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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. What does the name Vena mean?

2. What is Agastya's chosen path in life when his wife approaches him to beget a child?

3. The red streaks in "The Gale Wind" may be the redness in the sky during rain, or the _____ of the wind.

4. in "The Deeds of the Asvins", Pedu is the character who was given a white horse that killed _____.

5. In "Parjanya, the Bull", what is Parjanyas' enormous deadly weapon?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who are the sons of the sun and what are their roles?

2. What is the central image of the hymn, "Mudgala's Wife and the Bull in the Chariot", and how do their interpretations overlap?

3. In "The Courtship of Ghosa", what does Ghosa ask the Asvins?

4. In "Indra and the Maruts", why does Indra mock the Maruts?

5. What are the possible meanings of the 'banner that dawn plants in the sky' in "Dawn and the Asvins"?

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

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

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

9. According to Indian theory, what happens to the sun during the rainy season?

10. How is creation mythology presented in "Varuna Provoked to Anger"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What tasks is Varuna charged with? Who is Varuna a friend of? What threatens their friendship? How is this resolved?

Essay Topic 2

What are the different types of oblation? Where and when are they presented, and by whom? Cite specific instances from the hymns.

Essay Topic 3

Describe the many faces of Agni and how he fits into the hierarchy of beings in the Rig Veda. What is mysterious about his birth? Why does he hide?

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