THE SETMONS AT BENARAS
1)What is the theme or Central Idea of the Lesson The Sermon at Benares
OR
Do the Literary Analysis of the story The Sermon at Benares.
‘Sermon At Benares’ is the story of an unfortunate woman Kisa Gotami. She had lost her only one. In her grief, she carried the dead body of her son from one place to another. In the end, she came to Lord Buddha. She needed the medicine that could cure her son. The Buddha asked her to bring him a handful of mustard seed from a house where no one had lost a child, husband, parent or friend. Kisa Gotami didn’t find a house where some beloved one had not died in it. She thought to herself that it was the fate of mankind. Death was inevitable. Nobody can avoid dying. The world is afflicted with death and decay. The wise don’t grieve. `He who has overcome all soon will become free from sorrow, and be blessed.’
2)Give the Character Sketch of Gautama Buddha.
Gautama Buddha is the founder of the religion Buddhism. He was a spiritual teacher who had gained enlightenment of seeing the world’s pains and greed. Buddha preached that human life is very short and it is full of sorrows and pains. He cleared that our brief life is full of troubles and pains. Everyone on this earth has to one day meet with death.
3)Through the story of Kisa Gotami, what did the Buddha try to preach to the common man?
Ans. Buddha said that death is common to all mortals. Those who are born must die one day. You cannot avoid it. Death is certain. He taught this, through the story of Kisa Gotami, Kisa was a common woman whose son had died. She could not believe it and carried her son to neighbours requesting them to give her medicine to cure him. People thought that she was not in her senses. She approached Buddha. He asked her to procure a handful of mustard seeds but he put a condition that they should be procured from a house where no death has ever taken place. Kisa could not find such a house. She, sad and depressed, sat on the sideways and watched city lights that flickered and extinguished. It made her realize that human lives flicker and extinguish as well and that death is an unavoidable phenomenon. She thought herself to be selfish for thinking only about her grief.
Extract Based / comprehension test Questions and Answers of The Sermon at Benares
Read the extracts and answer the questions that follow.
1.”The Buddha preached his first sermon at the city of Benares, most holy of the dipping places on the River Ganges; that sermon has been preserved and is given here. It reflects the Buddha’s wisdom about one inscrutable kind of suffering.”
(a) Name the holiest of the dipping places on the River Ganges where the Buddha preached his first sermon.
(b) What does Buddha’s first sermon reflect?
(c) What did Gautama do after getting on light emend?
(d) How was he known as then?
Ans. (a) The holiest of the dipping places on the River Ganges where the Buddha preached his first sermon was at Benares.
(b) Buddha’s wisdom about one inscrutable kind of suffering.
(c) After getting enlightenment, he began to teach and share his new understandings with the common people.
(d) As he started preaching, he was known as Buddha, meaning, the awakened or the enlightened one.
2. “Kisa Gotami became weary and hopeless and sat down at the wayside watching the lights of the city, as they flickered up and were extinguished again. At last the darkness of the night reigned everywhere.”
(a) Why do you think Kisa Gotami became weary and hopeless?
(b) How many sons did Kisa Gautami have?
(c) What did she notice while sitting at the wayside?
(d) What message did she get from the flickering and extinguishing lights of the city?
Ans. (a) It was because she could not find a house where no one had died.
(b) Kisa Gautami had only one son.
(c) She noticed the flickering lights of the city.
(d) Their lives flicker up and are extinguished.
3. At twelve, he was sent away for schooling in the Hindu sacred scriptures and years later he returned home to marry a princess. They had a son and lived for ten Y befitting royalty. At about the age of twenty-five, the prince heretofore shielded from sufferings of the world, while out hunting chanced upon a sick man, then an aged than a funeral procession, and finally a monk begging for alms. These sights so move that he at once became a beggar and went out into the world to seek enlighten concerning the sorrows he had witnessed.
(a) What happened at the age of twelve?
(b) What happened when he was out hunting?
(c) Where was he sent away for schooling?
(d) When did he marry?
Ans. (a) At twelve, he was sent away for schooling in the Hindi; sacred seen
(b) He saw a sick man, then human image man and then a funeral procession-
(c) He was sent away for Schooling in the Hindu sacred scriptures.
(d) He married at the age en after completing his schooling.
4. At about the age of tweet e, the prince, hereto the world, while out hunting chanced upon a sick man, then an aged man than a farmer the procession, and finally a monk begging for alms. These sights so moved him that he at once ante a beggar and went out into the world to seek enlightenment concerning the sorrows he had witnessed. He wandered for seven years and finally sat down under a fig tree, where he vowed to stay until enlightenment came. Enlightened after seven days, he renamed the tree the Buddha Tree (Tree of Wisdom) and began to teach and to share his new understandings. At that point, he became known as the Buddha (the Awakened or the Enlightened).
(a) When was Gautam Buddha’s first encounter with suffering?
(b) How did he react to it?
(c) Why did the prince have no experience of the sufferings of the world till the age of twenty-five?
(d) What effect did the sights have on him?
(a) Gautam Buddha’s first encounter was when he went out hunting.
(b) He renounced the worldly comforts and left home to seek enlightenment from these Sorrows.
(c) This was because he was shielded from the sufferings of the world.
(d) He went out for enlightenment.
5. Buddha said, “The life of mortals in this world is troubled and brief and combined with pain. For there is not any means by which those that have been born can avoid dying; after reaching old age there is death; of such a nature are living beings. As ripe fruits are early in danger of falling, so mortals, when born, are always in danger of death. As all earthen vessels made by the Potter end in being broken, so is the life of mortals. Both young and adult, both those who are fools and those who are wise, all fall. into the power of death, all are subject to death.”
(a) What did the Buddha say about the life of the people?
