In all these months of Ramayana study, we have made a lot of progress in learning the story (and the underlying values conveyed) as such. But we all felt that the learning could be made more enjoyable if we had a Quiz like format with various kinds of questions that tested our knowledge on the sargas covered, at the same time give everyone an opportunity to revisit the sargas again and again to buttress what has been learnt and thus help internalize Ramayana rather than a superficial reading for acquiring only merit. What benefit than acquiring knowledge about how Rama and those who lived in his time were? And that includes Dasharatha, Rama, Lakshmana, Mathara and as well as Kaikeyi - thus pointing to us the narrow minded-ness at the same time the unconditional love that a father can have for a son and also the (blind) infatuation a man might have towards his wife, and also the sweet friendship and love between brothers (and/or siblings is implied). May these questions be of as much fun and enjoyment to the readers of the blog, as much as we all have felt in the past few months. This is an open post with more questions in the pipeline as more sargas are covered. Any suggestions to improve this format would be welcome.
1. Ramayana has how many shlokas, sargas and kAndas?
2. When Kusha and Lava sang Ramayana in a conference of Maharishis what gift did they give the two boys?
3. When Kusha and Lava visited Ayodhya who invited them and in whose presence did they sing Ramayana?
4. In which desha is Ayodhya located?
5. What are the characteristics of soldiers of Dasharatha’s army?
6. Who said to whom, which context (bonus points for sarga and shloka no.):
तपोमयं तपोराशिं तपोमूर्तिं तपात्मकम्।
तपसा त्वां सुतप्तेन पश्यामि पुरुषोत्तमम्।।
7. Who said to whom, which context (bonus points for sarga and shloka no.):
एवमुक्त्वा धनुर्मध्ये बध्वा मुष्टिमरिन्दम:।
ज्याशब्दमकरोत्तीव्रं दिशश्शब्देन नादयन्।।
8. (easy)
कथमप्यमरप्रख्यं सङ्ग्रामाणामकोविदम्।
बालं मे तनयं ब्रह्मन् नैव दास्यामि पुत्रकम्।।
9.
तदहं यष्टुमिच्छामि शास्त्रदृष्टेन कर्मणा।
कथं प्राप्स्याम्यहं कामं बुद्धिरत्रविचार्यताम्।।
10. Who created or is architect of Ayodhya?( Sarga 1.5)
11. What are Badrayii, Mandrayii and Mrigayii compared to? (Sarga 1.6)
12. Like whom King Dasaratha was ruling Ayodhya?
13. How many ministers in Dasaratha's court? and who are they?
14. Who are the two Ritwiks in Dasaratha's court?
15. Who were the 4 sons of Kusha (Son of Prajapati)
16.
स वने नित्यसंवृद्धो मुनिर्वनचरस्सदा ।
नान्यं जानाति विप्रेन्द्रो नित्यं पित्रनुवर्तनात् ।।
Who is स referring to? (clue: विप्रेन्द्रो also refers to same person. Clue2: this is before Rama birth)
17.
दरिद्राय द्विजायाथ हस्ताभरणमुत्तमम्।
कस्मैचिद्याचमानाय ददौ राघवनन्दन:।।
Who does राघवनन्दन: refer to in this shloka?
18.
गृहीतास्त्रोऽस्मि भगवन्! दुराधर्षस्सुरैरपि।
अस्त्राणां त्वहमिच्छामि संहारं मुनिपुङ्गव।।
Who does भगवन्/मुनिपुङ्गव refer to? Who is saying these words (easy)
19.
अथ शैलसुता राम! त्रिदशानिदमब्रवीत्।
समन्युरशपत्सर्वान् क्रोधसंरक्तलोचना।|
Who does शैलसुता refer to?
Who is saying this shloka to Rama?
Who are त्रिदश ? Why are they called so?
What happens when one is engulfed by क्रोध? (easy)
What happened to Taakata when she heard the jyaghosha of rama and became angry?
