Quiz · 18.29–18.40
Intellect, resolve, and happiness
Cover the answer. Read the Devanagari of the verse before you open it.
1
In 18.30, what number is kārya-akārye (कार्य-अकार्ये), and what two things does the form name?
Answer
Accusative dual. kārya (कार्य) and akārya (अकार्य), what is to be done and what is not to be done. The ending --e (ए) on this dvandva names the two. yā (या), sā (सा), and sāttvikī (सात्त्विकी) are feminine because they agree with buddhiḥ (बुद्धिः).
2
In 18.36, tu (तु) stands in front of idānīm (इदानीम्). What is recited, and which sandhi makes it?
Answer
tv idānīm (त्विदानीम्). उ + इ u + i becomes vi (वि). The u (उ) of tu (तु) becomes v (व्), and idānīm (इदानीम्) keeps its i (इ). There is no avagraha. The word is still tu (तु).
3
What does 18.40 say, in one sentence?
Answer
There is no being on earth, or again in heaven among the gods, which would be free of these three guṇa (गुण)s born of prakṛti (प्रकृति).
4
Where does 18.29–18.40 sit in the talk between Arjuna (अर्जुन) and Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण)?
Answer
Knowledge, the act, and the doer have each been set out in three kinds. Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) tells Dhanañjaya (धनञ्जय) to hear the division of buddhi (बुद्धि) and of dhṛti (धृति), threefold by the guṇa (गुण)s, and then the threefold sukha (सुख). The sāttvikī (सात्त्विकी) intellect knows both sides of each pair. The sāttvikī (सात्त्विकी) resolve holds the activities of mind, breath, and senses and does not wander. The sāttvika (सात्त्विक) happiness is like poison at first and like nectar in the result. He closes the stretch on 18.40: no being, on earth or among the gods, is free of these three guṇa (गुण)s of prakṛti (प्रकृति).
5
Cover 18.40 and say sattvam (सत्त्वम्) beside tribhiḥ guṇaiḥ (त्रिभिः गुणैः). Which hearing of sattvam (सत्त्वम्) fails the stretch?
Answer
sattvam (सत्त्वम्) is a being, the thing that would be free. tribhiḥ guṇaiḥ (त्रिभिः गुणैः) are the three strands, born of prakṛti (प्रकृति), and muktam (मुक्तम्) takes that instrumental as "free of." If sattvam (सत्त्वम्) is heard as the sattva (सत्त्व) strand, the being has been swapped for one of the three, and the verse is lost.