SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 19 September 2025, Shift 1 · General Awareness · Question 4 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 11 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Fill in the blanks: The composition “Guru Bin Kaise Gun Gaaye” is set to the rhythmic cycle known as ____.

(a)Jhaptaal
(b)Keharwa
(c)Teentaal
(d)Roopak

Answer

Why

Correct — C. 'Guru Bin Kaise Gun Gaaye' is a chhota khayal in Raag Yaman. The SwarGanga bandish archive lists it, as 'guru bina kaise guna aave', in Teen Taal at medium tempo.

Teentaal is the 16-beat cycle, divided 4 + 4 + 4 + 4. The rhythmic cycle is Teentaal → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Jhaptaal — Jhaptaal has 10 beats, divided 2 + 3 + 2 + 3. The bandish archive sets this composition in the 16-beat Teentaal instead.
(b)
Keharwa — Keharwa is an 8-beat cycle, divided 4 + 4. This Yaman khayal is listed in the 16-beat Teentaal, not in Keharwa.
(d)
Roopak — Roopak has 7 beats, divided 3 + 2 + 2, and some sources start it on khali. This composition is listed in Teentaal.

Concept

A taal is the rhythmic cycle a composition is set to, counted in matras (beats) grouped into vibhags. The first beat, sam, carries the stress, and an empty beat is called khali.

Teentaal has 16 matras in four vibhags of four, with khali on the 9th beat. Jhaptaal has 10 matras, Keharwa 8 and Roopak 7, so the beat count alone separates the four options.

The first line circulates in slightly different spellings, such as 'gun gaave' and 'guna aave', all for the same Raag Yaman bandish.

Key facts

Teentaal: 16 beats, divided 4 + 4 + 4 + 4, with khali on the 9th beat.
Jhaptaal: 10 beats, divided 2 + 3 + 2 + 3.
Keharwa: 8 beats, divided 4 + 4.
Roopak: 7 beats, divided 3 + 2 + 2.

Study next

Sam, tali and khali in Hindustani taalBada khayal and chhota khayalRaag Yaman and the Kalyan thaat

Common traps

Picking a taal by feel: the safe route is to know the bandish, which the SwarGanga archive lists in Teentaal.
Mixing up the beat counts: Teentaal 16, Jhaptaal 10, Keharwa 8, Roopak 7.

Here a named bandish is matched to its taal. Teentaal's structure is tested directly at 12 Sep 2025, 16:00, GA Q.4, which asks on which matra the khali falls.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Culture — all 163 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.