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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In the hymn "Yama and the Fathers", who is being told to go away from the burning-ground where they live?
(a) Cold-blooded snakes.
(b) Ants.
(c) Mud daubers.
(d) Flesh-eating ghouls.

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

3. In "We Have Drunk the Soma", Dawn harnesses _____ to her chariot to bring treasure to the singer of the hymn.
(a) Indra.
(b) Seven eagles.
(c) The sun.
(d) Docile cows.

4. What is thought of as a symbol of rain and fertility?
(a) The female frog.
(b) The lioness.
(c) The rain cloud.
(d) The goose egg.

5. 'Dhruvam' means _____.
(a) Steadfast.
(b) Loathing.
(c) Sacred.
(d) Sweet.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is another English term for what means 'little ship' in Sanskrit?

2. Vivavsan is a name for the _____.

3. What did Martanda's name originally mean in "Aditi and the Birth of the Gods"?

4. What was used to protect female mourners instead of mascara or eye-shadow, as stated in the "Burial Hymn"?

5. How many shafts does the chariot have in "The Boy and the Chariot"?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is butter visualized in the hymn, "Butter"?

2. In the hymn "The Child of the Waters", what do the three women give to the deity, and why?

3. What is the significance of the membrane in "The Gods Coax Agni Out of the Waters"?

4. What is the function of the goat in "The Funeral Fire"?

5. What is the sacrificial horse identified with?

6. What is the function of the enclosing-sticks in "The Hymn of Man" as opposed to the fuel-sticks?

7. Who are the Angirases and with whom are they often linked?

8. What is the state of clarity of the early stages of creation in "The All-maker", according to the author, and why?

9. What are the first ritual laws called, and what is their purpose?

10. What is the meaning of the use of hunger in "In praise of Generosity"?

(see the answer keys)

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