Dr. Norman Prinsky

Humn. 2001 - Augusta State University

Test on Bhagavad Gita Selecs. in the Norton Anthology of World Literature, Shorter Second Edition (NAWLS2), the NAWLS2 Introductions to Indian Literature ("India's Heroic Age") and the Bhagavad Gita, and the Prinsky Notes and Questions on the Reading (Which Include All of Chapter / Book / Teaching 1)

Directions: (a) Note that a Scantron form has as two sides; (b) use only pencil to bubble in answers; (c) on the Scantron form, provide your section as well as course for “Subject” (e.g., “Humn. 2001 XXX”), (d) for “Test No.,” label your test “Test on the Gita”) (d) some words or terms may require consultation of a collegiate dictionary or an online dictionary of literary or rhetorical terms

Abbreviations: (a) NAWL = Norton Anthology of World Literature; (b) in referring to the Bhagavad Gita, the first Arabic numeral indicates the book / chapter / teaching, and the second numeral indicates the stanza; thus “1.20" would mean book / chapter / teaching 1, stanza 20.

1. As pointed out in the NAWL introduction "India's Heroic Age," India's culture is characterized by: (a) monism (b) dualism (c) pluralism (d) troilism

2. The Gita, along with most classical literature, was written in the language of: (a) Hindi (b) Arabic (c) Latin (d) Sanskrit

3. Indian culture represents a mixture of the indigenous peoples and the: (a) Huns (b) Aryans (c) Scythians (d) Thracians

4. The earliest and primary scriptural writings of ancient India are the: (a) Vedas (b) Sutras (c) Tamils (d) Kashsmirs

5. The philosophical and religious texts, the Upanishads, that followed the earliest primary and scriptural writings in India, emphasized all the following except which one: (a) the important role of ritual (b) the personal spiritual quest (c) the wise teacher (d) the transforming power of knowledge

6. India's main epics, in some ways parallel to the Iliad and Odyssey of ancient Greece, are the: (a) Wisdom of Solomon and Ecclasiasticus (b) Mahabharata and Ramayana (c) Kama Sutra and Rig Veda (d) Sakuntala and Pancantantra

7. The work that contains the Gita is the: (a) Rig Veda (b) Chandayoga Upanis[h]ad (c)Mahabharata (d) Ramayana

8. The Bhagavad Gita occurs in which Book (or Teaching, or Chapter) of the overall epic referred to in the immediately preceding question: (a) 2 (b) 6 (c) 13 (d) 18 (e) 24

9. The legendary author of the whole work containing the Gita is: (a) Venturi (b) Naipaul (c) Valmiki (d) Vyasa (e) Narayan

10. The number in each of the following -- historical ages, social classes, and philosophical spheres or goals governing life -- is reckoned in ancient Indian thinking as: (a) three (b) four (c) five (d) seven

11. The Hinduism of the early Indian writings, including the Gita, was feeling the pressure of, and responding to some ideas of: (a) Buddhism (b) Confucianism (c) Taoism (d) Shintoism (e) Islam

12. A translation of the title Bhagavad Gita is: (a) "Song of the Lord" (b) "Supplication for Bread" (c) "Live and Let Live" (d) "A Man and His Woman"

13. The Bhagavad Gita represents all the following literary forms except which one: (a) dialogue (b) frame story (c) poetry (d) satire

14. The length of the Gita is how many books / chapters / teachings: (a) 10 (b) 18 (c) 28 (d) 38

15. The main character of the Gita, the warrior Arjuna, is kin to and on the side of which family in the great war: (a) Pandavas (b) Kauravas (c) Gandhis (d) Gautamas

16. The setting of the Gita is: (a) on the banks of the Ganges river (b) the Dandaka Forest (c) the battlefield of Kuruksetra (d) the seventh heaven of Nirvana

17. A problem of translating the name of where the Gita happens and opens in Book (or Teaching, or Chapter) 1 is (as shown in the many translations of Book or Teaching or Chapter 1 of Prinsky’s Notes and Questions) that the place name can refer to not only a family name but also the concept of: (a) bravery (b) mightiness (c) humility (d) righteousness

18. As reflected in some English translations (but not others) of the Bhagavad Gita, “Arjuna” is often often in the original text referred to not by this name but rather by any of the following epithets except which one: (a) “son of Kunti” (b) “Bharata” (c) “Partha” (d) “Gudakes(h)a” (e) ”the lotus-eyed one”

