The Sermon at Benares- Important Extra Questions- Long Answer Type

The Sermon at Benares

By– Betty Crenshaw

Important Long/ Detailed Answer Type Questions- to be answered in about 100 -150 words each

1.” The life of mortals in this world is troubled and brief and combined with pain. With this statement of the Buddha find out the moral value that Kisa Gotami learnt after the house and was unable to get wanted the mustard seeds. table: grief death of her child.

Ans. Kisa Gotami lost her only son. In her neighbours, asking them to provide medicine for her son. A man suggested her to Buddha. Buddha asked her to bring a handful of mustard seeds but she should get it the house where no one had lost any near and dear one. But she could not get any such Of Kisa Gotami went from door to door requesting mustard seeds. People pitied her Do is troubled.

Only then Buddha made her understand that the life of mortals in this world and grief and combined with pain. Now Kisa understood the reality too realized the fate of men that their lives flick e reality of death. Her underskirts that death is common to all of us. Now she l’ up and extinguish again.

2.”The world is afflicted with death eaters and d the Buddha. Expand this thought revising Kisa Gotami’s experience when she a5,” Buddha for a solution.

Ans. When Kisa Gotami went to the Buddha for the medicine to revive her a Buddha told her to procure a handful of mustard seeds from a house where no one and gave her the seeds. She then asked them if anyone in the family had died, and they answered that many were dead in the house and it aggrieved them to remember those dead people. She became weary and hopeless after going to several houses and getting the same response. As she sat wearily she saw the city lights go out, and darkness reigned everywhere. She finally grasped the Buddha’s underlying meaning. She returned to the Buddha and narrated her experience. Thereafter the Buddha sermonized her that the life of mortals in this world is troubled and painful; that the world is afflicted with death and decay, and so there is no point in grieving over something which is inescapable.

3. Why did Kisa Gotami understand the message given by the Buddha only the second time? In what way did the Buddha change her understanding?

Ans. Kisa Gotami had lost her only son and in grief, she carried her dead son to all her neighbours to get him cured and restored back to life. Finally, she went to the Buddha asking him for medicine to cure her boy. The Buddha felt that she needed to be enlightened about the truth of life — that death and sorrow are inescapable. He could see that grief had blinded her, and it would be difficult for her to accept the truth. So the Buddha told her to procure mustard seeds from a house where none had died. Kisa Gotami went from door to door. Then she realized that there was no house where no one had died and that death is common to all. She came back to the Buddha where He sermonized her that life in this world is troubled and filled with sorrows. He gave her examples of ripe fruits and earthen vessels whose ‘lives’ are short. This way he made her realize that death is unavoidable and none —even the near and dear ones — can save anyone from death.

4. The Buddha said, “The world is affected by death and decay, therefore, the wise men do not grieve, knowing the terms of the world.” Do you think the statement is appropriate even for today’s life? Write your views in the context of the above statement.

Ans. The above-said statement holds true concerning today’s life as well. Buddha said that death is common to all mortals. Those who are born must die one day. Death is certain, can’t be avoided. As ripe fruits fall off the trees, so is the life of mortals. Life of a man is like an earthen pot that breaks and meets its end. No amount of weeping and lamenting can bring the dead back to life. So, wise men don’t grieve. They understand that it is the law of the world. Weeping and lamenting produce 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. To overcome sorrow, become free of sorrow. But in today’s world, man has forgotten this. He makes all kinds of efforts to provide himself with the comforts and earns money by all means whether wrong or right. He forgets that one day he has to die and everything will be left here only.

5. How did Buddha make Kisa Gotami realize about the reality of death?

How did Gautama Buddha teach Gotami that life is full of pains and sorrows and death comes to all?

Why does Kisa feel disappointed after going from door to door?

