Unit 2 Q&A in 30 seconds: 12 long questions (20 marks, ~400 words — write ~350) covering the four Vedas, the four layers of Vedic literature, the six Vedangas, Vedic life, the nine darshanas, and six Gita-based questions (nishkama karma, sthitaprajna, guru–shishya, moderation, daivi–asuri sampad, triguna ahara) — plus 6 short questions (~150 words). Every model answer is exam-ready: quote slokas in Devanagari with chapter–verse numbers wherever the question touches the Gita.
Q. 1.
[20 marks] Describe the four Vedas with their distinctive features.
Model Answer: The four Vedas form the foundation of the Vedic corpus — the oldest layer of Indian literature, composed between c. 1500 and 500 BCE in Vedic Sanskrit and regarded as shruti (revealed knowledge).
1. Rigveda ("Veda of praise") is the oldest text of India. It contains 1028 suktas (hymns) arranged in 10 mandalas, addressed mainly to deities like Indra (war and rain), Agni (fire), Varuna (cosmic order) and Usha (dawn). Its most famous hymns include the Gayatri Mantra (3.62.10), composed by Vishvamitra, and the Purusha Sukta (10.90), which gives the earliest account of the four varnas. Its priest is the Hotri, who invokes the gods.
2. Samaveda ("Veda of melodies") takes verses — mostly from the Rigveda — and sets them to music for chanting during the soma sacrifice. It is the root of Indian classical music and has the least original content of the four Vedas. Its priest is the Udgatri (chanter).
3. Yajurveda ("Veda of sacrificial formulas") contains prose mantras that give the Adhvaryu priest his step-by-step ritual instructions. It exists in two recensions: the Shukla (White) Yajurveda — the Vajasaneyi Samhita associated with Yajnavalkya, systematic and "pure" — and the Krishna (Black) Yajurveda — Taittiriya, Maitrayani and Katha schools, where mantras are mixed with Brahmana-style commentary.
4. Atharvaveda ("Veda of Atharvan") deals with daily life rather than solemn sacrifice: medicine and healing charms (the root of Ayurveda), household rites, prayers for long life, and spells against disease and enemies. It has 20 kandas and was traditionally not employed in the shrauta sacrifice; its supervising priest is the Brahma.
Together the four Vedas move from praise (Rig) through music (Sama) and ritual action (Yajur) to lived human concerns (Atharva) — a complete picture of early Indian religious life.
Q. 2.
[20 marks] Explain the fourfold division of Vedic literature: Samhita, Brahmana, Aranyaka and Upanishad.
Model Answer: Each Veda is traditionally divided into four layers, which trace the movement of Indian thought from ritual to reflection.
1. Samhita ("collection") is the core: the mantras and hymns themselves, chanted by priests during sacrifice. The Rigveda Samhita, for example, is the hymn collection; the Yajurveda Samhita is the collection of ritual formulas. Everything else is commentary on the Samhita.
2. Brahmana ("explanations") are prose treatises that explain the meaning, symbolism and correct procedure of the rituals. The Shatapatha Brahmana — attached to the Shukla Yajurveda — is the largest and most important, giving minute details of sacrifices like the Ashvamedha. The Brahmanas represent the ritualistic (karma-kanda) peak of Vedic religion.
3. Aranyaka ("forest books") were studied by hermits in the forest (vanaprasthas). They give a meditative, symbolic interpretation of the sacrifice — the external fire becomes the inner breath, the offering becomes meditation. They are the bridge between ritualism and philosophy.
4. Upanishad ("sitting near the teacher") are philosophical dialogues between guru and shishya on Brahman (ultimate reality), Atman (the self) and moksha (liberation). Called Vedanta ("end of the Veda"), the principal Upanishads — Isha, Kena, Katha, Mundaka, Chandogya, Brihadaranyaka — teach the identity of Atman and Brahman, summed up in mahavakyas like Tat Tvam Asi ("Thou art That").
Thus the four layers form a single arc: chant the mantra (Samhita) → perform the rite (Brahmana) → internalize its meaning (Aranyaka) → realize the truth (Upanishad). The Upanishads became the foundation of the Vedanta darshana and of the Gita's own teaching.