(b) What does a ripe fruit fear?
(c) What happens after reaching age?
(d) What, according to Buddha, death is avoidable?
Ans. (a) The life of people is troubled and brief and combined with pain.
(b) A ripe fruit fears the danger of falling.
(c) There is death after birth.
(d) There is not any means by which those that have been born, can avoid dying.
6. Kisa Gotami had an only son and he died. In her grief she carried the dead child to all her neighbours, asking them for medicine, and the people said, “She has lost her senses dead.” At length, Kisa Gotamimet a man who replied to her request; “I can’t give thee! nines for thy child, but I know a physician who can.” And the girl said, “Pray to tell me, sir, o is it?” And the man replied, “Go to Sakyamuni, the Buddha.” Kisa Gotami repaired to tile Buddha and cried: “Lord and Master, give me the medicine that will cure my boy”.
(a) Why was Kisa Gotami in grief?
(b) What did she ask of all her neighbours?
(c) What had happened to Kisa Gotami’sonly son?
(d) Who did she carry her dead child to in her grief?
Ans. (a)Kisa Gotami was in grief because her son was dead.
(b) She asked them for medicine.
(c) He was dead.
(d)In grief she carried her dead child to all her neighbours.
7. Of those who, overcome by death, depart from life, a father cannot save his son, for kinsmen their relations. Mark ! While relatives are looking on and lamenting deeply, one by one mortal are carried off, like an ox that is led to the slaughter. So the world is afflicted with death and decay, therefore, the wise do not grieve, knowing the terms of the world. Not from weeping nor from grieving will anyone obtain peace of mind; on the contrary, his pain will be the greater and his body will suffer. He will make himself sick and pale, yet the dead are not saved by his lamentation.
(a) What is the fate of mortals?
(b) Why do the wise not grieve?
(c) Why does the writer compare mortals with an ox?
(d) How does ‘lamentation’ harm a person?
Ans. (a) The fate of mortals is death.
(b) Wise does not grieve because they know the terms of the world that one who is must die one day. They neither weep nor grieve.
(c) Both of them have to die and are led to ‘slaughter’.
(d) It makes one sick and pale; one does not get peace of mind.
8. The Buddha answered: “I want a handful of mustard seeds.” And when the girl in joy promised to procure it, the Buddha added: “The mustard seeds must be taken house where no one has lost a child, husband, parent or friend.”
(a) Identify ‘I’ in the passage.
(b) What did the Buddha ask the girl for?
(c) What was the condition imposed on the girl?
(d) In this way, what did the Buddha want Kisa Gotami to understand?
Ans. (a)'I’ in the passage is Gautama Buddha.
(b) To procure mustard seeds.
(c) The condition was that no one in the family had lost a man from the house.
(d) Buddha wanted Kisa Gotami to understand that all men who live have to die. pea is inevitable and cannot be avoided.
Answer the following questions in 30-40 words:
1. Who is referred to as “wise” by the Buddha in his sermons?
Buddha preached in his sermons that everything that is born will die one day. Death is inevitable: both young and adult or fools and wise are subject to death.
According to Buddha, people who realise and accept this fact and do not lament are wise.
2. How did the Buddha teach Kisa Gotami the truth of life?
Buddha changed Kisa’s thinking with the help of a simple act—asking her to
procure a handful of mustard seeds from the house where no one had died. She could not understand it. But, gradually she understood that death is inevitable.
3. Describe the life of Gautama Buddha before enlightenment.
Buddha was earlier a prince and lived in luxury. When he encountered suffering and grief, it made him sad. He renounced everything and went in search of way to get rid of suffering. He wandered for seven years. Then, one day, he sat under a fig tree and vowed not to leave until he was enlightened.
4. What moved Siddhartha Gautama to seek the path of enlightenment?
While going for hunting Siddhartha Gautam saw a sick man, an old man, a funeral procession and a monk begging. This encounter with the sufferings of human beings moved him to seek the path of enlightenment.
5. What did the Buddha preach to the people?
Buddha said that death is common to all mortals. You cannot avoid it. No amount of weeping and lamenting can bring back a dead. So wise men don’t grieve.
Weeping and lamenting rather spoil one’s health. To gain peace in life, one must not lament, complain or grieve about their loss.
Short answer type questions :
Answer the following questions in 30-40 words:
1. Kisa compared human life to an inanimate object. What is it and why does she do so?
Ans. Kisa compared human life with the lights of the city which flicker up and extinguished again and the darkness of the night spreads everywhere. Similarly, the human takes birth, flickers up and then extinguished the life of the remains. She compared so because the darkness of sadness spreads in use she was as in great grief of the death of his
2. Where and when did Siddhartha become the Buddha?
Ans. At the age of 25, Siddhartha came across a sick man then an old man, age sight moved funeral procession and finally a monk.he left his palace and wandered for seven years to find enlightenment . He finally attained peace and enlightenment and renamed himself as Buddha.
3. Which people are referred to as “wise” by the Buddha in his sermons?
Ans. Buddha preached in his sermons that everything that is born will come to its end. Death is inevitable: both young and adult or fools and wise are subject to death. But the people who do not grieve knowing the terms of the world are called wise people. Wise people neither weep nor grieve.
4. Why was Kisa Gotamis remorseful?
Ans. Kisa Gotami’s only son had died. She was grief-stricken. Carrying the dead son, she went to all her neighbours to get some medicine that would cure her son. A man sent her to the Buddha who asked her to procure a handful of mustard seeds from a house where no one had died, but she couldn’t find such a house and was thus sad.
5. Why was Gautama known as the Buddha?
Ans. Gautama sat under a pipal tree until he attained enlightenment. After seven days he got enlightenment and began to teach and share his new understandings. So he came to be known as the Buddha (the Awakened or the Enlightened).
