Quiz · 3.22–3.35
One's own dharma
Cover the answer. Read the Devanagari of the verse before you open it.
1
In 3.35, what does śreyān (श्रेयान्) agree with, and what case is paradharmāt (परधर्मात्)?
Answer
śreyān (श्रेयान्) is nominative masculine of śreyas (श्रेयस्), and it agrees with svadharmaḥ (स्वधर्मः). paradharmāt (परधर्मात्) is ablative, "than another's dharma." Later in the same verse śreyaḥ (श्रेयः) is neuter, because it agrees with nidhanam (निधनम्).
2
svanuṣṭhitāt (स्वनुष्ठितात्) in 3.35 is one sound. What are the two splits, and which word in the line picks one of them?
Answer
सु + अनुष्ठितात् su + anuṣṭhitāt is "well performed," उ + अ u + a becoming va (व). स्व + अनुष्ठितात् sva + anuṣṭhitāt would be "performed as one's own," and the recited sound is the same. viguṇaḥ (विगुणः), "lacking its quality," picks the first: one's own dharma imperfect, against another's well performed.
3
What does 3.22 say, in one sentence?
Answer
There is nothing Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) must do in the three worlds, and nothing unobtained that he still must obtain, and still he moves in action.
4
Where does 3.22–3.35 sit in the talk between Arjuna (अर्जुन) and Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण)?
Answer
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) has nothing to gain and still acts, because people follow his path and the worlds would sink if he stopped. The wise man should act as busily as the attached man, but unattached, and he should not shake the attached man off his work. The stretch ends on one's own dharma: better svadharmaḥ (स्वधर्मः), even lacking quality, than another's dharma done well.
5
Cover 3.35. Which pair shows the student has the stretch, and what has he said wrong if he answers that the finer duty is the one to take?
Answer
svadharmaḥ (स्वधर्मः) against paradharmaḥ (परधर्मः). Death in one's own dharma is better, and another's dharma is bhayāvahaḥ (भयावहः), bringing fear. If he chooses the well-performed duty because it is finer, he has reversed śreyān (श्रेयान्).