Gita gyaan
The precious nuggets in the Bhagavad Gita make for excellent quiz questions. A quiz on the Gita may even arouse more curiosity than a lengthy discourse.
What is the first word of the first verse and the last word of the last verse in the Bhagavad Gita?
The first word is dharma and the last word is mama.
What are the names by which Krishna addresses Arjuna in the course of their conversation?
Krishna calls him Partha, Kounteya, Pandava, Kurushreshta, Savyasachi, Parantapa etc.
The delicious irony inherent in Parantapa (scorcher of foes) is not lost on me — the supreme scorcher of delusions has to get to work before the scorcher of foes can pick up the bow!
What simile does Krishna use to illustrate how one should withdraw one’s senses from the sense objects to attain a state of steadfastness of mind?
The simile is: “like a tortoise (koorma) who draws all its limbs inwards from all directions.”
What is the name given to that state of steadfastness of mind?
When one throws aside all the desires of the mind and is satisfied in the Self, he is called sthitaprajna (Chapter 2: Verse 55). He who is unattached, he who neither rejoices when confronted with good; nor recoils, when he encounters evil, is also sthitaprajna (2:57).
What is the name given to the awesome, all-encompassing form of the Lord that Krishna displays for Arjuna’s benefit? (A clue: The answer is the same as a recent film that courted controversy.)
Vishwaroopam.
The splendour of this form of the Lord cannot be described even by... ?
Well, trust Sanjaya to never be at a loss of words while describing the battlefield scene to his visually-challenged master, the king Dhritarashtra. Sanjaya says, “If a thousand suns were to burst forth all at once in the skies, their brilliance would not begin to approximate the splendour of the Great Lord’s form” (12:11).
Krishna says, “Nobody on earth has seen me in this form before, except you, Arjuna.” This form cannot be perceived through Vedic studies, by penance, by charity or ritual, explains Krishna.
But what is it that can enable the devotee to see, know and experience this luminous form?
The answer is ananya bhakti (single-minded devotion). Truly, Arjuna is the chosen one.
Yatkaroshi yadashnaasi yajjuhoshi dadaasi yat/yattapasyasi kaunteya tatkurushva madarpanam (9:27)
(Whatever you do, eat, offer as oblation to the sacred fire, bestow as a gift, or do by way of penance, do that as an offering unto Me)
Let us dedicate our little quiz also as an offering unto Him!
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