Q. 3.
[20 marks] Discuss the six Vedangas and their contribution to preserving the Vedas.
Model Answer: The six Vedangas ("limbs of the Veda") are auxiliary sciences created to ensure the Vedas were pronounced correctly, performed correctly, understood correctly and timed correctly — without them, the orally transmitted corpus would have decayed.
1. Shiksha (phonetics): the science of correct pronunciation, accent and articulation (Panini's Shiksha). Since a mispronounced mantra was believed to fail — or even backfire — Shiksha guarded the very sound of the Veda.
2. Kalpa (ritual): manuals of procedure — the Shrauta Sutras (great public sacrifices), Grihya Sutras (domestic rites) and Dharma Sutras (social and legal duties, the seed of later Dharmashastras). Kalpa turned ritual memory into written rule.
3. Vyakaran (grammar): crowned by Panini's Ashtadhyayi (c. 400 BCE, ~4000 sutras) — the most scientific grammar of the ancient world. It fixed the structure of Sanskrit so precisely that the language of the Vedas remained analyzable forever.
4. Nirukta (etymology): Yaska's Nirukta explains the meaning and derivation of Vedic words, many of which had become obscure. It is the foundation of Indian lexicography.
5. Chandas (meter): Pingala's Chhandashastra is the science of poetic meters — e.g., the Gayatri meter has 24 syllables. Since the Vedas are metrical, Chandas preserved their rhythmic form (Pingala's work even contains an early binary system).
6. Jyotisha (astronomy): Lagadha's Vedanga Jyotisha fixed the calendar for rituals — sacrifices had to be performed at astronomically correct moments, so time-keeping was a religious necessity.
Together the Vedangas are why the Vedas survive word-for-word after 3,000 years: Shiksha preserved sound, Chandas preserved form, Vyakaran and Nirukta preserved meaning, Kalpa preserved practice, and Jyotisha preserved timing. They are also India's earliest contributions to linguistics, astronomy and law.
Q. 4.
[20 marks] Describe the distinctive features of Vedic life and society.
Model Answer: Vedic life (c. 1500–500 BCE) was centred on yajna, rta, the gurukul, and an evolving social order.
1. Yajna — the religious centre: the sacrifice was the heart of Vedic religion. Offerings of ghee, grain and soma were poured into the sacred fire while mantras were chanted, with Agni as the messenger carrying offerings to gods like Indra, Varuna and Surya. Great royal sacrifices — Rajasuya (consecration) and Ashvamedha (horse sacrifice) — also displayed the king's power.
2. Rta and dharma: the Vedic worldview rested on rta, the cosmic order — the regularity of sunrise, seasons and rivers, upheld especially by Varuna. To live in harmony with rta was dharma (right conduct). Rta is the philosophical ancestor of the later dharma concept.
3. Social organisation: society was divided into four varnas — Brahmana (priests/teachers), Kshatriya (warriors/rulers), Vaishya (traders/farmers), Shudra (servants) — first described in the Purusha Sukta (Rigveda 10.90). In the early period this division was relatively fluid and occupation-based. Life was later schematized into four ashramas: Brahmacharya (student), Grihastha (householder), Vanaprastha (forest-dweller), Sannyasa (renunciate). Political life featured the Sabha (council of elders) and Samiti (popular assembly), which limited the Rajan's power.
4. Gurukul education: learning was oral and residential — the brahmacharin lived with his guru, serving him while memorizing the Vedas, beginning with the upanayana ceremony. Knowledge flowed through an unbroken guru–shishya parampara.
5. Position of women: early Vedic women held honourable status — they joined yajnas and assemblies, and women like Lopamudra, Ghosha and Apala composed Rigvedic hymns. Gargi Vachaknavi debated Yajnavalkya on Brahman (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad), and Maitreyi chose self-knowledge over wealth. Girls could receive upanayana in the early period, though restrictions grew in the later Vedic age.
Q. 5.
[20 marks] Compare the six astika schools of Indian philosophy.
