Q 01/05

Around 2020, roughly how many followers did Hinduism have, the world's third-largest religion?

A) 500 million

B) 2 billion

C) 800 million

D) 1.17 billion

Answer · why

D) 1.17 billion

Estimates around 2020 put Hinduism at roughly 1.17 billion adherents, about 15 percent of humanity, behind only Christianity and Islam.

Q 02/05

What term, meaning 'eternal law', have Hindus used since the 19th century to describe their religion?

A) Vaidika Dharma

B) Sanatana Dharma

C) Arya Dharma

D) Buddha Dharma

Answer · why

B) Sanatana Dharma

Sanatana Dharma, 'the eternal dharma', was taken up by 19th-century Hindus as a self-description; the word 'Hindu' itself began as an exonym, a name g...

Q 03/05

Hindu texts are classified into Shruti and Smriti. What do the two words literally mean?

A) 'Old' and 'new'

B) 'Sung' and 'spoken'

C) 'Sacred' and 'secular'

D) 'Heard' and 'remembered'

Answer · why

D) 'Heard' and 'remembered'

Shruti, chiefly the Vedas, is regarded as revealed to the rishis and carries the highest authority.

Q 04/05

How many Vedas are there?

A) Four

B) Three

C) Seven

D) Ten

Answer · why

A) Four

There are Four Vedas, each arranged into Samhitas (hymns), Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads; their oldest layers date from the second millennium BC...

Q 05/05

Which is the oldest known Vedic Sanskrit text, composed mostly between about 1500 and 1000 BCE?

A) Atharvaveda

B) Yajurveda

C) Rigveda

D) Samaveda

Answer · why

C) Rigveda

The Rigveda, 1,028 hymns arranged in ten mandalas, is the oldest Vedic text and among the oldest surviving works in any Indo-European language.