Q 01/05

Within the Hindu Trimurti, Vishnu is known by which title?

A) The Creator

B) The Preserver

C) The Destroyer

D) The Awakener

Answer · why

B) The Preserver

The Preserver: Brahma creates and Shiva destroys, while Vishnu's task is to step in whenever evil gains the upper hand and restore the balance.

Q 02/05

Shaligrams, the spiral-marked black stones worshipped as natural forms of Vishnu, are the fossils of which sea creatures?

A) Trilobites

B) Corals

C) Ammonites

D) Sea urchins

Answer · why

C) Ammonites

Ammonites: these squid relatives lived in the long-vanished Tethys sea, and Nepal's Kali Gandaki river now washes their coiled shells out of Himalayan...

Q 03/05

Vishnu's skin is traditionally shown in which colour?

A) Dark blue

B) Crimson

C) Emerald

D) Golden

Answer · why

A) Dark blue

Dark blue: the old texts liken his colour to a rain-heavy cloud, and the name Ghanashyam means 'dark as a cloud'.

Q 04/05

What is the name of Vishnu's conch, blown as the Bhagavad Gita opens?

A) Sharanga

B) Panchajanya

C) Anantavijaya

D) Paundra

Answer · why

B) Panchajanya

Panchajanya: the name comes from Panchajana, a demon said to have lived inside the shell until Vishnu killed him and kept his home as a war trumpet.

Q 05/05

The Sudarshana Chakra held by Vishnu is what kind of weapon?

A) A golden longbow

B) A trident

C) A spinning discus

D) A thunderbolt

Answer · why

C) A spinning discus

A spinning discus: in one telling the gods' craftsman shaved off some of the Sun's unbearable glare and forged this weapon, and Shiva's trident, from ...