Quiz · 18.13–18.28
Knowledge, the act, and the doer
Cover the answer. Read the Devanagari of the verse before you open it.
1
In 18.15, what form is śarīra-vāṅ-manobhiḥ (शरीर-वाङ्-मनोभिः), and which three does it name?
Answer
Instrumental plural of the dvandva of body, speech, and mind. vāc (वाच्) before m (म्) is recited vāṅ (वाङ्). manas (मनस्) takes the instrumental plural as manobhiḥ (मनोभिः). The ending --bhiḥ (भिः) is plural, so the man undertakes the act by all three.
2
In 18.17, imān (इमान्) stands in front of lokān (लोकान्). What is recited, and which sandhi makes it?
Answer
imāṃl lokān (इमाँल्लोकान्). n (न्) before l (ल्) becomes the candrabindu, and the l (ल्) is doubled. The mark ँ is that nasal, not a vowel and not a word. The split is still इमान् + लोकान् imān + lokān.
3
What does 18.14 say, in one sentence?
Answer
The seat, the doer, the instrument of several kinds, the various separate efforts, and the divine as the fifth are the five here.
4
Where does 18.13–18.28 sit in the talk between Arjuna (अर्जुन) and Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण)?
Answer
The three kinds of tyāga (त्याग) are finished. Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) tells Arjuna (अर्जुन) to know five causes of any act, the seat, the doer, the instrument, the efforts, and the divine, declared in the Sāṅkhya (साङ्ख्य) conclusion for the accomplishment of every action. The man who sees the self alone as the doer, from an understanding that has not been made, does not see. Knowledge, the knowable, and the knower are the impelling of action. The instrument, the act, and the doer are its gathering. Then knowledge, the act, and the doer are each of three kinds by the division of the guṇa (गुण)s.
5
Cover 18.14 and 18.20. Name the fifth cause, and name the knowledge he calls sāttvika (सात्त्विक). Which word in 18.16 fails the stretch if the self is the only cause?
Answer
daivam (दैवम्) is the fifth. The sāttvika (सात्त्विक) knowledge sees one imperishable bhāva (भाव), undivided, in all beings. The word is kevalam (केवलम्). If ātmānam (आत्मानम्) is said as the sole doer and the other four causes are gone, that seeing is the durmatiḥ (दुर्मतिः), and the stretch is lost.