Bhagavad Gita Quiz – At BBNJ Balavihar - Dec 14’14 (Sunday 9:30 AM)
Rules – Children organized into 3 groups (columns of seating arrangement by grade, as usual)
• Jeopardy style - Question to be posed to a grade at appropriate difficulty level. If answered
incorrectly, question to be posed to next grade level
• Majority of questions to come from the following list (Note - some are incomplete answers!)
• Question types include – visuals, analogies, characters, terms, miscellaneous etc
Easy (elementary grades)
1. Give three names of Krishna - Purushottama, Keshava, Achyuta, Vaasudeva, Damodara, Madhava, etc.
2. Lord Krishna is one of the avataaraas of which God? Lord Vishnu, the protector of the Universe
3. Give three names of Arjuna - Dhananjaya, Kaunteya, Bhaarata, Paartha, etc.
4. What historical epic is “Bhagavad Gita” part of? Mahabhaarata
5. What does “Bhagavad Gita” mean? “Song of the Lord”
6. Which language is the Gita in? Samskritam (Sanskrit)
7. What is the Gita about? Arjuna (a prince) gets confused and scared when he was supposed to fight and
protect good people. He asks his friend Lord Krishna for advice. Gita is about Arjuna’s questions and
Lord Krishna’s answers
8. Who are the 4 characters that have a voice in this “Song of the Lord”? Dhritarasthra (blind king),
Sanjaya (king’s loyal companion), Arjuna and Lord Krishna
9. Who are the five Pandavas? Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva
10. Which God is on the flag of Arjuna’s chariot? Hanuman
11. Lord Krishna is the charioteer for which warrior? Arjuna
12. Where did the Pandava-Kaurava battle take place? Kurukshetra (near New Delhi, India)
13. In which purnana is the glory (or maahatmya of Gita described? Varaaha puraana
14. Name the Kaurava warriors who survived the Mahabhaarata war? Yuyudhana, Kripacharya,
Ashwatthama
15. Name the 3 different paths to realizing God per Gita? Bhakti (devotion), Jnana (knowledge), Karma
(action)
16. How many chapters are in the Gita? Eighteen
17. “Gita Jayanti” – what is it? It is the birthday of “Bhagavad Gita” – day when Lord Krishna answered
Arjuna’s questions, right before the war. It occurs in the Nov-Dec months
18. How many verses are in the Gita – 700
19. Just like one changes worn out clothes by new clothes, the –(blank)- discards worn out bodies and
enters into new bodies. Answer= Soul
20. Name 3 chapters of the Gita – Arjuna Vishaada Yoga, Saankhya Yoga, Dhyaana Yoga, Jnaana – Vijnaana
Yoga, Karma Yoga, Vibhooti Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Purushottama Yoga, Moksha Sanyaasa Yoga, etc
21. What is one word that occurs in every chapter of Gita? Answer = Yoga
Not so Easy (form your own answers)
22. What are the 3 gunas/qualities and what do they mean? Satva (knowledge), Rajas (action), Tamas
(inertia)
23. What are the 3 gates to hell? Kama, krodha lobha (desire, anger, greed)- trividham narakasya idam
(16.21)
24. What analogy does Krishna use here? ignorance masks knowledge, just like ___________.
Answer= smoke masks fire or dust covers a mirror or womb covers embryo ( verse 3.38)
25. A God realized person is detached from the worldly activities just like the way ________ withdraws its
__________
Answer= tortoise withdraws its limbs (verse 2.58)
26. Delusion arises from this quality? (krodhaat bhavati sammoha: )
Answer=Anger
27. The Kurukshetra war takes place every day in our lives - how so?
Answer= Our good actions symbolize the Pandavas, and our bad actions are the Kauruvas. The war is
symbolized by the constant tussle between opposites: love vs hate, greed vs contentment, jealousy vs
satisfaction, honor vs disrespect, pleasure vs pain, etc.
28. In which canto (parva or book) does the Gita occur in? Answer= Bhishma Parva
29. Among the senses, the Lord identifies himself as which, in which verse? Answer= Manas/mind
30. Among the seasons, I am “this season” says Krishna – Which one? Answer= Spring
31. Name atleast four of the names of the chapters of the Gita. Answers will vary
32. “Among the Pandavas, I am this Pandava,” says Krishna- who is this, which shloka? Answer= Arjuna
(ch10)
33. What are some key themes or messages of Gita? Do your dharma (duty); Act 100% with right attitude
(arpana buddhi) while not worrying about results; yato dharma tato jayaha
34. How does a person who has realized God behave?
Answer= He is engaged in the worldly activities and at the same time not ……. just like a tortoise that
withdraws its limbs
35. Whatever you offer me a fruit, flower, water, I will accept it – Say the shloka.
Answer= patram pushpam phalam toyam (9.26)
36. This whole universe is strung in me like -------- what verse and what is meant?
Answer= The whole universe is held together because of me, like pearls on a string; mattah parataram
naanyat kincitasti dhananjaya mayi sarvam idam protam sutre maNi gaNaa iva
37. A chariot is used as an analogy to describe what? Explain.
Answer= The senses and how to control them. Horses are the senses, reins is the mind, charioteer is
the intellect
38. Do this at the end of your life and you will reach me ? What does Lord Krishna want you to do and
how?
39. What is the Law of Karma? It is the universal law of cause and effect - an action will yield deserving
result
40. What is the purpose of life?
Learn keywords and meanings of the 10 verses below
nainaṁ chindanti śastrāṇi nainaṁ dahati pāvakaḥ
na cainaṁ kledayanty āpo na śoṣayati mārutaḥ
yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata
abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānaṁ
sṛjāmyaham
paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām
dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge
yuktāhāra-vihārasya yukta-ceṣṭasya karmasu
yukta-svapnāvabodhasya yogo bhavati duḥkha-hā
ananyāś cintayanto māṁ ye janāḥ paryupāsate
teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy
aham
patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā
prayacchati
tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ
yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam
mayyeva mana ādhatsva mayi buddhiṁ niveśaya
nivasiṣyasi mayy eva ata ūrdhvaṁ na saṁśayaḥ
sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ
ūrdhvamūlamadhaḥśākham
aśvatthaṁ prāhuravyayam
chandāṁsi yasya parṇāni
yastaṁ veda sa vedavit
The soul can never be cut into pieces by any
weapon, nor can he be burned by fire, nor
moistened by water, nor withered by the wind
Whenever and wherever there is decline in
religious practice, O Bharata, at that time I descend
Myself
In order to deliver the pious and to eliminate the
miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles
of religion, I advent Myself
He who is temperate in his habits of eating,
sleeping, working and recreation can mitigate all
material pains by practicing yoga
But those who worship Me with devotion,
meditating on My transcendental form—to them I
carry what they lack and preserve what they have
Whatever one offers Me with love - a leaf, a flower,
fruit or water, I accept it with joy
O son of Kuntī, all that you do, all that you eat, all
that you offer and give away, as well as all
austerities that you may perform, should be done
as an offering unto Me
Just fix your mind upon Me, the Supreme Lord, and
engage all your intelligence in Me. Thus you will live
in Me always, without a doubt.
Surrender, take refuge in Me and I will liberate you
from all sins
The wise speak of the indestructible aśvattha tree
as having roots above (divine Lord) and branches
Below (world), whose leaves are the Vedas; he who
knows it is alone the Veda-knower
The Soul continuously passes, in this body, from child to
youth to old age, and into another body at death (2.13)
Chariot as an analogy for senses, mind, intellect and the
jiva.
A learned person sees equally the Lord in a cow, an
elephant, a dog, a butcher and a sage (5.18)