Quiz · 1.20–1.47
He sits down
Cover the answer. Read the Devanagari of the verse before you open it.
1
1.21 and 1.29 are not full verses of four quarters. How long is each, and what must you not do when you recite them?
Answer
Each is one line, two quarters. 1.20 and 1.26 are three lines. Recite the short ones as they are. Do not pad them to four quarters, and do not borrow a line from the verse beside them. From 1.32 the lines sit where other editions put them.
2
me 'cyuta (मे ऽच्युत) in 1.21. What two words are joined, and what did the sandhi drop?
Answer
मे + अच्युत me + acyuta. ए + अ e + a keeps the e (ए) and drops the a (अ). The dropped a (अ) leaves the avagraha: me 'cyuta (मे ऽच्युत).
3
1.47 recites rathopastha upāviśat (रथोपस्थ उपाविशत्). Why is the first word not a nominative?
Answer
rathopasthe (रथोपस्थे) is locative, "on the seat of the chariot." ए + उ e + u becomes अ + उ a + u, so the recited form looks like a nominative. It is not. He sat down on the seat. If you read it as a nominative, Arjuna becomes the seat.
4
1.44 says narake 'niyataṃ vāsaḥ (नरके ऽनियतं वासः). Which reading does the avagraha lock, and what does the word mean here?
Answer
aniyatam (अनियतम्), "unfixed," not niyatam (नियतम्). The avagraha is the dropped a (अ) of aniyatam (अनियतम्). The verse is about an unfixed dwelling in hell, something they have heard.
5
What does Arjuna do with the bow at 1.47, and which compound names the mind he sits down with?
Answer
visṛjya saśaraṃ cāpam (विसृज्य सशरं चापम्): having thrown down the bow together with the arrow. śokasaṃvignamānasaḥ (शोकसंविग्नमानसः) is a bahuvrīhi (बहुव्रीहि): a mind shaken by sorrow. The chapter's name, Arjuna-viṣāda (अर्जुन-विषाद), has become a posture.