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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How many people slaughter the horse of Tvastr during sacrifice?
(a) Twelve.
(b) Twenty.
(c) Six.
(d) One.

2. In later Sanskrit, a wish is a chariot made of _____.
(a) Flax.
(b) Sorrow.
(c) Hemp.
(d) Thought.

3. How many wheels does the chariot have in "The Boy and the Chariot"?
(a) Four.
(b) Three.
(c) None.
(d) Two.

4. Saryanavat is the name of the _____ where Soma plants are found.
(a) Mountains.
(b) Marshes.
(c) Plain.
(d) River.

5. What is the name of the sacrificial drink pressed from a plant?
(a) Karma.
(b) Buttermilk.
(c) Soma.
(d) Broth.

6. Vena is the seer identified with the _____.
(a) Chariot.
(b) Soma.
(c) Planet Venus.
(d) Sunbird.

7. The enemy of true speech in "The Origins of Sacred Speech" is said to have been the _____ of the author.
(a) Son.
(b) Wife.
(c) Rival.
(d) Best friend.

8. What is symbolic of primeval chaotic matter, the seed of the creator, and the sacrificial oblation?
(a) Water.
(b) Milk.
(c) Sky.
(d) Butter.

9. What is the center of the wheel in the "All-Maker" myth called?
(a) The chestnut.
(b) The navel.
(c) The kernel.
(d) The hub.

10. Who are Agni's sons?
(a) The sages.
(b) The priests.
(c) The Maruts.
(d) The poets.

11. The Soma stalk mixes with water to form the juice of _____.
(a) Nothingness.
(b) Immortality.
(c) Learning.
(d) Death.

12. What animal joins the horse in sacrifice?
(a) A dog.
(b) A goat.
(c) A donkey.
(d) A bird.

13. What is another English term for what means 'little ship' in Sanskrit?
(a) Star-chaser.
(b) Horse.
(c) Chariot.
(d) Shuttle.

14. How many corners does the earth have in "A Spell to Turn Back the Departing Spirit"?
(a) Two.
(b) Three.
(c) Four.
(d) One.

15. What are the four social classes in Indian civilization called?
(a) Sects.
(b) Yamas.
(c) Varnas.
(d) Fifes.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who repairs the errors committed in the course of the horse sacrifice?

2. The Invoker is what type of priest in "The Sacrifice of the Horse"?

3. _____ is the cry that is made when an offering is presented to the gods.

4. What are the sisters that embrace the pressing stones?

5. All fires die out when Siva is wrongly accused in "The Birth of Agni" and he departs from the _____.

(see the answer keys)

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