Consider the following: I. Deification of the Buddha II. Treading the path of Bodhisattvas III. Image worship and rituals Which of the above is/are the feature/features of Mahayana Buddhism?

The answer is D, because all three statements describe Mahayana. Mahayana emerged around the early centuries CE, with strong Kushana patronage, and it changed the Buddha from a human teacher into a transcendent, saviour-like figure.

• Statement I (deification of the Buddha): correct. Mahayana treats the Buddha as a cosmic, eternal presence, with multiple Buddhas and celestial Bodhisattvas. Theravada keeps him as a human teacher who attained nirvana.
• Statement II (path of Bodhisattvas): correct. The ideal shifts from the arhat, who seeks personal liberation, to the Bodhisattva, who delays his own nirvana to help all beings. This compassion-centred ideal is the core of Mahayana.
• Statement III (image worship and rituals): correct. Mahayana developed devotional worship, icons and elaborate rites. The Gandhara and Mathura schools produced the first anthropomorphic Buddha images in this period.

Since every statement is correct, options A, B and C, which leave one out, cannot be right. Mains connection: this shift from personal salvation to collective liberation explains Buddhism's spread across Central and East Asia and its art-historical legacy.

Trap: aspirants often assume image worship is a Hinayana feature because early Buddhism was aniconic (symbols like the wheel and footprints). The early phase is not the whole story, and Mahayana added icons.