6. How did the Buddha teach Kisa Gotami the truth of life?
Ans. Buddha changed Kisa’s thinking with the help of a simple act by asking her to procure a handful of mustard seeds from that house where none had died. She could not understand it. But, gradually she understood that death is inevitable.
7. Describe the life of Gautama Buddha before enlightenment.
Ans. Buddha was earlier a prince and lived in luxury. When he encountered suffering and grief, it made him sad and sorrowful. He renounced everything and went in search of riddance from suffering. He wandered for seven years. Then, one day, he sat under a fig tree and vowed not to leave until he was enlightened.
8. To seek peace one has to draw out the arrow of lamentation. State two values projected through the statement.
Ans.No lamenting can bring someone’s dear and near ones back to life. Neither can they stop one’s death. Lamenting tells upon one’s health. He becomes sick and pale. He loses appetite and interest in life. One has to learn that death is inevitable.
9. What sights moved Siddhartha Gautama to seek the path of enlightenment?
Ans. While going for hunting Gautam saw a sick man, an old man, a funeral procession and a monk begging. This encounter with the sufferings and grief moved him and he left to seek the path of enlightenment.
10. What did the Buddha preach to the people?
Ans. Buddha said that death is common to all mortals. You cannot avoid it. No amount of Weeping and lamenting can bring back a dead. So wise men don’t grieve. Weeping and Lamenting rather spoil one’s health. To overcome sorrow, become free of sorrow.
11. What happened to Kisa Gotami’s son? What did she ask her neighbours to give her?
Ans. When her son died, Kisa Gautama went from house to house in order to ask for as everyone said that she was out of her senses to invite for her son. But she didn’t get any it2nat her son was dead.
12. How do weeping and grieving affect us in the Sermon at Benares?
Ans. Weeping and grieving bring no gains. It rather spoils one’s health and gives truer ‘, I Only you take out the arrow of lamentation and get composed you will get peace of overcome sorrow, become free of sorrow. I again go from house to house after she speaks with the Buddha.
13. Mention the incidents which prompted Prince Siddhartha to become a beggar.
Ans. Siddhartha while going for hunting saw a sick man, an old man, a funeral procession and a monk begging. This was his first encounter with suffering and grief. It made him sad and he immediately renounced everything.
14. What did Kisa Gotami learn in the end?
Ans. Kisa Gotami wandered from house to house to get a handful of mustard seeds but could not find it. She realized that death is common to all. All living beings have to die. She had been selfish in her grief.
15. What is Gautam Buddha’s opinion about death?
Ans. Buddha says that the world is a valley of death. There is a path that leads man to immortality reality that has been cleansed of all selfishness. Death is common to all. One who is born will die as well. Death is imminent. The life of mortals in this world is troubled and brief and combined with pain.
16. Who was Gautam Buddha? When and where was he born?
Ans. Gautam Buddha was the earlier prince, Siddhartha who got enlightenment under a fig tree and was then named as Gautam Buddha. He was born as a prince in North India.
17. Kisa Gotami was selfish and grief-stricken. Justify.
Ans. Kisa Gotami lost her only son. In her grief, she carried her dead child everywhere and asked people to cure him. As instructed by Buddha she went door to door to get a handful of mustard seeds with condition that there should not be any loss of a child. Husband, parent or friend. In her grief, she forgot that everyone had to suffer such type of loss in his or her family Death is common to all. But in her grief, she became selfish and tried to full fill the condition that was impossible.
18. What does she ask for the second time around? Does she get it? Why not?
Ans. Buddha asked her to procure a handful of mustard seeds but he put a condition that it should be procured from a house where no death had ever taken place. She went from house to house but could not find such a residence.
Q.19. Who was Gautama Buddha?
Ans. Gautama Buddha was a prince in northern India. His full name was Siddhartha Gautama and he was sent away for schooling at the age of twelve. He married Yashodhara when he returned after four years.
Q.20. How did Siddhartha Gautama get the name of Buddha?
Ans. Siddhartha Gautama sat under a big peepal tree, where he vowed to stay until enlightenment came. He was enlightened after seven days. He began to teach and share his new understandings. Then he came to be known as Buddha.
Q.21. What did Buddha ask the lady to do?
Ans. Buddha asked the lady to bring a handful of mustard-seeds. But these must be taken from a house where no one had ever lost a child, husband or a friend. Then he would be able to help her.
Q.22. What does Gautama Buddha say about the life and death of human beings?
Ans. Gautama Buddha says that the life of human beings in this world is troubled, brief and combined with pain. It is because there is not any means by which those that have been born can avoid dying.
Q.23. Can an aggrieved person get peace of mind by weeping or grieving?
Ans. No, nobody can get peace of mind by weeping or grieving. Rather, his pain will be greater and his body will suffer by doing so. He will make himself sick and pale.
Q.24. Where did Buddha preach his first sermon?
Ans. After attainment of enlightenment, Buddha preached his first sermon at the holy city of Banaras which is situated on the sacred river Ganges.
Q.25. With what does Buddha compare the death and decay of human beings?
Ans. Gautama Buddha says that just as ripe fruit are liable to fall, so mortals when horn arc always in danger of death. An earthen vessel made by the potter end in being broken, the life of all mortals will ultimately meet death.
Q26. Describe the early life of Gautama Buddha.
Ans. Gautama Buddha began life as a prince. He was named Siddhartha Gautama. He was sent away for schooling in the Hindu sacred scriptures at twelve. When he returned home, he was married to a princess. He lived in royal luxury, shielded from the sufferings up to the age of twenty-five.
Q27. What were the sights that moved and shocked Gautama?