Model Answer: The six astika darshanas accept the authority of the Veda ("astika" = "it is"). They form three sister-pairs:
1. Nyaya (Gautama/Akshapada, Nyaya Sutra) is the school of logic and epistemology. It holds that liberation comes through correct knowledge, obtained via four pramanas: pratyaksha (perception), anumana (inference), upamana (comparison) and shabda (verbal testimony). Its famous five-step syllogism (pratijna, hetu, udaharana, upanaya, nigamana) made it India's science of debate, analyzing 16 categories of reasoning.
2. Vaisheshika (Kanada/Uluka, Vaisheshika Sutra) is the school of atomism and categories. The physical world is built from eternal, indivisible paramanu (atoms). It classifies all reality into padarthas: dravya (substance), guna (quality), karma (action), samanya (generality), vishesha (particularity) and samavaya (inherence). Nyaya supplied its logic; together they form a complete realist system.
3. Samkhya (Kapila; Samkhya Karika of Ishvarakrishna) is the oldest darshana and teaches dualism: Purusha (pure consciousness, many) is eternally distinct from Prakriti (matter). From Prakriti evolve 25 tattvas (intellect, ego, mind, senses, elements...). Its doctrines of satkaryavada (the effect pre-exists in the cause) and the three gunas — sattva, rajas, tamas — deeply influenced the Gita (notably Chapter 17 on food).
4. Yoga (Patanjali, Yoga Sutra) accepts Samkhya's metaphysics but adds God (Ishvara) and a practical method: yogash chitta-vritti-nirodhah — "yoga is the stilling of the mind's fluctuations." Its Ashtanga Yoga (eight limbs: yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, samadhi) is the classical discipline of meditation.
5. Mimamsa / Purva Mimamsa (Jaimini, Mimamsa Sutra; Kumarila Bhatta, Prabhakara) is the school of Vedic interpretation. It defends the karma-kanda (ritual portion) of the Veda: dharma is what the Veda commands, and the Vedic word (shabda) is self-validating and eternal. Ritual action, correctly performed, yields its fruit by its own power.
6. Vedanta / Uttara Mimamsa (Badarayana/Vyasa, Brahma Sutra) is the philosophy of the Upanishads (jnana-kanda), centred on Brahman and Atman. Its three great sub-schools read the same sutras differently: Advaita (Shankara — absolute non-dualism: Brahman alone is real), Vishishtadvaita (Ramanuja — qualified non-dualism), and Dvaita (Madhva — dualism).
In short: Nyaya–Vaisheshika argue, Samkhya–Yoga practise, Mimamsa–Vedanta interpret — logic, liberation-through-practice, and Vedic exegesis covering every need of the tradition.
Q. 6.
[20 marks] Explain the three nastika schools of Indian philosophy: Buddhism, Jainism and Charvaka.
Model Answer: The nastika schools reject the authority of the Veda ("nastika" = "it is not") — note this is a technical classification, not a judgment; Buddhism and Jainism are full religions in their own right.
1. Buddhism (Gautama Buddha, 6th century BCE): begins from the fact of suffering (duhkha) and teaches the Four Noble Truths — (i) suffering exists, (ii) it is caused by craving (trishna), (iii) it can cease (nirvana), (iv) the Eightfold Path (right view, resolve, speech, conduct, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, concentration) leads to that cessation. Its metaphysics rests on pratitya-samutpada (dependent origination — everything arises from causes) and anatman (no permanent self). The Buddha prescribed the Middle Path, rejecting both sensual indulgence and extreme asceticism — a principle the Gita echoes in 6.16.
2. Jainism (Mahavira, 24th Tirthankara): teaches liberation through the Triratna — right faith, right knowledge, right conduct. Its supreme ethic is ahimsa (non-violence) practised with unmatched strictness, since every soul (jiva) is intrinsically pure but weighed down by karmic matter. Its logic is anekantavada (many-sidedness of truth) expressed through syadvada ("in a certain sense") — every claim is relative to a standpoint, an early doctrine of intellectual tolerance.
3. Charvaka / Lokayata (attributed to Brihaspati): is India's materialist school — "Lokayata," the people's philosophy. It accepts only perception (pratyaksha) as a valid pramana and therefore denies soul, God, afterlife and karma: consciousness is a by-product of matter, like intoxication from fermented grain. Its ethic is frankly hedonistic — enjoy this life, for there is no other. Though its texts are lost (preserved only in opponents' quotations), Charvaka is vital as India's indigenous sceptical-materialist tradition.