Ans. Kisa Gotami had only one son and he had died. In her greet fobs he occults reroof ended riser senses. all her neighbours asking them for medicine. She has thought the man suggested her to go to the Buddha. Kisa Gotami went to the Buddha and prayed 0hhaM tow to revive her son. The Buddha told her to procure a handful of mustard seeds from us. Here no one had olestra child, husband, parent or friend. Kisa Gotami went from door pitied her and offered her the seeds. But when she asked them if anyone had died in the family they could only answer that they had lost many and they did not want to that death of their deepest grief. Kisa Gotami became weary and hopeless and realized oath is common to all.

6. How did Buddha seek and achieve enlightenment?

Ans. Once Gautama went for hunting. On the way, he saw a sick man, an old man, a funeral procession and a begging monk. He was filled with sorrow. He renounced everything and went out into the world to seek enlightenment concerning the sorrows he had witnessed after having wandered for seven years, Buddha sat under a fig t from there till he was enlightened. After being enlightened that took a week’s time, he renamed the tree as Buddha Tree (Tree of Wisdom) and began to preach.

7. 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.

8. What did Buddha say about death and suffering? Explain by giving examples from the text.

“‘lb seek peace one should draw out the arrow of lamentation.” What do you infer from the Buddha’s statement?

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. 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. lb overcome sorrow, become free of sorrow.

9. What impression do you form of Lord Buddha after reading the lesson, “The Ser at Benares”?

Ans. Buddha was born in North India as a prince and named Siddhartha. Once he we out hunting. On the way, he saw a sick man, an old man, funeral procession and a bear monk. He was overcome with grief. He renounced all pleasures and luxuries offered royalty and went out into the world to seek enlightenment concerning the sorrows he witnessed. After attaining enlightenment, he gave his first sermon at Benares. It reflects ° wisdom on ‘suffering’. He said the life of man is short, full of troubles and pain. Man is ripe fruit, the fruit falls and the man dies. Lag at ace of mind, one must overcome so death and pain and draw out the arrow of lamentation. Buddha was a wise man to make people understand the difficult concept of suffering and death.

Q.10. Who was Gautama Buddha? What made him renounce his royal life and become a monk?

Ans. Gautama Buddha was born in 563 B.C. He was born in a royal family. His name was Siddhartha Gautama. At the age of twelve, he was sent away for schooling. He studied all the sacred Hindu scriptures. At the age of sixteen, he married a princess. They had a son. For ten years the couple passed a happy life. Siddhartha had been shielded from the sufferings of the world. However, when he was twenty-five, Siddhartha saw a sick man, then an aged man, then a funeral procession. Finally, he came across a monk begging for alms. This was his first encounter with the harsh realities of life. These sights made him so sad that he decided to renounce the worldly pleasures. He left his family and became a monk. He went out into the world to seek spiritual knowledge.

Q.11. Why did Siddhartha conic to be called the Buddha? Where did he give his first sermon?

Ans. Siddhartha Gautama wandered for seven years in search of wisdom and truth. Finally, he sat down under a big people tree to meditate. He vowed to stay there until he got enlightenment. After seven days, Gautama got enlightenment. He named the tree as the ‘Bodhi Tree’. , that is ‘The tree of wisdom.’ He became known as ‘the Buddha’ which means ‘enlightened’ or ‘the awakened’. He began to teach and to spread his message of wisdom and truth. The Buddha gave his first sermon at Benares. It is the holiest of places on the hank of the Ganges. His first sermon reflects his wisdom about one kind of suffering i.e. death. Here the Buddha tells about the universality of death which is inevitable and can’t be escaped.

12. How did the Buddha made Kisa Gotami realize that death is inevitable?

Why did Kisa Gotami go from house to house? In what way did the Buddha change her under. standing?

