This quiz is designed to motivate you to study the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava scriptures in specific, and the Sad Darshanas in general, which are necessary to understand Gauḍīya philosophy properly.
Jnana or knowledge related to bhakti is also part of bhakti. In fact, hearing, which includes studying shastra, is the first limb of bhakti. Learning, followed by consolidating and then testing our knowledge in the form of a quiz is a fun and effective way to help us retain information.
This quiz is in multiple-choice questions format. (MCQs). If you see the response that you anticipated simply click on it. The quiz will immediately show which answers are correct or incorrect so we can learn as we go.
1 / 10
Why is the Śrīmad Bhāgavata compared to the Sun?
Although there are numerous works of Vedic literature, when Śaunaka Ṛṣi questioned Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī about where dharma would take shelter now that Śrī Kṛṣṇa had returned to His own abode (SB 1.1.23), Sūta compared Śrīmad Bhāgavata to the sun, because it self-reveals the illuminating Absolute Truth that can dissipate the dense darkness of Kaliyuga.
The analogy here is as follows: When the sun rises, rogues and thieves hide, while ordinary people are relieved of fear and become active. Similarly, when consciousness is turned in full aural reception toward Śrīmad Bhāgavata, lust and greed, which plunder one’s opportunity to realize the self, find no more standing in the heart, and one becomes qualified to participate in the service of Bhagavān.
It is because of this self-illuminating power of Śrīmad Bhāgavata that it is held in reverence by great saints and thinkers who have written commentaries and essays on it.
2 / 10
How does Bhagavān assume the role of an avatāra?
Bhagavān assumes the role of an avatāra in two ways — through His intrinsic potency, and through His extrinsic potency consisting of the three guṇas.
The first type of avatāra includes manifestations, such as Matsya and Kūrma. All of these are worshipable forms. The second type of avatāra specifically refers to the three forms that are related to the three guṇas. Among these three, only Viṣṇu is worshipable.
Viṣṇu is called sattva-tanu, or one whose body is purely of the nature of sattva. This sattva is not that of phenomenal being but belongs to His intrinsic potency of transcendental being-existence (viśuddha-sattva), as is said, “Viṣṇu is directly the Supreme Person, free of the guṇas and beyond prakṛti” (SB 10.88.5).
For this reason, Viṣṇu cannot have any material upādhis, since the material energy has no power to delimit Him in any way. As such, by His mere proximity He maintains the cosmos through the illuminating potency of material sattva, all the while remaining indifferent to it.
It is in this sense only that He is called a guṇāvatāra, and thus He is in no way less than a puruṣāvatāra.
3 / 10
What is the concept of pariṇāma-vāda in Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism?
Whenever the topic of creation is described in the Śrīmad Bhāgavata, it is always said to be a transformation (pariṇāma) of Paramātmā’s energy.
For example, in Chapter 3.5, Vidura asks Maitreya various questions, one of them being about the creation of the universe by the Supreme Person (SB 3.5.5).
In response, Maitreya explains how pradhāna manifests the universe through the influence of kāla, or the time potency of the Supreme. (SB 3.5.26, 3.5.27, 3.5.23)
Though there are numerous accounts of creation elsewhere in the Śrīmad Bhāgavata, Śrī Jīva specifies this description as the primary one.
4 / 10
As per Śrīmad Bhāgavata, who is Subhadrā?
In the Ninth Canto (SB 9.24.55) it says clearly that Subhadrā is the daughter Devakī and Vasudeva.
5 / 10
What is ekadeśa-nirdeśa-nyāya?
On account of its vastness, we cannot see the entire ocean at once; we can only point to a minute portion of it, which we designate as the whole ocean. This is called ekadeśa-nirdeśa-nyāya — designating a part as the whole.
6 / 10
What is vaśitā siddhi?
The siddhi called vaśitā is the power to remain free from the influence of the guṇas of nature, or of the sense objects, even while in their midst, guṇeṣu asaṅgaṁ vaśitā (Viśvanātha).
This is attained by meditation on Bhagavān, the Supreme Personal Nondual Being, and the complete Whole. Śrī Nārāyaṇa is called turīya, because He is beyond all upādhis; Bhagavān, or Nārāyaṇa, is thus the supreme manifestation of the Absolute Truth.
7 / 10
Is it stated in śāstra that Kṛṣṇa advented as Lord Buddha to specifically stop priests who were offering animals in His name?
There is no mention of Kṛṣṇa having advented as Lord Buddha to specifically stop priests who were offering animals in His name. This does not match with the life of the historical Buddha who was born in Lumbini, Nepal.
What is stated is that Buddha will bewilder the asuras by teaching them a wrong philosophy (SB 1.3.24, 2.7.37).
8 / 10
Paramātmā, also called Puruṣa, can be further categorized as ?
Paramātmā, also called Puruṣa, can be further categorized in two ways, namely, as self-endowed with differentiated portions (vibhinnāṁśa), called jīvas, and as endowed with plenary expansions (svāṁśa), called avatāras.
An avatāra has divine powers and the intrinsic self-identity of being God. He is never influenced by the extrinsic potency, even while present in the midst of it.
The jīvas, however, being limited in their power, can easily fall prey to the extrinsic potency, whose influence induces in them a sense of separation from Paramātmā.
9 / 10
The Śrīmad Bhāgavata's truth revelation unfolds directly from which mantra?
Various Purāṇas mention the relationship between the Śrīmad Bhāgavata and the Gāyatrī mantra. Gāyatrī is considered the essence of the Vedas and is supposed to be recited at dawn, noon, and dusk by every twice-born person (brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, or vaiśya).
According to Śrīdhara Svāmī in Bhāvārtha-dīpikā, Śrīmad Bhāgavata begins with the Gāyatrī mantra. Commenting on the first verse of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata, he writes:
dhīmahīti gāyatryā prārambhena ca gāyatry-ākhyā-brahma-vidyā-rūpam etat purāṇam iti darśitam
"That the Gāyatrī phrase indicated by the word dhīmahi begins this Purāṇa, shows that this work embodies the revealed knowledge of the Absolute (brahma-vidyā), known as Gāyatrī." (Bhāvārtha-dīpikā 1.1.1)
10 / 10
All material objects undergo some or all of which the following transformations?
Time influences material nature, and thus all material objects undergo some or all of the following transformations:
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