Together the three nastika schools show that ancient India hosted radical dissent: Buddhism's psychology of suffering, Jainism's ethic of non-violence, and Charvaka's materialism each challenged Vedic orthodoxy — and each enriched Indian thought permanently.
Q. 7.
[20 marks] Explain the doctrine of Nishkama Karma with reference to Bhagavad Gita 2.47–50.
Model Answer: Nishkama karma — desireless action — is the Gita's central answer to Arjuna's dilemma on the Kurukshetra battlefield: how to act without incurring sin or bondage. It is taught in four verses (2.47–50):
2.47 states the principle: कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन। मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि॥ — "You have a right to your actions, but never to their fruits." Three injunctions follow: (i) claim no ownership of results, (ii) never think "I am the cause of the result" (abandoning doership/ego), and (iii) never be attached to inaction — renunciation of action is forbidden; only renunciation of fruit is taught.
2.48 defines the inner state: सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते॥ — "remaining even-minded in success and failure — evenness of mind is called yoga." Yoga here is not posture but samattva (equanimity): the karma-yogin works with full effort yet accepts victory and defeat alike.
2.49 gives the hierarchy: दूरेण ह्यवरं कर्म बुद्धियोगाद्धनञ्जय। बुद्धौ शरणमन्विच्छ कृपणाः फलहेतवः॥ — selfish, fruit-driven action is "far inferior" to wisdom-guided action; those motivated only by reward are kripana — "miserly," spiritually poor. Take refuge in buddhi (discriminating wisdom).
2.50 gives the result and the famous definition: बुद्धियुक्तो जहातीह उभे सुकृतदुष्कृते। तस्माद्योगाय युज्यस्व योगः कर्मसु कौशलम्॥ — the wise person transcends both good and evil deeds in this very life; therefore practise yoga, for "yoga is excellence in action" (योगः कर्मसु कौशलम्).
Philosophically, nishkama karma solves the tension between action and liberation: since bondage comes from attachment, not action itself, selfless action purifies the mind and becomes a path to moksha. Practically, it is a complete work ethic — do your duty with full skill, surrender anxiety about outcomes — as relevant to a student or professional today as to Arjuna.
Q. 8.
[20 marks] Explain the concept of Sthitaprajna with reference to Bhagavad Gita 2.70.
Model Answer: The sthitaprajna — "one whose wisdom is steady" — is the Gita's portrait of the liberated person, described in 2.54–72 at Arjuna's direct question: "how does the man of steady wisdom speak, sit, walk?" Sloka 2.70 gives its most memorable image:
आपूर्यमाणमचलप्रतिष्ठं समुद्रमापः प्रविशन्ति यद्वत्। तद्वत्कामा यं प्रविशन्ति सर्वे स शान्तिमाप्नोति न कामकामी॥ — "As the waters of rivers enter the full, unmoving ocean without disturbing it, so all desires enter the sage — he attains peace, not the desirer of desires."
The ocean simile carries the whole teaching: (i) the ocean is already full — the sage is complete in the Self and needs nothing from outside; (ii) it is achala-pratishtha (unmovingly established) — praise, insult, pleasure, pain all "enter" but disturb nothing; (iii) therefore peace belongs to the desire-free, not to the one who chases fulfillment — na kamakami pointedly denies that satisfying desires brings peace.
The surrounding verses fill out the portrait: the sthitaprajna renounces all desires and rests satisfied in the Self (2.55); remains unperturbed in sorrow and unattached in pleasure (2.56); withdraws the senses from objects as a tortoise withdraws its limbs (2.58); and, free from longing, "attains peace" (2.71).
Psychologically, this is a doctrine of mastery, not suppression: desires may arise (rivers still flow in), but they no longer move the mind. The sthitaprajna is thus the living proof of karma yoga — the state toward which nishkama karma (2.47–50) leads — and the Gita's timeless model of mental steadiness, directly relevant to modern ideas of emotional resilience.
Q. 9.
[20 marks] Discuss the guru–shishya tradition in Indian knowledge systems in the light of Bhagavad Gita 4.34.
