Quiz · 1.1–1.19
The two armies
Cover the answer. Read the Devanagari of the verse before you open it.
1
In 1.1, what case is kṣetre (क्षेत्रे), and what question does that case answer?
Answer
Locative singular. It answers "on" or "in." dharma-kṣetre (धर्म-क्षेत्रे) is "on the field of dharma," and kuru-kṣetre (कुरु-क्षेत्रे) is the same place named by the people whose ground it is.
2
pāṇḍavāḥ (पाण्डवाः) stands in front of ca (च). What is recited, and which sandhi makes it?
Answer
pāṇḍavāś ca (पाण्डवाश्च). āḥ (आः) before the voiceless c (च्) becomes āś (आश्). Then च + एव ca + eva becomes caiva (चैव), because अ + ए a + e becomes ai (ऐ).
3
Dhṛtarāṣṭra (धृतराष्ट्र) says māmakāḥ (मामकाः). What does that word mean, and what has he refused to say?
Answer
māmakāḥ (मामकाः) means "mine," built from mama (मम). He does not say a neutral name for that side. The partiality is in the grammar. The whole book is the answer to this question.
4
The a- (अ-) on aparyāpta (अपर्याप्त) in 1.10 is disputed. What are the two readings?
Answer
a- (अ-) reverses the word it sits on. aparyāpta (अपर्याप्त) can be read "inadequate" or, as Śaṅkara (शङ्कर) and the vulgate take it, "unlimited." The lesson leaves both readings. This a- (अ-) is the negative prefix, not the past-time a- (अ-) of akurvata (अकुर्वत) in 1.1.
5
1.14 puts Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) and Arjuna in a chariot. Is yukte mahati syandane (युक्ते महति स्यन्दने) a locative absolute?
Answer
No. It is a locative of place, "in the great chariot that has been yoked," and स्थिता sthitau is nominative dual, the two who are standing there. The locative absolute begins at 1.20, pravṛtte śastrasampāte (प्रवृत्ते शस्त्रसम्पाते).