The International Day of Yoga is observed every year on

The correct answer is D, a process for elevating oneself. The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit root yuj, to join or to yoke, and the classical tradition treats it as a discipline that unites the individual self with the higher self. Patanjali defines it in the Yoga Sutras as the stilling of the modifications of the mind, and the Bhagavad Gita calls it samatvam, evenness of mind; both are descriptions of a person being raised, not entertained. Option A is wrong because physical exercise is only the third of the eight limbs, asana, and yoga also covers ethical conduct, breath control and meditation. Option B is wrong because yoga asks for concentration and inward attention, which is the opposite of distraction. Option C is wrong because yoga trains a practitioner to face life steadily and act without agitation; escape from reality is no part of it.

The correct answer is B, samatvam. Samatvam means equanimity or evenness, the steadiness of mind that is not shaken by success or failure, and the Bhagavad Gita uses the expression samatvam yoga uchyate, evenness of mind is called yoga. A mind in that state works without anxiety, which is why the term is linked with efficient performance of work. Option A is wrong because karmasu kaushalam means skill in action, a result of equanimity rather than the name of the state itself. Option C is wrong because purusha in Samkhya and Yoga philosophy is the conscious self or spirit, not a mental state. Option D is wrong because dukha samyoga viyoga refers to the separation from contact with suffering, a definition of yoga given elsewhere in the Gita but not the word asked for here.

The correct answer is C, jnana yoga, bhakti yoga and karma yoga. Indian tradition, and the Bhagavad Gita in particular, sets out three classical paths by which a seeker may reach the spirit: jnana yoga, the path of knowledge and discrimination; bhakti yoga, the path of devotion and surrender; and karma yoga, the path of selfless action performed without attachment to its fruit. Raja yoga, the path of meditation taught by Patanjali, is often added as a fourth. Options A, B and D are wrong because sat, chit and ananda are not paths at all; they are the three attributes of the absolute in Vedanta, being, consciousness and bliss, joined in the compound Sachchidananda. The question tests whether a candidate can tell a path of practice from a description of the absolute.

The correct answer is C, Ujjayi pranayama. In Ujjayi the throat is slightly narrowed while breathing through the nose, so the air makes a soft continuous hiss that is commonly compared with the sound of the sea or of waves; for that reason it is called the ocean breath, and the name itself means victorious. Option A is wrong because Kapalbhati is a rapid cleansing practice in which the exhalation is forced out by drawing in the abdomen, and its sound is a series of sharp puffs, not a steady murmur. Option B is wrong because Shitali is a cooling practice in which the breath is drawn in through a rolled tongue, and its characteristic feature is coolness rather than sound. Option D is wrong because dirgha simply means long or deep breathing and carries no such sound.

The correct answer is B, Sowa-Rigpa. Sowa-Rigpa, the science of healing, is the Amchi system of medicine practised in the Himalayan belt of Ladakh, Lahaul and Spiti, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and the Darjeeling hills, and its foundational text is the Gyud-Zhi or Four Tantras. Parliament gave it statutory recognition in 2010 by amending the law governing the central council for Indian medicine, which made it the seventh system in the AYUSH family. Options A, C and D are wrong because naturopathy, homoeopathy and Siddha were all part of the group from the beginning: the acronym AYUSH itself is built from Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy. A National Institute of Sowa-Rigpa was later set up at Leh in Ladakh, and the system is also practised across the Himalayan belt of Nepal, Bhutan and Mongolia, which is why it is sometimes described as the Himalayan or Tibetan system of medicine.