Model Answer: In Indian tradition knowledge was never merely "information" — it was transmitted wisdom, passed from guru to shishya in an unbroken parampara. The Vedic gurukul embodied this: the student lived with the teacher, served him, and received the Veda orally after upanayana. Gita 4.34 states the method of receiving the highest knowledge — jnana:
तद्विद्धि प्रणिपातेन परिप्रश्नेन सेवया। उपदेक्ष्यन्ति ते ज्ञानं ज्ञानिनस्तत्त्वदर्शिनः॥ — "Learn that knowledge by pranipata (prostration/humility), by pariprashna (inquiry), and by seva (service). The wise, who have seen the truth, will impart it to you."
The verse prescribes a threefold discipline: (i) Pranipata — humility: the ego must bow; a proud mind cannot receive. Prostration symbolizes surrender of arrogance before the teacher. (ii) Pariprashna — questioning: humility is not blind obedience; the shishya must ask, doubt and clarify — Arjuna himself models this by questioning Krishna throughout the Gita. (iii) Seva — service: devoted service to the guru purifies the mind and proves the student's sincerity and readiness.
Crucially, the teacher must be a tattvadarshi — "one who has seen the truth," not merely read about it. Knowledge here is experiential (anubhava), so only a realized teacher can transmit it; the Gita thus sets a qualification for the guru as well as the shishya.
This verse is the classical charter of Indian pedagogy: it balances reverence with reason (humility + inquiry), insists on lived transmission over book-learning, and explains why the Upanishads, the Gita and the darshanas all take the form of dialogues — truth unfolds between questioner and teacher. In modern terms, 4.34 defends mentorship over mere instruction: knowledge transforms only when received in the right spirit from one who embodies it.
Q. 10.
[20 marks] Explain the Gita's teaching on moderation with reference to Chapter VI, Slokas 16–17, and discuss its relevance today.
Model Answer: Chapter 6 (Dhyana Yoga) teaches meditation — but first warns that yoga is impossible for those who live in extremes:
6.16 — नात्यश्नतस्तु योगोऽस्ति न चैकान्तमनश्नतः। न चाति स्वप्नशीलस्य जाग्रतो नैव चार्जुन॥ — "Yoga is not for one who eats too much, nor for one who eats nothing at all; not for one who sleeps too much, nor for one who stays ever awake." The Gita rejects both indulgence and extreme asceticism: the tortured body cannot support a steady mind. Notably, this parallels the Buddha's Middle Path — a shared Indian insight.
6.17 — युक्ताहारविहारस्य युक्तचेष्टस्य कर्मसु। युक्तस्वप्नावबोधस्य योगो भवति दुःखहा॥ — "For one whose eating and recreation are balanced, whose efforts in action are balanced, and whose sleep and waking are balanced, yoga becomes the destroyer of sorrow (दुःखहा)." The key word is yukta (balanced, harmonized), applied to four domains: ahara (food), vihara (recreation), cheshta (work-effort), svapna-avabodha (sleep-waking). Balance is the cause; freedom from suffering is the result.
The teaching is profoundly holistic: spirituality is not escape from the body but its right management. Meditation fails on a stuffed or starved stomach, an exhausted or over-slept mind.
Modern relevance is direct: (i) lifestyle diseases — overeating, sedentary habits and sleep deprivation are today's epidemics; the Gita prescribed balance 2,000 years ago; (ii) work-life balance — yukta-cheshta warns against both workaholism and idleness; (iii) mental health — regular sleep, moderate diet and recreation are exactly what modern psychiatry recommends for anxiety and depression; (iv) student life — neither all-night cramming (jagrata) nor oversleeping serves learning. The Gita's "yoga destroys sorrow" is thus a preventive psychology: order your daily life, and the mind follows.
Q. 11.
[20 marks] Describe Daivi Sampad and Asuri Sampad as taught in Bhagavad Gita Chapter XVI (Slokas 1–5).
Model Answer: Chapter 16 (Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga) divides human nature into two endowments (sampad): the divine, leading to liberation, and the demonic, leading to bondage.