What happened to Ravana when he heard the killing of Khara, Dooshana and Trishiras in Dandakavana? (clue, partial answer in this shloka - easy)
20:
तस्यातिथ्येन दुर्वुत्ते लोभमोहविवर्जिता।
मत्सकाशे मुदा युक्ता स्वं वपुर्धारयिष्यसि।|
Who does तस्य refer to here?
Who does दुर्वुत्ते refer to here?
Who does मत् refer to here?
21:
A little difficult one. When exactly were the words Mahamuni used to address Vishwamitra for the first time in his life? ( we know he was a kshatriya raja by birth, but later in life, when exactly does Valmiki maharshi use the term Mahamuni to describe Vishwamitra?)
Clue: When does he face defeat for the first time ever in his life? That's the pointer to the answer
Sarga with shloka no. would be perfect answer for this
22. How many times is Vishvamitra disturbed in his tapas before he finally achieves Brahmarshi status. What were each of the disturbances?
23. Which were the stories (in brief) enquired by and listened to by Rama and Lakshmana from Vishvamitra ? To continue what were the rivers and/or cities and/or forests crossed in they journey thus? (Maybe a little difficult - answers found after Rama receives the divine astrAs from Vishvamitra)
24. When does Rama receive the astras from Vishvamitra (In their journey from Ayodhya, they pass through many forests and do many astonishing and difficult deeds - when does the event of actually getting the astras occur ? )
25. Does Rama kill Tataka immediately as he sees her so that they can proceed in the forest further? If yes, references, if no references ? (maybe a little difficult - it is found in sarga 26)
26. What is the rUpa (form) or the features of Tataka the yakshE as seen by the trio of Vishvamitra, Rama and Lakshmana?
27. To continue how did the yakshE Tataka get that Rakshas like form ?
28. Who narrates the story of Vishvamitra to Rama?
29. What is the exit point of Vishvamitra from the story line? Briefly(in a few lines), what were the tasks that were done by Vishvamitra in the big picture of the Ramayana?
30. Which ancestor king of Janaka was given the divine bow of Shiva? (what is the number of kings appearing between that king and Janaka - may be a bit difficult but answer is found during Seeta's marriage related sargas)
31. What were the difficulties faced by Janaka (father of Seeta) before conducting the marriage of Seeta in relation to getting her married as per his condition regarding lifting Shiva's bow? (maybe a little difficult answers in Sarga 66)
32. What were the acts of Rama with relation to pUrana of the great Shaiva bow that led to its breaking?
33. Who were all the purohitas of Dasharatha who had accompanied him to Mithila to conduct Rama's marriage?(another clue for this - answer is found after Rama's marriage)(sorry before Rama's marriage)
34. What is the origin of the word Saagara ?
35. What were the rituals performed by both sides before actually conducting the marriage of Rama and Sita?
36. On which nakashatra was the marriage of Seeta and Rama performed (answer will be complete with the appropriate shloka)
37. What were the exact words of Janaka while doing Kanyadana of Seeta to Rama?
38. What gifts were given to the daughters by Janaka after the marriage ceremony while going to their pati gR^iham?
39. What were the signs/shakuna (seen in nature) by Dasharatha when the marriage party was returning to Ayodhya? What were the meanings of those shakunas?(to make question difficult please provide relevant shlock's)
40. Who were the only people who were awake when ParashurAma made a grand entry to the marriage party? What happened to the others (please give the accurate Sanskrit word for this)
41. What is the reply given by dAsharathi rAma to parashurAma when he is called to pUraNa the Vaishnava bow?(does he give any reply at all? or does he show him without words as rAma is known to walk the talk )
42. Who said this to whom?
परित्यक्ता वसिष्ठेन किमहं सुमहात्मना ।
या ऽहं राजभटैर्दीना ह्रियेयं भृशदुःखिता ।। (who is unhappy here? Who is rejected by Vasishta here? please give context)
43. What are some of the (would be perfect if all ) qualities of rAma ?
44. A question to continue the above -
what was the nature/mood of rAma most of the time (nityam) ?
