Non-Fiction: The Argumentative Indian NCERT Solutions | Class 12 English Kaleidoscope - Humanities/Arts PDF Download

Understanding The Text

Q1: What is a Sen’s interpretation of the positions taken by Krishna and Arjuna in the debate between them?
Ans: Note Sen’s comment: ‘Arjuna’s contrary arguments are not really vanquished... There remains a powerful case for ‘faring well’ and not just ‘faring forward’.
Sen feels that Arjuna’s position of ‘faring well’ should not completely be overlooked, irrespective of the message that Bhagavad Gita coveys. He feels that Krishna’s position of ‘faring forward’ irrespective of the consequences cannot be justified in the contemporary world of wars and violence. He also supports this argument by stating J.R. Oppenheimer (the physicist who led the American team that developed the nuclear weapon) as an example.

Q2: What are the three major issues Sen discusses here in relation to India’s dialogic tradition?
Ans: Sen mainly talks about the issues of gender, caste, and voice and breaking these barriers in light of the argumentative tradition in India. He also states that these barriers have been broken on numerous occasions, even at times as early as 8th century BCE.

Q3: Sen has sought here to dispel some misconceptions about democracy in India. What are these misconceptions?
Ans: Two main misconceptions about democracy in India which Sen has sought to dispel are 1) the assumption that India was gifted the practice of democracy by the western word and it simply adopted democracy after its independence 2) that India, due to its history, is particularly suited for democracy.

Q4: How, according to Sen, has the tradition of public discussion and interactive reasoning helped the success of democracy in India?
Ans: Sen believed that public discussion and interactive reasoning helped in shaping the social world and culture in India. According to him, the argumentative tradition deeply influenced the Indian politics and helped to make heterodoxy the natural state of affairs in India. He also states that persistent arguments are an important part of the public life in India.

Talking About The Text

Q1: Does Amartya Sen see argumentation as a positive or a negative value?
Ans: Sen sees argumentation as a positive value. He believes that the argumentative tradition greatly shapes our social world and culture. According to Sen, it became an important part of our public life and has also deeply influenced the Indian politics. He even argues that argumentation was a major contribution to the development of democracy in India.

Q2: How is the message of the Gita generally understood and portrayed? What change in interpretation does Sen suggest?
Ans: The Gita is usually understood as a one-sided wisdom given by Krishna. However, Sen argues that Arjuna’s consequential analysis should also be considered in light of the contemporary world. He suggests that the interpretation of the Gita requires supplementation by the broader argumentative wisdom of the Mahabharata.

Appreciation

Q1: This essay is an example of argumentative writing. Supporting statements with evidence is a feature of this kind of writing.
For each of the statements given below state the supportive evidence provided in the essay:
(i) Prolixity is not alien to India –
(ii) The arguments are also, often enough, substantive –
(iii) This admiration for the Gita, and Krishna’s arguments, in particular has been a lasting phenomenon in parts of European culture –
(iv) There remains a powerful case for ‘faring well’, and not just ‘forward’ –
Ans:
(i) “Krishna Menon’s record of the longest speech ever delivered at the United Nations (nine hours non-stop)”
(ii) “the famous Bhagavad Gita, which is one small section of the Mahabharata, presents a tussle between two contrary moral positions.
(iii) Krishna’s emphasis on doing one’s duty, on one side, and Arjuna’s focus on avoiding bad consequences on the other.”
(iv) “Krishna’s moral position has also been eloquently endorsed by many philosophical and literary commentators across the world, such as Christopher Isherwood and T. S. Eliot. Isherwood, in fact, translated the Bhagavad Gita into English.”