Ans. Prince Gautama had been deliberately shielded from all the sufferings of the world. One day he chanced upon a sick man, then an aged man and then a funeral procession. Finally, he saw a monk begging for alms. These sights moved him. He went out into the world to seek the solution of all these sufferings. He wanted to seek enlightenment.
Q28.What did Kisa Gotami do when her only son died? What did her neighbours think about her?
Ans. Kisa Gautami’s only son had died. She was overwhelmed with grief She carried the dead child to all her neighbours. She asked them for the medicine to cure her son. The neighbours thought she had lost her senses. A dead child could never be cured.
Q29.How did Kisa Gotami go to the Buddha? What did Buddha ask Gotami to do?
Ans. A man advised Kisa Gotami to go to Sakyamuni, the Buddha. He was the physician who could cure her dead son. She went to the Buddha. He asked Kisa Gotami to bring a handful of mustard seeds from a house. The house must be such where no one had lost a child, husband, parent or friend.
Q 30. Did Kisa Gotami get a handful of mustard seeds as directed by the Buddha?
Ans. Poor Kisa Gotami went from house to house. The people pitied her and were ready to give a handful of mustard seeds to her. But, she couldn’t find a house where no one had lost a child, husband, parent or friend.
Long answer type questions:
Answer the following questions in 100-120 words:
1)“To seek peace one should draw out the arrow of lamentation.” What do you infer from the Buddha’s statement?
Buddha said that death is common to all mortals. Those who are born must die one day. You cannot avoid it. Death is certain. As ripe fruits fall off the trees and meet an end so do the lives of the mortals. Life of a man is like an earthen pot that breaks and meets its end. No amount of weeping and lamenting can bring a dead back to life. So, wise men don’t grieve. They understand that it is the law of nature. Also, weeping and lamenting bring no gains. It rather spoils one’s health and gives more pain. If only you take out the arrow of lamentation and get composed you will get peace of mind.
2. Describe the journey of Siddhartha Gautama becoming the Buddha.
Gautama Buddha began his life as a royal prince. He was named Siddhartha Gautama. At twelve, Gautama was sent away for schooling in the Hindu sacred
scriptures. At the age of sixteen, he returned home to marry a princess. The prince was deliberately shielded from all sufferings of the world. But this attempt failed when the prince while out hunting chanced upon a sick man. Then, he saw an aged man. He also chanced to see a funeral procession. Finally, he saw a monk, begging for alms. These sights of suffering, sickness and decay shocked and moved the prince. He wanted to seek the final solution of all these sorrows and sufferings. He wandered for seven Years in search of enlightenment. Finally, he sat down under a fig tree. He meditated there until he was enlightened after seven days. He renamed the tree as Bodhi Tree or the Tree of Wisdom. He became known as the Buddha or the Enlightened one. Then Buddha gave his first sermon at Benares on the River Ganges.
Questions from the text book.
Answer the following questions in 30-40 words:
1. Who is referred to as “wise” by the Buddha in his sermons?
Buddha preached in his sermons that everything that is born will die one day. Death is inevitable: both young and adult or fools and wise are subject to death. According to Buddha, people who realise and accept this fact and do not lament are wise.
2. How did the Buddha teach Kisa Gotami the truth of life?
Buddha changed Kisa’s thinking with the help of a simple act—asking her to
procure a handful of mustard seeds from the house where no one had died. She could not understand it. But, gradually she understood that death is inevitable.
3. Describe the life of Gautama Buddha before enlightenment.
Buddha was earlier a prince and lived in luxury. When he encountered suffering and grief, it made him sad. He renounced everything and went in search of way to
get rid of suffering. He wandered for seven years. Then, one day, he sat under a fig tree and vowed not to leave until he was enlightened.
4. What moved Siddhartha Gautama to seek the path of enlightenment?
While going for hunting Siddhartha Gautam saw a sick man, an old man, a funeral procession and a monk begging. This encounter with the sufferings of human beings moved him to seek the path of enlightenment.
5. What did the Buddha preach to the people?
Buddha said that death is common to all mortals. You cannot avoid it. No amount of weeping and lamenting can bring back a dead. So wise men don’t grieve. Weeping and lamenting rather spoil one’s health. To gain peace in life, one must not lament, complain or grieve about their loss.
Thinking about the Text
1. Why did Prince Siddhartha leave the palace and become a beggar?
Once Prince Siddhartha, while hunting saw a sick man, then an aged man, then a funeral procession and finally a monk begging for alms. Looking at this, he left the palace and became a beggar to search for enlightenment.
2. When her son dies, Kisa Gotami goes from house to house. What does she ask for?Does she get it? Why not?
When Kisa Gotami’s son died, she went from house to house, asking if she could get some medicine that would cure her child.No, she did not get it because her child was dead and no medicine could havebrought him back to life.
3. What does Kisa Gotami understand the second time that she failed to understand the first time? Was this what the Buddha wanted her to understand?
Kisa Gotami understood the second time that death is common to all and that she was being selfish in her grief. There was no house where some beloved had not died. Yes, this is what the Buddha wanted her to understand.so Buddha's way of preaching helped her to accept and understand the brutal truth of her son's death.
4. Why do you think Kisa Gotami understood this only the second time? In what way did the Buddha change her understanding?
At the first , she was only thinking about her grief and was therefore asking for a medicine that would cure her son. When she met the Buddha, he asked her to get a handful of mustard seeds from a house where no has died. He did this purposely to make her realize that there was not a single house where no beloved
had died, she felt dejected that she could not gather the mustard seeds. Then, when she sat and thought about it, she realized that the fate of men is such that they live and die. Death is common to all. This was what the Buddha had intended her to understand.