what would his reaction be to harsh or unpleasant words spoken by others?how would he feel if someone did him some upakAra?
how would he react if someone did him some apakAra?
what were the nature of his words?
what was his reaction to (opinion about) his own strength?
with what sort of people would he mingle usually?
what was his nature towards the wretched/dInas?
what was his stand on anger?
for what did he have high regard for?
what was his take on gossip/crosstalk/controversies?
what was the nature of his logic to convince someone?
what was his knowledge on current affairs?
how was he to the kingdom? (if the kingdom is considered to be a person then which aspect of that person was rAma like?
was he literate? What all did he know?
what was his behavior towards elders/vR^iddhas?
what was the nature of his anger and/or happiness?
what was his nature when it came to weaknesses?
who was he comparable to in intellect?
who was he comparable to in strength?
how was he towards the citizens?
45. Who's (lady) example does Seeta give when she tries to convince rAma to take her to the forest? (who is her husband?)
46. List some of the items give by rAma to suya~JNa? What were specifically given as wanted by Seeta?
47. Who is suyajnya?
48. What all does Lakshmana say he will do when he tries to convince rAma to take him along, to the forest?
49. Who said this to whom? What is the meaning? What context?
स्वर्गो धनं वा धान्यं वा विद्या: पुत्रा: सुखानि च ।
गुरुवृत्त्यनुरोधेन न किञ्चिदपि दुर्ल्लभम् ।।
50. What does Seeta threaten to do if rAma leaves her and goes to forest?
51. What are some of the bird's eye view of the forest (difficulties) as given by rAma to Seeta to dissuade her from following him?(clue - 10 shlokas in total describe this)(sorry add 6 more to that - 16 shlokas in total)
52. In what manner does Kausalya give leave to her son to leave to the forest? (any more clues will make this too easy, yet this is one among the shlock's given while beginning or ending the parayana of ramayana )
52. A little extrapolation of previous question - why does Kausalya say the above words? (Why does Rama ask her to say these words?)There are no shlokas to give the intention but from our perception/interpretation
53. Who says this to whom? What is context? What is meaning of shloka?
विक्लवो वीर्यहीनो य: स दैवमनुवर्त्तते ।
वीरा: सम्भावितात्मानो न दैवं पर्युपासते ।।
54. What are the shlokas that capture rAma's bhava about going to forest, and that whole scene? (clue sarga 22)
55. What are the examples given by rAma to elucidate the piturvAkya paripalana?(given to Kausalya)
56. What is the shloka that illustrates to the highest extent the sadness/unhappiness of Kausalya about rAma going to forest? What does she prefer instead?
57. What were the last words spoken by rAma before he left his father and mother Kaikeyi in the krodhAgara?
58. What were the last deeds/acts done by rAma before he left his father and mother Kaikeyi (there are 4 things he did, what are they? No need of shloka if the answer has what was done that would make it complete)
59. Where is the phrase chatura ramah use? Why is he called chatura?
60. How many times does Manthara "counsel" Kaikeyi before she finally sees her perspective (this is a bit vague question, but if one reads the sargas related to this, one will know that Kaikeyi wasn't evil from the beginning - there are 'n' number of back and forth talks between them before she takes the evil turn. What is that number 'n'? Sounds like a Engg viva question from textbook, but this is a good way to study through the relevant shlokas again and again)
61. Who said this to whom? (in what context? )
हन्त शीघ्रमितो गत्वा द्रक्ष्यामि च महीपतिम् ।
सह त्वं परिवारेण सुखमास्व रमस्व च ।।
62. Where are these famous phrases used ? कौसल्या सुप्रजा राम ? (please give at least 2 places)
