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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many sons is the king borne by his wife in the magical land in Lavana?

2. When the king awakens in Lavana, how long has he been asleep?

3. What is the name of the young male aspic Chudala disguises herself as to appear to her husband?

4. What deity is referred to as the creator god in the stories?

5. How old is Sikhi-Dhvaja when he goes out to conquer lands in the name of his father in Chudala?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Sabala feel about leaving Vasishta in Viswamitra? What does she do?

2. How is Devi created? What is her appearance like?

3. Who does Brahma create in the beginning of Manmata? Why?

4. What moral lesson does King Lavana learn from his encounter with a magician?

5. What does Mahisha grow up to be like, in Devi? Why does Indra stand against him?

6. Who does Brahma offer in marriage to Manmata? Where does he send them afterward?

7. What is the objective of Mahishasura, according to the storyteller in the beginning of Devi?

8. What is the third test which Chudala places on her husband? What comes of it?

9. How is the struggle between the gods and demons described in the beginning of Yayati?

10. What is King Chedi's response to his dinner invitation in the beginning of Viswamitra? How is it explained?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe Indra, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Mahishasura in Devi. Do these gods hold a definitive role in the stories, or do they transform in each?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and discuss the Ramayana and Mahabharata. How many stories in Gods, Demons, and Others are derived from these texts? When were they written?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the Indian practice of Swayamwara. How does this tradition differ from Western marriage arrangements? What power do women have within this system?

(see the answer keys)

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