Daivi sampad (16.1–3) lists 26 qualities. Sloka 16.1: अभयं सत्त्वसंशुद्धिर्ज्ञानयोगव्यवस्थितिः। दानं दमश्च यज्ञश्च स्वाध्यायस्तप आर्जवम्॥ — fearlessness, purity of heart, steadfastness in knowledge and yoga, charity, self-control, sacrifice, scriptural study, austerity, straightforwardness. Note the list begins with abhaya (fearlessness) — spiritual courage is the root virtue. Sloka 16.2: अहिंसा सत्यमक्रोधस्त्यागः शान्तिरपैशुनम्। दया भूतेष्वलोलुप्त्वं मार्दवं ह्रीरचापलम्॥ — non-violence, truth, freedom from anger, renunciation, peace, no slander, compassion for beings, non-covetousness, gentleness, modesty, freedom from fickleness — the social-ethical core. Sloka 16.3: तेजः क्षमा धृतिः शौचमद्रोहो नातिमानिता... — vigour, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, freedom from malice, absence of excessive pride — strength (tejas) balanced by forgiveness (kshama): power without cruelty.
Asuri sampad (16.4) lists six marks: दम्भो दर्पोऽभिमानश्च क्रोधः पारुष्यमेव च। अज्ञानं च... — hypocrisy, arrogance, self-conceit, anger, harshness, ignorance — the precise mirror-image of the divine list (truth→hypocrisy, modesty→arrogance, non-anger→anger).
The verdict (16.5): दैवी सम्पद्विमोक्षाय निबन्धायासुरी मता। मा शुचः सम्पदं दैवीमभिजातोऽसि पाण्डव॥ — "The divine endowment is conducive to liberation (vimoksha), the demonic to bondage (nibandha). Grieve not — you are born to the divine endowment." The chapter thus ends by applying the teaching to Arjuna himself: his battlefield despair is a momentary cloud, not his nature.
Ethically, the chapter is a complete character-education syllabus: it tells the student exactly which qualities to cultivate and which to uproot, with a clear metaphysical stake — character determines destiny (liberation or bondage).
Q. 12.
[20 marks] Explain the three kinds of food according to the gunas in Bhagavad Gita 17.8–10.
Model Answer: Chapter 17 (Shraddha Traya Vibhaga Yoga) classifies even food (ahara) by the three gunas — sattva, rajas, tamas — borrowed from Samkhya philosophy. The teaching "you are what you eat" links diet to consciousness:
1. Sattvic food (17.8): आयुःसत्त्वबलारोग्यसुखप्रीतिविवर्धनाः। रस्याः स्निग्धाः स्थिरा हृद्या आहाराः सात्त्विकप्रियाः॥ — foods that increase life (ayus), purity (sattva), strength (bala), health (arogya), happiness (sukha) and delight (priti) — juicy, smooth, substantial and agreeable — are dear to the sattvic. Such food nourishes body and mind together: it builds clarity and calm, supporting study, meditation and self-control.
2. Rajasic food (17.9): कट्वम्ललवणात्युष्णतीक्ष्णरूक्षविदाहिनः। आहारा राजसस्येष्टा दुःखशोकामयप्रदाः॥ — bitter, sour, over-salty, very hot, pungent, dry and burning foods are dear to the rajasic; they produce pain, grief and disease (duhkha-shoka-amaya). Overstimulating food agitates the mind — restlessness in, restlessness out.
3. Tamasic food (17.10): यातयामं गतरसं पूति पर्युषितं च यत्। उच्छिष्टमपि चामेध्यं भोजनं तामसप्रियम्॥ — food that is stale (yata-yama), tasteless, putrid, kept overnight, leftover (uchchhishta) and impure is dear to the tamasic. It breeds dullness, inertia and ignorance — tamas itself.
The deeper point: food is not morally neutral — it shapes the mind that eats it, and the mind in turn chooses its food, creating a cycle. For the student of yoga, disciplining diet is disciplining consciousness: sattvic food supports the clarity needed for knowledge (jnana) and steady meditation (dhyana). This is why the Gita places diet within a spiritual chapter — eating is the most daily of all yogic practices.
Short Questions
Q. 13.
[Short] Write short notes on any two Vedangas.
