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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 section of the book called "Realia", the hymns are characterized by the author as having a _____ element.
(a) Zoarastrian.
(b) Dionysian.
(c) Decidedly sacred.
(d) Acerbic.

2. What is the name of the god of formal hospitality to strangers?
(a) Savitr.
(b) Aryaman.
(c) Ushas.
(d) Rudra.

3. The _____ in "Indra and the Monkey" is regarded as the indigenous inhabitant, regarded as demonic.
(a) Sage.
(b) Poet.
(c) Slave.
(d) Demi-god.

4. What is Nirrti called in the texts of the Rig Veda?
(a) Seduction.
(b) Night.
(c) Destruction.
(d) Dawn.

5. Parsu's name,as mentioned in the notes for "Indra and the Monkey", means _____.
(a) Rib.
(b) Sacrifice.
(c) Cow.
(d) Song.

Short Answer Questions

1. For what is 'the house of clay' a metaphor?

2. Varuna binds _____ in his snares of disease and misfortune in "Varuna Provoked to Anger".

3. In "The Three Strides of Visnu", the commentator suggests that the ferocious beast is a _____.

4. What does the name Vena mean?

5. Why does Apala's husband supposedly hate her in the later commentaries associated with "Apala and Indra"?

Short Essay Questions

1. In the dialogue between Agastya and the Maruts in "Agastya and the Maruts", what is Agastya trying to do?

2. Why is the Rig Veda described in "Realia" as worldly?

3. In "Varuna Provoked to Anger", what is the nature of Vasistha's sins toward Varuna?

4. What is the role of beauty in regards to women in the Rig Veda?

5. What is the nature of Soma in "The Marriage of Surya"?

6. Why does the author say it is a possibility that priests are being satirized in "The Frogs"?

7. What is the meaning or the invocation, 'O, master of the stones' in "The House of Clay"?

8. What is the conflict present in all of the dialogues with women in the Rig Veda? Who succeeds, and who fails in this conflict?

9. What is Yami's argument to persuade Yama to have incest relations with her, and who does she invoke to aid her with this?

10. What does Vena personify in the hymn of the same name, and how does this relate to the theme of the hymn?

(see the answer keys)

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