Quiz · 9.11–9.25
Who slights, and who worships
Cover the answer. Read the Devanagari of the verse before you open it.
1
In 9.11, what does avajānanti (अवजानन्ति) mean, and what does ava (अव) do to jñā (ज्ञा)?
Answer
They slight him. jñā (ज्ञा) is "know," and ava (अव) turns it downward into a slight. The mūḍhāḥ (मूढाः) do it, and what they see is a human body.
2
In 9.25, mat (मत्) stands in front of yājinaḥ (याजिनः), and that word stands in front of api (अपि). What is recited?
Answer
madyājino 'pi (मद्याजिनोऽपि). t (त्) before y (य्) becomes d (द्), so mat-yājinaḥ (मत्-याजिनः) is recited madyājinaḥ (मद्याजिनः). Then अः + अ aḥ + a becomes o ' (ओऽ), and the a (अ) of api (अपि) is the avagraha.
3
Say what 9.22 says, in one sentence.
Answer
People who worship him, thinking of no other, always yoked — of them he carries the getting and the keeping.
4
Where does 9.11–9.25 sit in the talk between Arjuna (अर्जुन) and Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण)?
Answer
The stretch opens on the slight. The confused see a human body and slight him, and their hope, their action, and their knowledge are empty. The great-selved worship him with a mind that has no other, praising, striving, and bowing. He is the rite, the father, the goal, the heat, the rain, what is, and what is not. Knowers of the three Vedas reach heaven and enter the mortal world when the merit is spent. Those who think of nothing else, he carries their yoga-kṣemam (योग-क्षेमम्). Devotees of other gods also sacrifice to him, though not by the rule. A worshipper goes where the vow points, and the one who sacrifices to him goes to him.
5
Say the four destinations of 9.25 in order. Which word fails the sitting if the last goal is heaven?
Answer
The gods, the ancestors, the beings, and him. The last road is mat-yājinaḥ (मत्-याजिनः) going to mām (माम्). If that goal comes out as heaven, stay.