1)What is the theme or Central Idea of the Lesson The Sermon at Benares
OR
Do the Literary Analysis of the story The Sermon at Benares.
‘Sermon At Benares’ is the story of an unfortunate woman Kisa Gotami. She had lost her only one. In her grief, she carried the dead body of her son from one place to another. In the end, she came to Lord Buddha. She needed the medicine that could cure her son. The Buddha asked her to bring him a handful of mustard seed from a house where no one had lost a child, husband, parent or friend. Kisa Gotami didn’t find a house where some beloved one had not died in it. She thought to herself that it was the fate of mankind. Death was inevitable. Nobody can avoid dying. The world is afflicted with death and decay. The wise don’t grieve. `He who has overcome all soon will become free from sorrow, and be blessed.’
2)Give the Character Sketch of Gautama Buddha.
Gautama Buddha is the founder of the religion Buddhism. He was a spiritual teacher who had gained enlightenment of seeing the world’s pains and greed. Buddha preached that human life is very short and it is full of sorrows and pains. He cleared that our brief life is full of troubles and pains. Everyone on this earth has to one day meet with death.
3)Through the story of Kisa Gotami, what did the Buddha try to preach to the common man?
Ans. Buddha said that death is common to all mortals. Those who are born must die one day. You cannot avoid it. Death is certain. He taught this, through the story of Kisa Gotami, Kisa was a common woman whose son had died. She could not believe it and carried her son to neighbours requesting them to give her medicine to cure him. People thought that she was not in her senses. She approached Buddha. He asked her to procure a handful of mustard seeds but he put a condition that they should be procured from a house where no death has ever taken place. Kisa could not find such a house. She, sad and depressed, sat on the sideways and watched city lights that flickered and extinguished. It made her realize that human lives flicker and extinguish as well and that death is an unavoidable phenomenon. She thought herself to be selfish for thinking only about her grief.
Extract Based / comprehension test Questions and Answers of The Sermon at Benares
Read the extracts and answer the questions that follow.
1.”The Buddha preached his first sermon at the city of Benares, most holy of the dipping places on the River Ganges; that sermon has been preserved and is given here. It reflects the Buddha’s wisdom about one inscrutable kind of suffering.”
(a) Name the holiest of the dipping places on the River Ganges where the Buddha preached his first sermon.
(b) What does Buddha’s first sermon reflect?
(c) What did Gautama do after getting on light emend?
(d) How was he known as then?
Ans. (a) The holiest of the dipping places on the River Ganges where the Buddha preached his first sermon was at Benares.
(b) Buddha’s wisdom about one inscrutable kind of suffering.
(c) After getting enlightenment, he began to teach and share his new understandings with the common people.
(d) As he started preaching, he was known as Buddha, meaning, the awakened or the enlightened one.
2. “Kisa Gotami became weary and hopeless and sat down at the wayside watching the lights of the city, as they flickered up and were extinguished again. At last the darkness of the night reigned everywhere.”
(a) Why do you think Kisa Gotami became weary and hopeless?
(b) How many sons did Kisa Gautami have?
(c) What did she notice while sitting at the wayside?
(d) What message did she get from the flickering and extinguishing lights of the city?
Ans. (a) It was because she could not find a house where no one had died.
(b) Kisa Gautami had only one son.
(c) She noticed the flickering lights of the city.
(d) Their lives flicker up and are extinguished.
3. At twelve, he was sent away for schooling in the Hindu sacred scriptures and years later he returned home to marry a princess. They had a son and lived for ten Y befitting royalty. At about the age of twenty-five, the prince heretofore shielded from sufferings of the world, while out hunting chanced upon a sick man, then an aged than a funeral procession, and finally a monk begging for alms. These sights so move that he at once became a beggar and went out into the world to seek enlighten concerning the sorrows he had witnessed.
(a) What happened at the age of twelve?
(b) What happened when he was out hunting?
(c) Where was he sent away for schooling?
(d) When did he marry?
Ans. (a) At twelve, he was sent away for schooling in the Hindi; sacred seen
(b) He saw a sick man, then human image man and then a funeral procession-
(c) He was sent away for Schooling in the Hindu sacred scriptures.
(d) He married at the age en after completing his schooling.
4. At about the age of tweet e, the prince, hereto the world, while out hunting chanced upon a sick man, then an aged man than a farmer the procession, and finally a monk begging for alms. These sights so moved him that he at once ante a beggar and went out into the world to seek enlightenment concerning the sorrows he had witnessed. He wandered for seven years and finally sat down under a fig tree, where he vowed to stay until enlightenment came. Enlightened after seven days, he renamed the tree the Buddha Tree (Tree of Wisdom) and began to teach and to share his new understandings. At that point, he became known as the Buddha (the Awakened or the Enlightened).
(a) When was Gautam Buddha’s first encounter with suffering?
(b) How did he react to it?
(c) Why did the prince have no experience of the sufferings of the world till the age of twenty-five?
(d) What effect did the sights have on him?
(a) Gautam Buddha’s first encounter was when he went out hunting.
(b) He renounced the worldly comforts and left home to seek enlightenment from these Sorrows.
(c) This was because he was shielded from the sufferings of the world.
(d) He went out for enlightenment.
5. Buddha said, “The life of mortals in this world is troubled and brief and combined with pain. For there is not any means by which those that have been born can avoid dying; after reaching old age there is death; of such a nature are living beings. As ripe fruits are early in danger of falling, so mortals, when born, are always in danger of death. As all earthen vessels made by the Potter end in being broken, so is the life of mortals. Both young and adult, both those who are fools and those who are wise, all fall. into the power of death, all are subject to death.”
(a) What did the Buddha say about the life of the people?
(b) What does a ripe fruit fear?