Ans. A lady named Kisa Gotami had only one son. One day, her son died. She wanted her child should become alive again. She wanted some medicine to bring her son to life. People called her mad. At last, she came across a man. He advised her to meet the Buddha. She approached the Buddha with a request to give her medicine so that her only son could be live again. After deep thought, the Buddha asked her to bring a handful of mustard-seed. But there was a condition. She must bring it from a house where no one had died Kisa Gotami went from door to door to get the mustard-seed. She found mustard-seed in every home but she could not find a house where nobody had ever died. By evening, she was sad and tired. She saw the lights of the city. They were trimming. Soon there was the darkness of the night. Now she considered the fate of man. Now she realised that death is inevitable. No one can escape it.

Q13. Describe the journey of Siddhartha Gautama becoming the Buddha.

Ans. 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 the Bodhi Tree or the Tree of Wisdom. He became known as the Buddha or the Awakened or the Enlightened one. The Buddha gave his first sermon at Benares on the River Ganges.

Q14. Why did Kisa Gotami go to every neighbour? Why did she say, ‘How selfish I am in my grief?’

Ans. Kisa Gotami’s only son had died. Naturally, she was filled with grief. She carried the dead child to all her neighbours. She asked them for medicine. The people thought that she had lost her senses in grief. She was demanding medicine for her dead son.

Only after meeting the Buddha, she followed his instructions. She couldn’t get a handful of mustard seeds not even from one family. There was no family where no one had lost a child, husband, parent or friend. Only then she realised what the Buddha wanted her to understand. She realised that she was very selfish in her grief. She was grieving for her dead child. She forgot that death spares none. She realised that no lamentation or grieving can bring a dead person back to life again.

Q15. What did the Buddha ask Kisa Gotami to do? Why couldn’t Kisa Gotami succeed in getting a handful of mustard seeds from any family?

Ans. Kisa Gotami couldn’t get any consolation and cure from her neighbours. They realised that grief had made her almost mad. One of them directed her to the Buddha. He thought only the Sakyamum, the Buddha was the most appropriate physician to cure her son. The Buddha wanted the grieving woman to learn, a lesson. So, he asked her to bring a handful of mustard seeds from a family. The mustard-seed must be taken from a house where no one had lost a child, a husband or a friend. Poor Gotami went from house to house begging for a handful of mustard seeds. The people pitied her. They were ready to give a handful of mustard seeds to her. In short, there was no house where some beloved one had not died in it. So, Kisa Gotami didn’t succeed in her mission. She only realised that she had been selfish in grief.

Q16. Describe the main teachings of the Buddha as highlighted in The Sermon at Benares.’

Ans. Before the age of twenty-five, Siddhartha Gautam was carefully shielded from the sufferings of the world. When he saw a sick man, an aged man and a funeral procession for the first time, he was moved and shocked at the sights. He gave up his royal luxuries and went out in search of the permanent solution of all those sufferings and sorrows. After a long meditation, he got the enlightenment. At that time, he became known as the Buddha or the Awakened one. He gave his first sermon at Benares. Through Kisa Gotami, the Buddha wanted to tell the world that death is the ultimate truth. All mortals are destined to die sooner or later. There is no family in the world where no one has lost a child, husband, parent or friend. Lamenting for a son or a parent is like showing selfishness in grief. No lamentation or grieving can bring a dead man back to life. This world is afflicted with death and decay. He who has overcome all sorrow will become free from sorrow. He will be the blessed one.

Q17. What does the Buddha say about the life of mortals in this world? How can one obtain the peace of the mind?

Ans. The Buddha preached his first sermon at Benares. He preached that all men, women and children are mortals. And, all mortals are destined to die. Actually, death and decay is the fate of all mortals in this world. Death spares none. The life of mortals in this world is troubled and brief. It is combined with pain. Those who have been born, can’t avoid dying. Actually, there is no means of avoiding death and decay. The ripe fruits fall, so do the aged people of the world. One by one the mortals is carried off, like an ox that is led to the slaughter. Therefore, the wise do not grieve. No amount of lamenting or grieving can bring a dead man back to life. Weeping and grieving will never give anyone the peace of mind. On the other hand, they only compound miseries. He who has overcome all sorrows will become free from sorrows. He will become a blessed one.