empowering individuals to view structural constraints as opportunities for ethical innovation and service delivery.
(c) Swami Vivekananda on Moral Foundations
Swami Vivekananda posits that the enduring strength of a society lies in the internalized ethical consciousness of its citizens rather than external legal formalism. Laws merely provide a coercive, negative deterrent against egregious misconduct, but they cannot enforce positive virtues such as empathy, civic duty, and integrity. Over-legislation without moral internalization leads to procedural compliance, litigiousness, and corruption, as seen in the evasion of tax laws or traffic regulations. Conversely, when moral values are cultivated through family, education, and social norms, self-regulation replaces surveillance. For issues ranging from digital ethics to women's safety, legal statutes like the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita remain hollow without a corresponding moral awakening in the public consciousness.
How this answer will be evaluated
Framework: GS4 Ethical Reasoning & Situational Analysis
What earns full marks: Clear interpretation, strong administrative/social application, specific examples, balanced conclusion.
Evaluation rubric
Each sub-part is marked on its own, against the marks and word limit printed on the paper.
- (a) Explain what Thiruvalluvar's couplet on equanimity in trouble conveys today, especially for public service. 10 marks · 150 words
comment— context → arguments both sides → judgment → close
Must cover
- Interpret 'untroubled' as composure and resilience, not indifference
- Link to decision-making under pressure
- A specific crisis-management example
- Relevance of emotional intelligence and fortitude today
Loses marks
- Treating the quote as mere passivity
- Ignoring the present context
- Preaching without application
Earns more
- Public trust and calm communication in crises
- A specific disaster or emergency (e.g., Odisha cyclone evacuations, COVID-19)
- Contrast with panic-driven decisions
Extra mark
- Named example of composed leadership
- Link to the Gita's sthitaprajna or stoic ideas
- (b) Explain William James's idea that changing attitudes can change one's life, and its relevance today. 10 marks · 150 words
comment— context → arguments both sides → judgment → close
Must cover
- Define attitude (cognitive, affective, behavioural components)
- Explain how attitude change alters behaviour and outcomes
- Example of attitude change in public service or society
- Relevance today (service orientation, resilience)
Loses marks
- Reducing attitude to 'positive thinking'
- Ignoring the present context
- Preaching without application
Earns more
- Growth mindset, resilience, locus of control
- Reform example (e.g., Mission Karmayogi's rule-to-role shift, Swachh Bharat behaviour change)
- Contrast with blaming circumstances
Extra mark
- Named reformer or administrator as example
- Psychological concept (cognitive dissonance, reframing)
- (c) Explain Vivekananda's view that a society's strength lies in its people's morality rather than its laws, and its relevance today. 10 marks · 150 words
comment— context → arguments both sides → judgment → close
Must cover
- Morality as an internalised ethical code
- Laws as external enforcement and their limits
- Example where law alone failed without moral change (e.g., dowry, road safety, tax evasion)
- Role of ethical leadership and education; laws and morality as complementary
Loses marks
- Treating morality as purely subjective
- Ignoring 'strength of society'
- Preaching without social application
Earns more
- Civic duty and Fundamental Duties (Article 51A)
- Specific social reform or issue
- Contrast with a pure law-and-order approach
Extra mark
- Named moral leader or reformer (e.g., Gandhi, Vivekananda's man-making education)
- Ethical framework (virtue ethics)
What "Explain" is asking you to do
Make the working of something clear — what sets it off, what follows from what, and what it produces. Explain is the Commission's mechanism word: it dominates the technical papers and the “explain why” stems, where the marks sit in the causal chain and not in the label.
Structure that answers it
State what it is → the initiating condition → the chain of cause, step by step → an instance where it plays out → what the chain produces
Where marks are lost
Describing what something looks like instead of why it works that way. Naming the stages without linking them reads as description too.
Practice this exact question
Write your answer and it is marked point by point against the model answer above — what you covered, what you missed, what you got wrong.
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