Quiz · 5.1–5.12
Which of the two is better
Cover the answer. Read the Devanagari of the verse before you open it.
1
In 5.2, what case is karmasaṃnyāsāt (कर्मसंन्यासात्), and what question does that case answer beside viśiṣyate (विशिष्यते)?
Answer
Ablative singular. It answers "than." karmayogaḥ (कर्मयोगः) stands ahead of the renunciation of action. The ablative is the one he measures from.
2
In 5.1, yat (यत्) stands before śreyaḥ (श्रेयः). What is recited, and which sandhi makes it?
Answer
yacchreya (यच्छ्रेय). t (त्) before ś (श्) becomes c (च्), and the ś (श्) is written ch (छ्). śreyaḥ (श्रेयः) then stands before etayoḥ (एतयोः) and drops its visarga, so the recited words are yacchreya etayoḥ (यच्छ्रेय एतयोः).
3
What does 5.2 say, in one sentence?
Answer
saṃnyāsaḥ (संन्यासः) and karmayogaḥ (कर्मयोगः) both make the highest good, and of the two the yoga of action stands ahead of the renunciation of action.
4
Where do 5.1–5.12 sit in the talk between Arjuna (अर्जुन) and Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण)?
Answer
Arjuna (अर्जुन) asks which is better, the dropping of action or the doing of it. Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) answers that both reach the end, and that the yoga of action is the one for him. The knower, still seeing and hearing and breathing, thinks "I do nothing at all." The yoked man leaves the fruit and reaches peace. The unyoked man clings to the fruit and is bound.
5
Say 5.8 back. Which clause shows you have the section?
Answer
naiva kiñcit karomi (नैव किञ्चित् करोमि), closed by iti (इति). It is what the yuktaḥ (युक्तः) who knows the truth should think, while the participles — seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, going, sleeping, breathing — keep going. If that clause comes out as "he has stopped acting," stay here.