Quiz · 7.15–7.30
Who comes, and who does not
Cover the answer. Read the Devanagari of the verse before you open it.
1
In 7.17, what case is jñāninaḥ (ज्ञानिनः), and how can the same ending mean something else in 7.16?
Answer
Genitive singular: "of the one who knows." प्रियः हि ज्ञानिनः अत्यर्थम् अहम् priyaḥ hi jñāninaḥ atyartham aham says he is exceedingly dear to that one knower, and saḥ (सः) in the next clause is singular. su-kṛtinaḥ (सु-कृतिनः) in 7.16 is nominative plural, "people of good action," with the same ending --inaḥ (इनः). The shape does not decide. The sentence does.
2
7.18 recites jñānī tvātmaiva (ज्ञानी त्वात्मैव). How many words are in tvātmaiva (त्वात्मैव), and what is the sandhi?
Answer
Three words: तु + आत्मा + एव tu + ātmā + eva. उ + आ u + ā becomes vā (वा), so tu ātmā (तु आत्मा) is recited tvātmā (त्वात्मा). Then आ + ए ā + e becomes ai (ऐ), so ātmā eva (आत्मा एव) is ātmaiva (आत्मैव). The tu (तु) is the contrast. All four are noble. The knower is his very self.
3
What does 7.19 say, in one sentence?
Answer
At the end of many births the one who has knowledge comes to him, with the thought that Vāsudeva (वासुदेव) is all, and that great self is very hard to find.
4
Where does 7.15 through 7.30 sit in the talk between Arjuna (अर्जुन) and Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण)?
Answer
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) is still speaking. Arjuna (अर्जुन) does not break in. The stretch sorts people. The worst do not come to him. Four kinds of people of good action turn to him: the distressed, the one who wants to know, the one who wants a result, and the one who knows. Of those, the knower stands out, and at the end of many births he comes to him: vāsudevaḥ sarvam (वासुदेवः सर्वम्). Others, their knowledge taken by desires, come to other gods and get a fruit that ends. Beings go to delusion at creation. Those whose harm has ended turn to him, and the stretch closes on the ones who know him even at the time of departure.
5
Say 7.19 from the Devanagari, with the English covered. Which phrase shows you have this stretch?
Answer
वासुदेवः सर्वम् इति vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti. sarvam (सर्वम्) means all, and iti (इति) closes the thought he has come to. If sarvam (सर्वम्) shrinks to "the important one," or if iti (इति) is dropped, stay here. su-durlabhaḥ (सु-दुर्लभः) has to stay sharp as well: very hard to find.