1. the Mahabharat quiz
Mahabharata :: is not just in th
Politics | Entertainment | Heroes | Villains | Storytellers | Myths | Cultures
MiQuest
Auditorium, MICA
1st December 2013

2. Before we start…
• The Mahabharata is a religion-neutral story that was later glorified in certain contexts and later
reinforced by information media
• There still exist many versions of Mahabharata – including Bengali, Awadhi, South Indian versions,
Indonesian, Burmese and English adaptations – not to mention many adaptations in theatre, literature,
movies, arts, dances, music and even comics and games
• You will throughout see visuals and images from various such outlets – they are credited at the end of
this block
• You need not know the Mahabharata to the letter – a general info about the events and characters
would do
• However, not everything you read on the slide and see in the background as the picture, may be
related, so do presume unless told otherwise
• For some questions, you do need to know the actual names and events; however, most questions are
related to contemporary events and elements that draw from the epic – also, rest of the questions can
be worked out with the help of other questions and images
Credits for images :
• Grant Morisson’s conceptualized movies, short films, comics and graphic novels
• Japanese theatre performances
• English theatre groups’ performances
• Peter Brook’s play The Mahabharata
• Shounak Jog’s and Deepak Chopra’s illustrations

3. the Mahabharat quiz |
prelims 20 questions
Equal weightage | 15
Starred | 5
10 – Mahabharata based | 10 Mahabharata - relevant

4. Question 1
• According to the texts, Ganesha wrote the Mahabharata while Ved Vyasa
narrated the story.
• There are many stories behind the origins/state of this object that was used to
write the great epic.
• What is this object?

5. Question 2
• Ved Vyasa is the widely
accepted as the narrator of
the epic – having narrated it
to his scribe, Ganesha
• Who was Ved Vyasa in
Mahabharata how was he
related to the epic?

6. Question 3
• He was born Firoz Khan but
later had to change the
name because of his role in
the series on the epic by
B.R.Chopra.
• He was also seen in many
Bollywood movies like Jigar,
Karan Arjun and QSQT.
• What was his screen name
that he uses till date?

7. Question 4
• In 2006, a movie that was released,
was spun around Karna’s earrings
and armour that was given to him by
the Sun God.
• These had made Karna nearly
invincible on the battlefield.
• However, Indra had managed to
force Karna to give them up –
following which Indra had
supposedly hidden them in the
Himalayas.
• The movie starred Vivek Oberoi,

8. Question 5*
• In the book The Great Indian Novel,
Shashi Tharoor re-tells the entire story
of the Indian Freedom Struggle as the
Mahabharata story.
• Different characters from the struggle
like Gandhi, Nehru and Bose are
shown as different characters from
Mahabharata.
• So, Gandhi plays Bheeshma and Nehru
plays Dhritarashtra.
• Who (or what) plays the role of
Draupadi?

9. Question 6
• Connect
• Volumes/Parts in Mahabharata
• Volumes/Parts in Bhagvat Geeta
• The great war
• Divisions of armies in the war
• The value of Jaya – the original
name of Mahabharata
• According to Bhagvat Geeta,
traits of an ideal man

10. Question 7
• ‘Razm-nama’ is the Persian translation of the
epic.
• The person who commissioned the
translation is also credited with the
translation of many other cultural and
religious texts across religions and faiths.
• He is also credited with the establishment of
a new religion that would borrow from all
religions.
• Who was he?

11. Question 8
Connect
• Volumes/Parts in Mahabharata
• Volumes/Parts in Bhagvat Geeta
• The great war
• Divisions of armies in the war
• The value of Jaya –
the original name of
Mahabharata
• According to
Bhagvat Geeta,
traits of an
ideal man

12. Question 9
• Anant Pai produced a 60 part series on the
Mahabharat under a popular banner that was
later cut short to 42 parts.
• This production also clashed with B.R.Chopra’s
television show on the same subject in the same
time.
• Name the banner.

