Quiz · 8.9–8.22
The person and the path
Cover the answer. Read the Devanagari of the verse before you open it.
1
In 8.20, what construction is sarveṣu bhūteṣu naśyatsu (सर्वेषु भूतेषु नश्यत्सु), and what is it doing?
Answer
It is a locative absolute. The beings and the participle "perishing" are both locative, and they are not the subject of the main verb. The phrase sets the time: when all beings are perishing. What does not perish is yaḥ saḥ (यः सः), the higher being.
2
bhāvaḥ anyaḥ avyaktaḥ (भावः अन्यः अव्यक्तः) stands in 8.20. What is recited, and which sandhi makes it?
Answer
bhāvo 'nyo 'vyaktaḥ (भावोऽन्योऽव्यक्तः). अः + अ aḥ + a becomes o (ओ), and the lost short a (अ) is marked by the avagraha ऽ. The same joint once more makes अव्यक्तः + अव्यक्तात् avyaktaḥ + avyaktāt into avyakto 'vyaktāt (अव्यक्तोऽव्यक्तात्).
3
Say what 8.16 means, in one sentence.
Answer
The worlds up through Brahmā's (ब्रह्मा) world are subject to return, Arjuna (अर्जुन), but having come to him, son of Kuntī (कुन्ती), rebirth is not found.
4
Where does 8.9 through 8.22 sit in the talk between Arjuna (अर्जुन) and Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण)?
Answer
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) describes the supreme person who is to be remembered, and the way of leaving: unmoving mind, breath placed between the brows, gates shut, mind in the heart, the syllable om (ओम्), and the station knowers of the Veda already name. Then he sets a limit. The worlds up through Brahmā's (ब्रह्मा) world return with a day and a night of a thousand ages. Beyond that unmanifest is another, eternal, which does not perish with beings. That is his supreme abode, and that person is reached by devotion with no other object.
5
Say the line that marks how far return goes, and the turn that follows it. Which prefix fails the sitting if it is dropped?
Answer
ābrahmabhuvanāt lokāḥ punarāvartinaḥ (आब्रह्मभुवनात् लोकाः पुनरावर्तिनः), then माम् उपेत्य पुनर्जन्म न विद्यते mām upetya punarjanma na vidyate. The prefix ā- (आ-) fails the sitting if it drops. Without it, some heaven below Brahmā (ब्रह्मा) is treated as the last world that returns.