(c) What happens after reaching age?
(d) What, according to Buddha, death is avoidable?
Ans. (a) The life of people is troubled and brief and combined with pain.
(b) A ripe fruit fears the danger of falling.
(c) There is death after birth.
(d) There is not any means by which those that have been born, can avoid dying.
6. Kisa Gotami had an only son and he died. In her grief she carried the dead child to all her neighbours, asking them for medicine, and the people said, “She has lost her senses dead.” At length, Kisa Gotamimet a man who replied to her request; “I can’t give thee! nines for thy child, but I know a physician who can.” And the girl said, “Pray to tell me, sir, o is it?” And the man replied, “Go to Sakyamuni, the Buddha.” Kisa Gotami repaired to tile Buddha and cried: “Lord and Master, give me the medicine that will cure my boy”.
(a) Why was Kisa Gotami in grief?
(b) What did she ask of all her neighbours?
(c) What had happened to Kisa Gotami’sonly son?
(d) Who did she carry her dead child to in her grief?
Ans. (a)Kisa Gotami was in grief because her son was dead.
(b) She asked them for medicine.
(c) He was dead.
(d)In grief she carried her dead child to all her neighbours.
7. Of those who, overcome by death, depart from life, a father cannot save his son, for kinsmen their relations. Mark ! While relatives are looking on and lamenting deeply, one by one mortal are carried off, like an ox that is led to the slaughter. So the world is afflicted with death and decay, therefore, the wise do not grieve, knowing the terms of the world. Not from weeping nor from grieving will anyone obtain peace of mind; on the contrary, his pain will be the greater and his body will suffer. He will make himself sick and pale, yet the dead are not saved by his lamentation.
(a) What is the fate of mortals?
(b) Why do the wise not grieve?
(c) Why does the writer compare mortals with an ox?
(d) How does ‘lamentation’ harm a person?
Ans. (a) The fate of mortals is death.
(b) Wise does not grieve because they know the terms of the world that one who is must die one day. They neither weep nor grieve.
(c) Both of them have to die and are led to ‘slaughter’.
(d) It makes one sick and pale; one does not get peace of mind.
8. The Buddha answered: “I want a handful of mustard seeds.” And when the girl in joy promised to procure it, the Buddha added: “The mustard seeds must be taken house where no one has lost a child, husband, parent or friend.”
(a) Identify ‘I’ in the passage.
(b) What did the Buddha ask the girl for?
(c) What was the condition imposed on the girl?
(d) In this way, what did the Buddha want Kisa Gotami to understand?
Ans. (a)'I’ in the passage is Gautama Buddha.
(b) To procure mustard seeds.
(c) The condition was that no one in the family had lost a man from the house.
(d) Buddha wanted Kisa Gotami to understand that all men who live have to die. pea is inevitable and cannot be avoided.
Answer the following questions in 30-40 words:
1. Who is referred to as “wise” by the Buddha in his sermons?
Buddha preached in his sermons that everything that is born will die one day. Death is inevitable: both young and adult or fools and wise are subject to death.
According to Buddha, people who realise and accept this fact and do not lament are wise.
2. How did the Buddha teach Kisa Gotami the truth of life?
Buddha changed Kisa’s thinking with the help of a simple act—asking her to
procure a handful of mustard seeds from the house where no one had died. She could not understand it. But, gradually she understood that death is inevitable.
3. Describe the life of Gautama Buddha before enlightenment.
Buddha was earlier a prince and lived in luxury. When he encountered suffering and grief, it made him sad. He renounced everything and went in search of way to get rid of suffering. He wandered for seven years. Then, one day, he sat under a fig tree and vowed not to leave until he was enlightened.
4. What moved Siddhartha Gautama to seek the path of enlightenment?
While going for hunting Siddhartha Gautam saw a sick man, an old man, a funeral procession and a monk begging. This encounter with the sufferings of human beings moved him to seek the path of enlightenment.
5. What did the Buddha preach to the people?
Buddha said that death is common to all mortals. You cannot avoid it. No amount of weeping and lamenting can bring back a dead. So wise men don’t grieve.
Weeping and lamenting rather spoil one’s health. To gain peace in life, one must not lament, complain or grieve about their loss.
Short answer type questions :
Answer the following questions in 30-40 words:
1. Kisa compared human life to an inanimate object. What is it and why does she do so?
Ans. Kisa compared human life with the lights of the city which flicker up and extinguished again and the darkness of the night spreads everywhere. Similarly, the human takes birth, flickers up and then extinguished the life of the remains. She compared so because the darkness of sadness spreads in use she was as in great grief of the death of his
2. Where and when did Siddhartha become the Buddha?
Ans. At the age of 25, Siddhartha came across a sick man then an old man, age sight moved funeral procession and finally a monk.he left his palace and wandered for seven years to find enlightenment . He finally attained peace and enlightenment and renamed himself as Buddha.
3. Which people are referred to as “wise” by the Buddha in his sermons?
Ans. Buddha preached in his sermons that everything that is born will come to its end. Death is inevitable: both young and adult or fools and wise are subject to death. But the people who do not grieve knowing the terms of the world are called wise people. Wise people neither weep nor grieve.
4. Why was Kisa Gotamis remorseful?
Ans. Kisa Gotami’s only son had died. She was grief-stricken. Carrying the dead son, she went to all her neighbours to get some medicine that would cure her son. A man sent her to the Buddha who asked her to procure a handful of mustard seeds from a house where no one had died, but she couldn’t find such a house and was thus sad.
5. Why was Gautama known as the Buddha?
Ans. Gautama sat under a pipal tree until he attained enlightenment. After seven days he got enlightenment and began to teach and share his new understandings. So he came to be known as the Buddha (the Awakened or the Enlightened).
