"Abhisara - The Tryst" – MCQs (20+ Questions)

1. Who is Upagupta?
   a) A wealthy merchant
   b) The disciple of Buddha, who sleeps on the dust by the city wall
   c) A dancer
   d) A king
2. Where does the first meeting between Upagupta and Vasavadatta take place?
   a) In the marketplace
   b) On the dusty road by the city wall of Mathura during a dark August night
   c) Outside the city gates
   d) In Vasavadatta's house
3. What causes the first meeting between the two characters?
   a) A deliberate plan
   b) Vasavadatta accidentally touches Upagupta while he sleeps; her feet with tinkling anklets touch his breast
   c) They meet in a crowd
   d) Upagupta seeks her out
4. How is Vasavadatta characterized in the first meeting?
   a) Poor and humble
   b) Starred with jewels, clouded with a pale-blue mantle, drunk with the wine of her youth
   c) Old and diseased
   d) Simple and ascetic
5. What is remarkable about Upagupta's eyes when he wakes?
   a) They are angry
   b) They are forgiving, showing compassion despite being disturbed
   c) They are fearful
   d) They are cold and distant
6. What does Vasavadatta notice about Upagupta when she lowers her lamp?
   a) He is wealthy and well-dressed
   b) He has a young face that is austerely beautiful
   c) He is old and weak
   d) He is angry at her
7. What is Vasavadatta's invitation to Upagupta?
   a) To join her in celebration
   b) To graciously come to her house because the dusty earth is not a fit bed for him
   c) To teach her about Buddha
   d) To marry her
8. What is the significance of Upagupta's response "when the time is ripe I will come to you"?
   a) He is rejecting her entirely
   b) He is making an empty promise
   c) He prophetically suggests their meeting is destined to occur at a specific future moment
   d) He misunderstands her invitation
9. What happens to interrupt the first meeting?
   a) Someone calls Vasavadatta away
   b) Upagupta falls back asleep
   c) The black night shows its teeth in a flash of lightning; the storm growls from the corner of the sky
   d) Vasavadatta leaves peacefully
10. How does Vasavadatta react to the storm?
    a) She remains calm
    b) She trembles in fear
    c) She laughs
    d) She ignores it completely
11. What seasonal setting characterizes the second meeting?
    a) Dark monsoon (August)
    b) Spring, when branches are aching with blossom and the full moon shines on the silent town
    c) Summer
    d) Autumn
12. What is happening in the city during the spring season?
    a) People are mourning
    b) The citizens have gone to the woods to the festival of flowers
    c) There is a war
    d) Everyone is hiding indoors
13. What sound characterizes the spring setting?
    a) Thunder and rain
    b) Gay notes of the flute coming floating in the warm spring air from afar
    c) Silence and emptiness
    d) Cries of pain and suffering
14. What do the lovesick koels do in the spring setting?
    a) They sing joyfully
    b) They urge from the mango branches their sleepless plaint (mournful cry)
    c) They remain silent
    d) They attack the ascetic
15. Why is Upagupta walking alone in the lonely street?
    a) He is lost and searching for the city
    b) As an ascetic, he exists outside social celebration; he walks a spiritual path separate from the festival
    c) He is fleeing from danger
    d) He is looking for a place to sleep
16. What does Upagupta find when he passes through the city gates?
    a) A celebration
    b) A woman struck with the black pestilence, her body spotted with sores, abandoned outside the city
    c) A group of soldiers
    d) An empty road
17. How does Upagupta respond to finding the plague-stricken woman?
    a) He recoils and leaves her
    b) He calls for help from others
    c) He sits by her side, takes her head on his knees, moistens her lips with water, and smears her body with balm
    d) He preaches to her about religion
18. What is ironic about the woman's condition in the second meeting?
    a) She has become wealthy
    b) She was the celebrated dancing girl, starred with jewels and beautiful, but is now struck with plague, her body spotted with sores, abandoned
    c) She has become younger
    d) She has gained social status
19. What question does the plague-stricken woman ask Upagupta?
    a) "Will you leave me?"
    b) "Who are you, merciful one?"
    c) "Why have you come?"
    d) "Do you know me?"
20. What is the significance of Upagupta's final response?
    a) He tells her he is her servant
    b) He claims "The time, at last, has come to visit you, and I am here"—fulfilling his prophecy from the first meeting
    c) He promises to make her beautiful again
    d) He offers to take her back to the city
21. What is the primary theme of the poem?
    a) The superiority of monks over dancers
    b) The transitory nature of youth and beauty; the enduring nature of spiritual love and compassion
    c) How to achieve wealth and status
    d) The beauty of spring weather
22. What does the poem ultimately suggest about true love and value?
    a) Value lies in external beauty and jewels
    b) True love is shown through selfless compassion regardless of external circumstances; spiritual connection transcends physical appearance
    c) Only young people deserve love
    d) Beauty is eternal and never fades

Answers: 1-b, 2-b, 3-b, 4-b, 5-b, 6-b, 7-b, 8-c, 9-c, 10-b, 11-b, 12-b, 13-b, 14-b, 15-b, 16-b, 17-c, 18-b, 19-b, 20-b, 21-b, 22-b.