19. As reflected in some English translations (but not others) of the Bhagavad Gita, “Arjuna” is often in the original text referred to not by this name but rather by any of the following epithets except which one: (a) “Bull among Men” (b) Dhananjaya (c) Kes(h)ava (d) “Son of Pandu” (e) ”Hari”

20. The cumulative force of the synonym substitutes or epithets for Arjuna referred to in the immediately preceding question are a subtle reminder of Krishna of Arjuna’s need to remember all of the following except which one: (a) love of learning (b) family loyalty (c) unfettered might (d) warrior’s duty

21. Arjuna is having difficulty with the conflict between his sacred duty and the associations that build up with actions, the celebrated terms for which in Hinduism are: (a) bharadvaja and gandhara (b) dharma and karma (c) madri and pariksit (d) sakti and tirtha

22. Arjuna's explicit teacher in the Gita is all the following except which one: (a) the god Krishna (b) a charioteer (c) the god Vishnu (d) Dhrtarastra

23. The god who is the companion of Arjuna is usually depicted in the visual art of India as playing which musical instrument: (a) flute (b) tabla (c) sitar (d) vina (e) tambura

24. Part of the solution offered to Arjuna by Arjuna's teacher involves discipline, the celebrated term for which in Indian culture is: (a) yoga (b) atman (c) tristubh (d) samsara

25. Part of the solution offered to Arjuna by Arjuna's teacher (like God to Job at the end of Job) is, in the eleventh teaching: (a) music (b) sculpture (c) sacred writings (d) theophany

26. Two of the most famous persons explicitly influenced by the Gita were: (a) Eloise and Abelard (b) Thomas Jefferson and Ehud Barak (c) Henry David Thoreau and Mahatma Gandhi (d) Emily Dickinson and Charles De Gaulle

27. The English translation of the Gita by Barbara Stoler Miller anthologized in NAWL is mainly into: (a) couplets (b) tercets (c) quatrains (d) sonnets

28. 1.1 through 1.11 reports the conversation of: (a) Dhritarashtra and Sanjaya (b) Duryodhana and Master Drona (c) both a and b (d) Arjuna and Krishna (e) Vyasa and the reader

29. In 1.4 and 1.6, while some translators translate the Sanskrit word maharatha (describing the Kuru fighters) as “great warriors,” several other translators translate the word more literally and concretely as “great”: (a) sword-wielders or swordsmen (b) spears or spear-throwers (c) axes or axe-men (d) chariots or charioteers

30. While Barbara Stoler Miller translates “honored Priest” in 1.7, other translators are more literal in translating the Sanskrit as “twice-born,” which refers to: (a) spiritual birth following physical birth (b) birth of twins in a family (c) birth into a royal family (d) promotion from commoner to upper class

31. In 1.12 through 1.19 is emphasized music through instruments in which family or families: (a) string (b) wind (c) percussion (d) wind and percussion (e) all of the foregoing

32. The suggestion of 1.12 through 1.19 is the use of music for: (a) relaxing recreation (b) strident warfare (c) intellectual focus (d) spiritual peace (e) sexual seduction

33. In 1.14, the color of the horses for Arjuna’s chariot symbolically points to Arjuna’s: (a) indecisiveness (b) fundamental goodness (c) already-being tinged by evil (d) golden family heritage

34. While Barbara Stoler Miller translates “a rampant monkey” as on the flag of Arjuna’s chariot (1.20), other translations make clear that the reference is to the Hindu god: (a) Ganesh (b) Hanuman (c) Shiva (d) Vishnu

35. The symbolism of where Arjuna orders his chariot stopped (1.21) indicates his: (a) indecisiveness (b) affinity toward each side (c) both a and b (d) cowardice

36. 1.30 and 1.47 point to what specific feature of the epic hero: (a) special weapon (b) special horse (c) special armor (d) special physique

37. While Barbara Stoler Miller simplifies her translation as just “Krishna” in 1.35, other translations make clear Arjuna actually refers to his listener as “Madhusana,” which has built into this name which answer to Arjuna’s quandary: (a) make peace (b) use language (c) do battle (d) retreat honorably

38. In 1.31 through 1.46 Arjuna worries about how participation in the war might create all the following except which one: (a) bad karma (b) bad family values (c) social chaos (d) bad international relations

39. In the second teaching, stanzas 11-26 (2.11-26), Arjuna's teacher addresses Arjuna's concern about killing kinsmen by arguing that: (a) there is really no such thing as death (b) some kinsmen may, in fact, be evil (c) warriors are necessarily doomed to reincarnation, no matter what (d) absolution can be gained by prayer after the deed