6. How did the Buddha teach Kisa Gotami the truth of life?
Ans. Buddha changed Kisa’s thinking with the help of a simple act by asking her to procure a handful of mustard seeds from that house where none had died. She could not understand it. But, gradually she understood that death is inevitable.
7. Describe the life of Gautama Buddha before enlightenment.
Ans. Buddha was earlier a prince and lived in luxury. When he encountered suffering and grief, it made him sad and sorrowful. He renounced everything and went in search of riddance from suffering. He wandered for seven years. Then, one day, he sat under a fig tree and vowed not to leave until he was enlightened.
8. To seek peace one has to draw out the arrow of lamentation. State two values projected through the statement.
Ans.No lamenting can bring someone’s dear and near ones back to life. Neither can they stop one’s death. Lamenting tells upon one’s health. He becomes sick and pale. He loses appetite and interest in life. One has to learn that death is inevitable.
9. What sights moved Siddhartha Gautama to seek the path of enlightenment?
Ans. While going for hunting Gautam saw a sick man, an old man, a funeral procession and a monk begging. This encounter with the sufferings and grief moved him and he left to seek the path of enlightenment.
10. What did the Buddha preach to the people?
Ans. Buddha said that death is common to all mortals. You cannot avoid it. No amount of Weeping and lamenting can bring back a dead. So wise men don’t grieve. Weeping and Lamenting rather spoil one’s health. To overcome sorrow, become free of sorrow.
11. What happened to Kisa Gotami’s son? What did she ask her neighbours to give her?
Ans. When her son died, Kisa Gautama went from house to house in order to ask for as everyone said that she was out of her senses to invite for her son. But she didn’t get any it2nat her son was dead.
12. How do weeping and grieving affect us in the Sermon at Benares?
Ans. Weeping and grieving bring no gains. It rather spoils one’s health and gives truer ‘, I Only you take out the arrow of lamentation and get composed you will get peace of overcome sorrow, become free of sorrow. I again go from house to house after she speaks with the Buddha.
13. Mention the incidents which prompted Prince Siddhartha to become a beggar.
Ans. Siddhartha while going for hunting saw a sick man, an old man, a funeral procession and a monk begging. This was his first encounter with suffering and grief. It made him sad and he immediately renounced everything.
14. What did Kisa Gotami learn in the end?
Ans. Kisa Gotami wandered from house to house to get a handful of mustard seeds but could not find it. She realized that death is common to all. All living beings have to die. She had been selfish in her grief.
15. What is Gautam Buddha’s opinion about death?
Ans. Buddha says that the world is a valley of death. There is a path that leads man to immortality reality that has been cleansed of all selfishness. Death is common to all. One who is born will die as well. Death is imminent. The life of mortals in this world is troubled and brief and combined with pain.
16. Who was Gautam Buddha? When and where was he born?
Ans. Gautam Buddha was the earlier prince, Siddhartha who got enlightenment under a fig tree and was then named as Gautam Buddha. He was born as a prince in North India.
17. Kisa Gotami was selfish and grief-stricken. Justify.
Ans. Kisa Gotami lost her only son. In her grief, she carried her dead child everywhere and asked people to cure him. As instructed by Buddha she went door to door to get a handful of mustard seeds with condition that there should not be any loss of a child. Husband, parent or friend. In her grief, she forgot that everyone had to suffer such type of loss in his or her family Death is common to all. But in her grief, she became selfish and tried to full fill the condition that was impossible.
18. What does she ask for the second time around? Does she get it? Why not?
Ans. Buddha asked her to procure a handful of mustard seeds but he put a condition that it should be procured from a house where no death had ever taken place. She went from house to house but could not find such a residence.
Q.19. Who was Gautama Buddha?
Ans. Gautama Buddha was a prince in northern India. His full name was Siddhartha Gautama and he was sent away for schooling at the age of twelve. He married Yashodhara when he returned after four years.
Q.20. How did Siddhartha Gautama get the name of Buddha?
Ans. Siddhartha Gautama sat under a big peepal tree, where he vowed to stay until enlightenment came. He was enlightened after seven days. He began to teach and share his new understandings. Then he came to be known as Buddha.
Q.21. What did Buddha ask the lady to do?
Ans. Buddha asked the lady to bring a handful of mustard-seeds. But these must be taken from a house where no one had ever lost a child, husband or a friend. Then he would be able to help her.
Q.22. What does Gautama Buddha say about the life and death of human beings?
Ans. Gautama Buddha says that the life of human beings in this world is troubled, brief and combined with pain. It is because there is not any means by which those that have been born can avoid dying.
Q.23. Can an aggrieved person get peace of mind by weeping or grieving?
Ans. No, nobody can get peace of mind by weeping or grieving. Rather, his pain will be greater and his body will suffer by doing so. He will make himself sick and pale.
Q.24. Where did Buddha preach his first sermon?
Ans. After attainment of enlightenment, Buddha preached his first sermon at the holy city of Banaras which is situated on the sacred river Ganges.
Q.25. With what does Buddha compare the death and decay of human beings?
Ans. Gautama Buddha says that just as ripe fruit are liable to fall, so mortals when horn arc always in danger of death. An earthen vessel made by the potter end in being broken, the life of all mortals will ultimately meet death.
Q26. Describe the early life of Gautama Buddha.
Ans. Gautama Buddha began life as a prince. He was named Siddhartha Gautama. He was sent away for schooling in the Hindu sacred scriptures at twelve. When he returned home, he was married to a princess. He lived in royal luxury, shielded from the sufferings up to the age of twenty-five.
Q27. What were the sights that moved and shocked Gautama?
