---
title: Ascertain the meaning of the term ahimsa as employed in Hinduism. — Hinduism and Sikhism · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the meaning of the term ahimsa as employed in Hinduism. Exam question 4 of lesson 32 «Hinduism and Sikhism» of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Exam question 4 · Hinduism and Sikhism

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the meaning of the term ahimsa as employed in Hinduism.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 2 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, employ, mean · **To what, where:** meaning, term ahimsa, Hinduism

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 32 «Hinduism and Sikhism» of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/religion-ethics/32-hinduism-and-sikhism/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:32-hinduism-and-sikhism:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the meaning of the term ahimsa as employed in Hinduism.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	term	term	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	ahimsa	ahimsa	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
8	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
9	employed	employ	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	Hinduism	Hinduism	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the meaning of the term ahimsa |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=Topic |
| 2 | **employ** | participle |  | the term ahimsa *not said here* |  | Hinduism |  |  | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **mean** |  |  | the term ahimsa |  |  |  |  | nom meaning «communication transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The obligation to wear five articles of faith

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:32-hinduism-and-sikhism:e4:o1:1
# text = The obligation to wear five articles of faith
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	obligation	obligation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	wear	wear	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	acl	_	_
5	five	five	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	articles	article	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	faith	faith	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wear** | to-infinitive |  | five articles of faith |  |  |  |  | vn wipe\_manner-10.4.1-1 «NP V NP.source»: agent=Agent article=Source |
| 2 | **article** |  |  | faith |  |  |  |  | nom article «communication transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 2 · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The principle of non-violence towards all living beings

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:32-hinduism-and-sikhism:e4:o2:1
# text = The principle of non-violence towards all living beings
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	principle	principle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	non-violence	non-violence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	8	det	_	_
7	living	live	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	amod	_	_
8	beings	being	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **live** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The principle of selfless service rendered within the temple

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:32-hinduism-and-sikhism:e4:o3:1
# text = The principle of selfless service rendered within the temple
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	principle	principle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	selfless	selfless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	service	service	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	rendered	render	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	within	within	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	temple	temple	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **render** | past | the principle of selfless service |  |  |  |  | within the temple | vn give-13.1 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The obligation to fast during the hours of daylight

```conllu
# sent_id = question:religion-ethics:32-hinduism-and-sikhism:e4:o4:1
# text = The obligation to fast during the hours of daylight
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	obligation	obligation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	fast	fast	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	acl	_	_
5	during	during	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	hours	hour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	daylight	daylight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fast** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  | hour |  | tree rules |

<!-- div src -->

**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [Hinduism and Sikhism, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/32-hinduism-and-sikhism/e3/)
- next →: [Buddhism, humanism and respect for eve…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/33-buddhism-humanism-and-respect/t1/)
- ↑ back to [Hinduism and Sikhism](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/religion-ethics/32-hinduism-and-sikhism/)