13. Question 10
• Name the
dynasty or the
clan from which
the characters
of Mahabharat
have originated.

14. Question 11*
• During their exile in the forest, after losing to the Kauravas in the
game of dice, Yudhishtira is very depressed on bringing the gloom
on all of them.
• Rishi Bhargava then tell him a story of a man - X - who was once
to be king but later had to suffer – not even for any faults – but due
to jealousy.
• This man had also been exiled and had to win a war before
marking an end of the period of his suffering – thus depicting the
triumph of good v/s evil.
• This story was later picked up and glorified, prominently by Y and
then later by Z.
• X, Y, Z ?

15. Question 12
• The Greeks, the Egyptians
and the Christians – like
the Mahabharata have
many similar elements –
one of them being virgin-
births.
• Like Jesus, there are two
characters in
Mahabharata that were
born to virgins.
• One of them is Krishna.
• Who is the other
character?

16. Question 13
• The Kauravas have always been
the villains in all the versions of the
epic.
• But there were two of the
hundred brothers that have been
known to be fair and just.
• During the attempted disrobing of
Draupadi after the game of dice
between the Pandavas and the
Kauravas, everyone including
Bheeshma, Drona, Vidur and
Dhritarashtra had remained silent.
• However, there was one Kaurava
who had voiced his contempt
openly.
• Who was he?

17. Question 14
• The Kauravas have always been
the villains in all the versions of the
epic.
• But there were two of the
hundred brothers that have been
known to be fair and just.
• Like Vibhishana in Ramayana, the
other ‘good’ Kaurava had fought
for the Pandavas during the great
war.
• What was his name?

18. Question 15
• X: Do you know that I have two sweethearts?
• Y: Really? Who are they? If necessary, I will kidnap them to get them for
you!
• X: They are not girls, my friend - besides, I can only get one of them and
not the other!
• Y: What do you mean?
• X: It is simple - one is the death of Arjuna, the other is my own death
• X, Y?

19. Question 16*
• The dialogues of the
B.R.Chopra adaptation
for television became
household lines and even
symbols of the Hindu-culture
– which reinforced the
Hindu-retelling of the epic
as a religious one.
• However, what is remarkable is that the
dialogues in Hindi were written by a
Muslim who had also written the script of
Mithun Chakraborty starrer Disco Dancer.
• Also dialogues for movies like Golmaal,
Lamhe and Karz.
• What was his name?

20. Question 17
• Media have variously described Harish Bhimani as ‘One of the Most
Recognisable Voices of India’, ‘The Most-travelled Indian Compere’
and ‘A Writer with a Zing’.
• He has been compering at Madison Square Garden to the Royal Albert
Hall, Sydney Opera House & Shrine Auditorium & writing TV serials.
• What character did he play in the B.R.Chopra adaptation of the epic?

21. Question 18*
• There are two characters common in
both the Indian epics.
• One of them is Hanumana.
• Who is the other one?

22. Question 19
• In the Meluha series by Tripathi, the
Chandravanshis attack the
Suryavanshis, the clan to which Shiva is
claim to hail from, in the book.
• Bharat was the son of Dushyanta, the
ruler of Hastinapur from his wife,
Shakuntala – making him the
descendant of the Lunar line of
Kshatriyas or the Chandravanshis.
• Bharat was the great grandfather to the
Kauravas and the Pandavas.
• Such a legendary character – who also
preceded the epic Maha-Bharat, would
have to be fittingly played by a
renowned and established character
actor from the film industry, thought the
Chopras.
• Who played the role of Bharat in their
television series?

23. Question 20*
• Before the Mahabharat era, anthropologically, there was no
concept of religion or X.
• Vishwaketu, the son of a sage got enraged with the behavior
and attitudes of Y and Z and proposed the theory of X.
• X has today become a universally accepted activity and is
practiced/observed as much as music, religion and culture.
• It has also been a subject of debate amongst neo and liberal
thinkers and practitioners. X is also practiced in various forms
in different cutures and religions and also has legal norms
and guidelines.
• What is X?