Hara Hara Shankara, Jaya Jaya Shankara

Hara Hara Shankara, Jaya Jaya Shankara

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Who,What,When,Where,How,Why - An all-in-all quiz

Hari Om

Recently, I conducted a quiz for the residents of my apartment complex on the eve of dusera. It had a mix of all kinds of questions related to ramayanam, bagavatam, mahabharatham and goddess. It was well received and many asked me to publish the questions. I gladly share the questions here. The idea is to learn and share knowledge.

Round 1: Questions related to Goddess

  1.  Goddess Durga/Ambal/Parvati is whose sister?                  
  2. Who wrote Soundarya lahari 
  3. In which purana does lalitha sahasranama feature           
  4.  When devas and asuras did samudra mathanam, which goddess came out – 
  5. What is Goddess saraswati in Shringeri called                     
  6. Who wrote the shyamala dandakam                       
  7. Who are the five great pativratas – 
  8. What is the meaning of the word sita – 

Round 2:
  1. Why didn’t Rama celebrate thala Diwali 
  2. Why didn’t Vamana kill bali chakravarthy      
  3. Why did Krishna ask gatotgaja to fight in the mahabharatha war. Whom did he want to save
  4. Why is Ganesha's tusk broken
  5. Why didn’t karna kill the 4 pandavas
  6.   Why did bheeshma take oath that he would not marry?
  7.  In the yaksha prashna, why did yudhistra choose nakaula to come alive instead of bheema or arjuna
  8. What is the circumstance in which Krishna married Jambavati.. satrajit, prasena, lion, krishna
  9. Why is vamana murthy called upendra (younger brother of indra, and son of aditi, kahyapa)
  10. What is the circumstance in which Veda vyasa wrote the bagavatam
     Round 3: Who said what, when
 “     1. Kausalya supraja rama”              
        2. Vishwam Vishnur Vashatkaro    
3      3. Sarva Dharman Parityaja Mam ekam sharanam vraja       
4. Shri rama rama rameti rame raame mano rame 
5. Sarveshwari, sarvamayeesarva manthra swaroopini 
6. Yatra yogeshwara krishno yatra partho dhanudharah, tatra shree vijayo bhutir dhruva neetir matir mama – 
7. Angam hareh pulaka bhooshana mashrayanti, – 
8Manikya veena mupalala yanteem, madalasam manjula vagvilasam – 
9. What enemity did manthara have against rama
10. Iyam seeta mama sutaa, sahadharmachaaree tava 

     Guess Who/what.
1.       I clue:    
a.       He was killed by Krishna.
b.       He was one of the jaya and Vijaya
c.       He was the cousin of Krishna
d.       He is not shishupala
e.       His name starts with the translation of tooth (Sanskrit)
2.       II clue 
a.       Her name is a part of a tree
b.       She married shiva
c.       She got her name because of the kind of penance she did
d.       She did not eat even a leaf in order to marry shiva – Derive her name
e.       Fill in this blanks: _________ chandika chanda mundasura nishoodini (lalitha sahas).


3.       III Clue                  
a.       A very popular character in the mahabharatha who did not participate in the war
b.       Duryodhana was his favourite student
c.       He is the son of rohini and Vasudeva
d.       He is the avatar of adishesha
e.       He is the elder brother of Krishna
4.       IV Clue  
a.       She is an important character in the mahabharatha whose son fought in the mahabharatha war. 
b.       Her grandson’s name was parkshit
c.       She is uttara’s mother in law
d.       She married arjuna with the help of Krishna
e.       She is the mother of Abhimanyu
5.       V.  Clue
a.       A great devotee of lord Vishnu
b.       Was in possession of shanka and chakra of Lord Vishnu for sometime
c.       Was very steadfast in practicing the ekadhashi vrata
d.       Durvasa tried to curse him
e.        
6.       V clue:                  
a.       This is the first sloka of the mahabharatha
b.       This sloka features in the dhyana sloka Vishnu sahasranamama
c.       It is a prayer to saraswati in the mahabharatha
d.       Does not feature in the shyana slokam of VS whch vaishnavas chant. They use the sloka which prays to viswaksena
e.       The sloka immediately after shuklam bharadaram
7.     VI   Clue  - 
a.       He was the father of the asuras
b.       He prayed to be the father of Krishna in dwapara yuga
c.       His wife gave birth to vamana murthy
d.       One of the gothras is named after him
e.       He is Aditi’s husband
8.      VII CLUE 
a.       HE is indra putra
b.       He had immense strength that he defeated ravana in a war
c.       He was the husband of one of the great pati vratas
d.       He was cursed by matanga rishi and could not enter rishyamukha hill
e,    He was the brother of sugreeva

    General Questions
  1. .       What is the duration of kali yuga              
  2. .       Name any 5 names of arjuna 
  3. .       Give any 5 significances of number 9 –
  4. .       What is common between all the puranas, bagavatam, mahabharatha , vedas- 
  5. .       What is the difference between a purana and itihasa       
  6. .       English word of  Hasta bandhah                 
  7. .       In the bagavadgita, how many slokas are chanted by dhritarashtra             
  8.         Which is the biggest purana 
  9.  9. What is the name that Lord Vishnu got due to the gajendra moksham episode     
  10.      What are the five maha yagnam that a householder must do regularly.    
  11.        Who was vyasa’s great grandfather, grandfather, father, and son – 
  12.    What are the boons asked by hiranyakashupu to brahma – 
  13.        Which chapter in the bagavad gita talks about the vishwaroopa dharsna of Lord Vishnu 
  14.  4. Krishna’s bow’s name . 
  15. .5. Arjuna’s conch name 
  16. .   Rukmini and krishna

    RAM RAM