Model Answer: The Vedangas are the six "limbs of the Veda" — auxiliary sciences that preserved the orally transmitted Vedas. (1) Shiksha (phonetics): the science of correct pronunciation, accent and articulation of mantras (e.g., Panini's Shiksha). Since a mispronounced mantra was believed to fail, Shiksha guarded the very sound of the Veda. (2) Vyakaran (grammar): crowned by Panini's Ashtadhyayi (c. 400 BCE, ~4000 sutras) — the most scientific grammar of the ancient world, which fixed Sanskrit's structure so precisely that Vedic language remained analyzable forever. Together with Kalpa (ritual), Nirukta (etymology — Yaska), Chandas (meter — Pingala) and Jyotisha (astronomy — Lagadha), the Vedangas are why the Vedas survive word-for-word after 3,000 years.
Q. 14.
[Short] Distinguish between astika and nastika darshanas.
Model Answer: The classification turns on attitude to Vedic authority. Astika ("it is") schools accept the Veda as authoritative: the six darshanas — Nyaya (Gautama, logic), Vaisheshika (Kanada, atomism), Samkhya (Kapila, dualism), Yoga (Patanjali, meditation), Mimamsa (Jaimini, ritual interpretation), Vedanta (Badarayana, Upanishadic wisdom). Nastika ("it is not") schools reject Vedic authority: Buddhism (Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path), Jainism (Triratna, ahimsa, anekantavada) and Charvaka/Lokayata (materialism — only perception is valid, no soul or afterlife). Note "nastika" is technical, not abusive: Buddhism and Jainism are full religions that simply do not accept the Veda.
Q. 15.
[Short] What is rta? Explain briefly.
Model Answer: Rta is the Vedic concept of cosmic order — the regularity of nature: sunrise follows dawn, seasons return, rivers flow to the sea. Upheld especially by the god Varuna, rta is the moral-physical law woven into the universe. To live in harmony with rta is dharma (right conduct); to violate it brings disorder and suffering. Rta is thus the philosophical ancestor of the later idea of dharma, and India's earliest formulation of a lawful, intelligible cosmos — the foundation on which Vedic ritual (yajna sustains rta) and ethics both rest.
Q. 16.
[Short] Explain "समत्वं योग उच्यते" (Gita 2.48).
Model Answer: In 2.48 Krishna commands: योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय। सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते॥ — "Established in yoga, perform actions abandoning attachment; remaining even-minded in success and failure — evenness of mind is called yoga." Here yoga is redefined: not postures, but samattva — inner equilibrium. The karma-yogin works with full effort yet accepts victory and defeat, praise and blame, with the same calm mind. This verse is the practical test of nishkama karma (2.47): if results disturb you, attachment remains; if you stay balanced, yoga is achieved. It makes the Gita's teaching a psychology of resilience — equanimity as the mark of the wise.
Q. 17.
[Short] Name any five qualities of daivi sampad (Gita 16.1–3).
Model Answer: Daivi sampad — the divine endowment leading to liberation (16.5) — comprises 26 qualities (16.1–3). Any five: (1) Abhaya (fearlessness — listed first, the root virtue), (2) Ahimsa (non-violence), (3) Satya (truthfulness), (4) Akrodha (freedom from anger), (5) Dana (charity), (6) Daya bhuteshu (compassion for beings), (7) Kshama (forgiveness), (8) Shaucha (purity). The list balances strength with gentleness — e.g., tejas (vigour) alongside kshama (forgiveness) — showing that divine character is power without cruelty.
Q. 18.
[Short] Why does the Gita call yoga "the destroyer of sorrow" (दुःखहा)?
Model Answer: In 6.17 — युक्ताहारविहारस्य युक्तचेष्टस्य कर्मसु। युक्तस्वप्नावबोधस्य योगो भवति दुःखहा॥ — Krishna declares that for one whose eating, recreation, work-effort, sleep and waking are balanced (yukta), yoga becomes duhkha-ha, "the destroyer of sorrow." The logic: most suffering comes from disordered living — overeating or starving, overwork or idleness, sleeplessness or oversleeping (6.16). When daily life is harmonized, the body supports rather than disturbs the mind, meditation becomes possible, and the anxiety, restlessness and exhaustion that constitute duhkha dissolve. Yoga "destroys sorrow" not by magic but by ordering life — a preventive psychology as relevant to modern lifestyle diseases and stress as it was on the ancient battlefield.