Answers to the first Mahabharata Quiz

By popular request, here are the answers to the previous Mahabharata Quiz. Since many of you seem to have enjoyed this, I shall soon post up another.

Please note that if you have a Facebook account, you may find it easier to take these quizzes there: http://apps.facebook.com/quizcreator/quizzes/655979/play


And now, on the answers!

Q1. The three Kashi princesses: Amba, Ambalika and Ambika were won as brides for which King? 
 
a) Chitrangada
b) Vichitraveerya
c) Chitrasena
d) Devavrata
e) Vichitrangada

Answer: Vichitraveerya. His elder brother, who died in mysterious circumstances, was names Chitrangada. Options c) and e) are just plays on his name. Devavrata, of course, was Bhisma’s real name!

Q2. Asvattama, son of Dron, was King of ....?

a) Mathura
b) Magadha
c) Pancala
d) Kuru
e) Nowhere. He was just a scholar-sage

Answer: Pancala. Dron won half of Pancala from his rival Dhrupad. Asvattama eventually becomes King of the newly-won realm.

Q3. What was Queen Kunti's real name?

a) Pragjya
b) Partha
c) Prishata
d) Prithvi
e) Pritha

Answer: Pritha. Partha, the common monicker for Arjun, means ‘son of Pritha’. Prishata is Dhrupad’s father, Prithvi is a word for earth, and Pragjya is the name of a city on the eastern frontiers of Aryavarta.

Q4. How many divisions or "akshauhini" are involved in the Great War?

a) 109
b) 18
c) 11
d) 7
e) 108 

Answer: 18. That was 11 for Syoddhan (Duryodhan), and 7 on Dharma Yudhistir’s side, respectively.

Q5. In which Kingdom was Vasusena, known commonly as Karna, born?

a) Magadha
b) Bhojaka
c) Anga
d) Pancala
e) Kuru 

Answer: Bhojaka. Magadha is very close to Anga, the kingdom he eventually came to rule. Pancala and Kuru are important places in his life, but have nothing to do with his birth.

Q6. According to the MbH, Sugreeva is the name of

a) A woman
b) A monkey
c) A king
d) A horse
e) A gorilla

Answer: Ok, this was a trick question! Most of us tend to identify Sugreeva as a monkey. Yes, but that’s the Ramayana! In the Mahabharata (MbH), Sugreeva is not a monkey, but is a horse. In fact, a rather famous horse – one of the four silver-white stallions that Govinda Shauri drives to the Great War. More on that in the next quiz!

Q7. How are the two famed teachers Acarya Dron and Acarya Kripa related to each other?

a) Kripa is married to Dron's sister
b) They are just good friends
c) Dron is married to Kripa's sister
d) They are both fellow students of the same teacher
e) Kripa is married to Dron's daughter 

Answer: Dron is married to Kripa’s sister. Her name was Kripi.

Q8. What is the Veda Vyasa's real name?

a) Parashara
b) Govinda
c) Dwaipayana
d) Sukadeva
e) Gautama 

Answer: Dwaipayana. Or to give it in its full form, Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa; with the last being a title rather than his name proper.

Q9. Prince Syoddhan, (commonly known as Duryodhana) had how many wives?

a) Sixteen
b) One hundred
c) One
d) Two
e) Three

Answer: One. And legend has it he was notoriously devoted to her.

Q10. Whom does Syoddhan (Duryodhana) install as the last commander-in-chief, on his side?

a) Kripa
b) Shalya
c) Dussasana
d) Sanjaya
e) Asvattama 

Answer: Asvattama. Shalya was the second-last commander of Syoddhan’s armies. In a sad, anticlimatic moment at the end of the war, Syoddhan installs Asvattama as commander. The others never held the post.

Q11. When Devavrata took his solemn oath of celibacy, he was given the title "Bhisma." What does Bhisma mean?

a) Grandfather or Eldest
b) A bachelor
c) Someone who hates women
d) An old man
e) Someone who makes a difficult promise

Answer: Some who makes a difficult promise. He was barely twenty or so, at that time, so ‘Grandsire’, ‘Eldest’ and ‘old man’, were not yet in play. There’s little evidence to show he hated women – in fact, it would have made the whole promise less poignant.

Q12. Who is Vrishasena?

a) Karna's son
b) Karna's father
c) Syoddhan (Duryodhan)'s son
d) Dharma Yudhistir's son
e) Dussasana's son

Answer: Karna’s son. Karna’s real name, by the way, was Vasusena.