Answers: Thedal Quiz – 6

Thanks again for your active participation in our sixth quiz where the answers start with ‘Vi’. We thank all readers and respondents for their active participation.

Here are the readers who got all the answers right:

Mukunth, Soumya and Padma Sreedhar.

Many congratulations!

Here are the answers to the questions:

1. Which God is considered the commander-in-chief of Lord Vishnu and inspects all temple processions and festivals?

Vishvaksena. Also known as Senai Mudaliyar, he is the commander-in-chief of Lord Vishnu. He is worshipped before any ritual or function in Vaishnavaite temples. Only after his inspection is complete, the festivities can start in temples.

2. Which king had a name of Kaushika and became a great sage by doing vigourous penance and acquired the name of Rajarishi?

Vishwamitra. Born as a King with name Kaushika, he was once humiliated by sage Vashista. Awed by Vaishista’s powers he performed penance several times and finally become a highly venerated sage, a Brahman. Goes on to show that Brahminism is not by birth but through actions performed.

3. What is the name of Garuda’s mother?

Vinatha. For more on Garuda’s parentage, please click here.

4. Who is considered the architect of Gods/Devas?

Vishwakarma. Some of his creations as per divine scriptures are Swarga (Heaven), Lanka and Dwaraka, the capital city of Lord Krishna.

5. What was the early name of Thondar-adi-podi-azhwar?

Vipra Narayana.  He was a devotee of Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam. Since he worshipped even the dust from the devotees of Lord Ranganatha, he attained the name Thondaradipodi. He is one of the 12 Azhwars adored in Vaishnavite sect.

6. Which demon king was responsible for Lord Ranganatha getting located in Srirangam, Tamilnadu?

Vibhishana. The deity of Lord Ranganatha was an ancestral property of Ikshvaku clan of Lord Rama. After defeating Ravana, as a symbol of love, Rama gifted the idol to Vibishana who while travelling to Lanka, placed the idol on the banks of river Kaveri. When it was time to move, the Lord decided to stay put in the place but promised to bless Vibhishana by always facing South (the direction of Lanka). Thus Srirangam became the eternal abode of Lord Ranganatha.

7. Name the river that flows in the Netherworlds where all those souls attaining Moksha (salvation) take a shower first.

Viraja river. This river is considered the boundary between the material world and the spiritual realm. (Some of you had answered ‘Vaitharani’ which flows between earth and the proverbial hell)

8. This epic was written with a peculiar writing insrument, a tusk. Name the writer.

Vinayaka. Vyasa dictated the epic and Lord Ganesha (Vinayaka) wrote it by breaking one of his tusks and using it as a pen. An interesting story is that Lord Ganesha imposed a condition while writing that Vyasa should not stop in between while dictating. Vyasa readily agreed but proposed a counter condition that Lord Ganesha shouldn’t write further unless he understood the meaning of the verse he was writing. Thus Vyasa composed some verses with deep meaning to take a pause then and there while Lord Ganesha was trying to get the meaning. Interesting, isn’t it?

9. Who was the only Kaurava brother who objected to the humiliation of Pandavas when they were illegally defeated by Duryodhana and Shakuni in a game of dice?

Vikarna. He was only one who openly questioned the gathering of king and courtiers and pointed out the wrongdoings of his own brothers while the seniors stood powerless. He however fought bravely in the war along with his Kaurava brothers and got killed by Bhima whose grief was immense for this action.

10. What is the name of the form taken by Lord Vishnu which encompasses the whole world within Him?

Vishwaroopam. Lord Krishna took this form at least three times – one, in the presence of Arjuna during the discourse of Bhagavad Gita; two, in the assembly of Dhirarashtra when Duryodhana and others tried to kill him when he was on a peace mission and three, to Uddava who wanted to see his Vishwaroopa form after the war. Even today, several Vaishnavite temples have a Vishwaroopa Darshan during the early morning hours.

11. Name the philosophy established by the great saint, Sri Ramanuja.

Vishishtaadhwaita. There are three schools of philosophies in Hinduism. Of these three, the Adhwaitha (monism) philosophy was founded by Aadishankara, Vishishta Adhwaitha philosophy (qualified monism) was founded by Ramanuja and Dhwaitha (dualism) was founded by Maadhvaacharya.

12. Name the Goddess who goes by the name, ‘the one who has large eyes’.

Vishaalakshi. Vishala means large and Aksha is eyes thus giving the name ‘the one who has large eyes’. The Vishalakshi Temple is located at Mir Ghat on the banks of the Ganges at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.