40. In 2.22, 6.19, and 11.12 the literary device that is used to convey the meaning of the text is: (a) metaphor (b) simile (c) understatement (d) apophasis

41. The literary device used in 2.22 helps convey about the embodied self all the following except which one: (a) the crucial mind-body connection (b) inevitable multiple reincarnation (c) the unimportance of the body (d) the possible desirability of reincarnation

42. In 2.21, 2.28, and 3.23 the literary device that is used to convey the speaker's teaching, and particularly helpful in persuasion, is: (a) pun (b) anastrophe (c) rhetorical question (d) litotes

43. In 2.25-27 and 6.11-13, the literary device that is used to convey the speaker's teaching, and particularly helpful in oratory and persuasion, is: (a) metonymy (b) anacoluthon (c) tautology (d) parallelism

44. In his repeated reference to the “fruits of action” (2.47, 2.49, 2.51), Krishna uses the literary device: (a) metaphor (b) personification (c) simile (d) hyperbole

45. In the literary device referred to in the immediately preceding question, Krishna suggests that thinking about the results of an action is: (a) good (b) wrongly attractive (c) immoral (d) analytically brave

46. In his epithet for Arjuna in 2.26, as well as his metaphor in 2.50, Krishna hints at Arjuna’s: (a) great learning (b) lover’s karma (c) ascetic’s moksha (d) warrior’s dharma

47. In the NAWL selections from the Third Teaching, Arjuna's teacher warns against all the following except which one: (a) keeping one's mind on the results or rewards of an action (b) sometimes pausing from action (e.g., for contemplation or following the example of the deity) (c) enjoying the details of the natural world (d) giving up hope

48. In 3.10-15 Arjuna’s teacher emphasizes the necessity of what component in life and action: (a) power (b) love (c) sacrifice (d) intellect

49. As with the emphasis on “OM” in the theory of classical Indian music (as per the Shotwell music supplement), the reference by Arjuna’s teacher to “OM” (3.15) represents one of a number of parallels between ancient thought and modern science, this one verified from the 1930's onward in the field of: (a) radio astronomy (b) molecular chemistry (c) materials engineering (d) comparative physiology

50. In 3.38, Arjuna’s teacher uses a series from which literary component to explain how evil action occurs: (a) metaphors (b) personifications (c) similes (d) tmesis

51. As shown in 3.38 - 3.39, Arjuna’s teacher uses the phenomenon of fire, in his figurative language, to represent something: (a) positive (b) negative (c) either positive or negative (d) romantic

52. The major thrust of the NAWL selections from the Sixth Teaching might be summed up in the term (and concept): (a) nihilism (b) asceticism (c) pragmatism (d) epicureanism (e) logical positivism

53. In 6.11, 6.16, and 6.17 occurs an idea that parallels in some respects the: (a) Hebrew ideal of purity (b) Greek ideal of the golden mean (c) the Roman ideal of carpe diem (d) the Egyptian ideal of dynasty

54. In the details about the seat of the yogin (practitioner of yoga or discipline) in 6.11, an idea strongly suggested is: (a) love (b) might (c) separation (d) pain

55. The figure of speech, explicitly referred to as such in 6.19, in its use in 6.19 suggests all the following components except which one: (a) faithfulness as a leap in the dark (b) passions as disturbing winds (c) the body as container (d) wisdom as illumination

56. In Teaching 11, the “countless eyes” and “countless mouths” in Krishna’s personal manifestation to Arjuna (11.10) relate in part (through implication or suggestion) to Krishna as portrayed in his relationship to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita as: (a) musician (b) guru (c) sculptor (d) ruler

57. Krishna’s “brandishing many divine weapons” (11.10) suggests all the following except which one: (a) multiplicity in traditional Indian music (b) multiplicity in traditional Indian art (e.g., the more-than-two-armed god found in Indian sculpture) (c) a reminder of Arjuna’s warrior dharma (d) nationalist hope of subduing all countries and bringing them under India’s rule

58. Overall, the manifestation of Krishna described in 11.5-7 and 11.10-11 would connect with which defining trait of ancient (and modern) India, emphasized in NAWL, as well as the Art or Music course textbooks: (a) simplicity (b) piety (c) multiplicity (d) romanticism

59. In 11.46, two of the items cited in the list of Arjuna (lines 3-4) in how he wants his teacher to reappear imply a connection (whether Arjuna recognizes the relevance or not) of Arjuna’s need -- as indicated by his teacher -- for: (a) thinking (b) worshiping (c) fighting (d) retreating (e) negotiating