Ans. Prince Gautama had been deliberately shielded from all the sufferings of the world. One day he chanced upon a sick man, then an aged man and then a funeral procession. Finally, he saw a monk begging for alms. These sights moved him. He went out into the world to seek the solution of all these sufferings. He wanted to seek enlightenment.
Q28.What did Kisa Gotami do when her only son died? What did her neighbours think about her?
Ans. Kisa Gautami’s only son had died. She was overwhelmed with grief She carried the dead child to all her neighbours. She asked them for the medicine to cure her son. The neighbours thought she had lost her senses. A dead child could never be cured.
Q29.How did Kisa Gotami go to the Buddha? What did Buddha ask Gotami to do?
Ans. A man advised Kisa Gotami to go to Sakyamuni, the Buddha. He was the physician who could cure her dead son. She went to the Buddha. He asked Kisa Gotami to bring a handful of mustard seeds from a house. The house must be such where no one had lost a child, husband, parent or friend.
Q 30. Did Kisa Gotami get a handful of mustard seeds as directed by the Buddha?
Ans. Poor Kisa Gotami went from house to house. The people pitied her and were ready to give a handful of mustard seeds to her. But, she couldn’t find a house where no one had lost a child, husband, parent or friend.
Long answer type questions:
Answer the following questions in 100-120 words:
1)“To seek peace one should draw out the arrow of lamentation.” What do you infer from the Buddha’s statement?
Buddha said that death is common to all mortals. Those who are born must die one day. You cannot avoid it. Death is certain. As ripe fruits fall off the trees and meet an end so do the lives of the mortals. Life of a man is like an earthen pot that breaks and meets its end. No amount of weeping and lamenting can bring a dead back to life. So, wise men don’t grieve. They understand that it is the law of nature. Also, weeping and lamenting bring no gains. It rather spoils one’s health and gives more pain. If only you take out the arrow of lamentation and get composed you will get peace of mind.
2. Describe the journey of Siddhartha Gautama becoming the Buddha.
Gautama Buddha began his life as a royal prince. He was named Siddhartha Gautama. At twelve, Gautama was sent away for schooling in the Hindu sacred
scriptures. At the age of sixteen, he returned home to marry a princess. The prince was deliberately shielded from all sufferings of the world. But this attempt failed when the prince while out hunting chanced upon a sick man. Then, he saw an aged man. He also chanced to see a funeral procession. Finally, he saw a monk, begging for alms. These sights of suffering, sickness and decay shocked and moved the prince. He wanted to seek the final solution of all these sorrows and sufferings. He wandered for seven Years in search of enlightenment. Finally, he sat down under a fig tree. He meditated there until he was enlightened after seven days. He renamed the tree as Bodhi Tree or the Tree of Wisdom. He became known as the Buddha or the Enlightened one. Then Buddha gave his first sermon at Benares on the River Ganges.
Questions from the text book.
Answer the following questions in 30-40 words:
1. Who is referred to as “wise” by the Buddha in his sermons?
Buddha preached in his sermons that everything that is born will die one day. Death is inevitable: both young and adult or fools and wise are subject to death. According to Buddha, people who realise and accept this fact and do not lament are wise.
2. How did the Buddha teach Kisa Gotami the truth of life?
Buddha changed Kisa’s thinking with the help of a simple act—asking her to
procure a handful of mustard seeds from the house where no one had died. She could not understand it. But, gradually she understood that death is inevitable.
3. Describe the life of Gautama Buddha before enlightenment.
Buddha was earlier a prince and lived in luxury. When he encountered suffering and grief, it made him sad. He renounced everything and went in search of way to
get rid of suffering. He wandered for seven years. Then, one day, he sat under a fig tree and vowed not to leave until he was enlightened.
4. What moved Siddhartha Gautama to seek the path of enlightenment?
While going for hunting Siddhartha Gautam saw a sick man, an old man, a funeral procession and a monk begging. This encounter with the sufferings of human beings moved him to seek the path of enlightenment.
5. What did the Buddha preach to the people?
Buddha said that death is common to all mortals. You cannot avoid it. No amount of weeping and lamenting can bring back a dead. So wise men don’t grieve. Weeping and lamenting rather spoil one’s health. To gain peace in life, one must not lament, complain or grieve about their loss.
Thinking about the Text
1. Why did Prince Siddhartha leave the palace and become a beggar?
Once Prince Siddhartha, while hunting saw a sick man, then an aged man, then a funeral procession and finally a monk begging for alms. Looking at this, he left the palace and became a beggar to search for enlightenment.
2. When her son dies, Kisa Gotami goes from house to house. What does she ask for?Does she get it? Why not?
When Kisa Gotami’s son died, she went from house to house, asking if she could get some medicine that would cure her child.No, she did not get it because her child was dead and no medicine could havebrought him back to life.
3. What does Kisa Gotami understand the second time that she failed to understand the first time? Was this what the Buddha wanted her to understand?
Kisa Gotami understood the second time that death is common to all and that she was being selfish in her grief. There was no house where some beloved had not died. Yes, this is what the Buddha wanted her to understand.so Buddha's way of preaching helped her to accept and understand the brutal truth of her son's death.
4. Why do you think Kisa Gotami understood this only the second time? In what way did the Buddha change her understanding?
At the first , she was only thinking about her grief and was therefore asking for a medicine that would cure her son. When she met the Buddha, he asked her to get a handful of mustard seeds from a house where no has died. He did this purposely to make her realize that there was not a single house where no beloved
had died, she felt dejected that she could not gather the mustard seeds. Then, when she sat and thought about it, she realized that the fate of men is such that they live and die. Death is common to all. This was what the Buddha had intended her to understand.
very nice answers very nice questions :) keep working and you will shine one day .... :)
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