Question: Read the passage and answer the question that follows it.
The Shveta-chattra the “White Umbrella” was a symbol of sovereign political authority placed over the monarch's head at the time of the coronation. The ruler so inaugurated was regarded not as a temporal autocrat but as the instrument of protective and sheltering firmament of supreme law. The white umbrella symbol is of great antiquity and its varied use illustrates the ultimate common basis of non-theocratic nature of states in the Indian tradition. As such, the umbrella is found, although not necessarily a white one, over the head of Lord Ram, the Mohammedan sultans and Chatrapati Shivaji.
Which one of the following best summarises the above passage?
A summary has to outline the important points of a passage. The main points are the umbrella, and not necessarily a white umbrella, symbolizing the common basis of non-theocratic nature of states in India and its range of use.
Option 1 does not underline the significance of placing an umbrella over the ruler’s head and hence is ruled out.
As pointed out earlier, the author starts the discussion with the white umbrella but goes not to generalize for any coloured umbrella over a ruler’s head. Therefore, we can eliminate option 2.
Between options 3 and 4, option 4 is more complete and it also speaks about the ‘varied’ use.
Hence, the correct answer is option 4.