Chapter 10: The Sermon at Benares 10

 Chapter 10: The Sermon at Benares

(by Betty Renshaw, about Lord Buddha).

Word Meanings 

• Sermon – a religious talk or lesson

• Sacred – holy, very important for religion

• Suffering – pain, sadness, difficulty

• Enlightenment – true knowledge, deep understanding of life

• Monk – a holy man who leaves home to follow religion

• Mourn – to feel or express sadness after someone dies

• Grief – deep sorrow, sadness

• Fate – destiny, what is meant to happen

• Mortal – human being, who must die one day

• Immortality – never dying

• Alms – offerings or gifts to monks (like food)

• Ripe fruit – fruit ready to fall, symbol of death

• Weary – very tired

• Householder – person living a family life

• Wandered – moved here and there without aim

NCERT Question–Answers 

 Thinking about the Text

1. When her son dies, Kisa Gotami goes from house to house. What does she ask for? Does she get it? Why not?

Answer: When Kisa Gotami’s only son died, she was filled with deep sorrow. She went from house to house asking for medicine to bring her dead child back to life.
However, no one could give her such medicine, because death is a natural process and no medicine can cure it. Everyone told her that her child was dead and she must accept it.

2. Kisa Gotami again goes from house to house after she speaks with the Buddha. What does she ask for, the second time around? Does she get it? Why not?

Answer: After meeting the Buddha, Kisa Gotami was asked to bring a mustard seed from a house where no one had ever died.
She again went from house to house, but she could not find even one household untouched by death.
Every family had lost someone — a father, mother, son, or daughter.
So, she did not get the mustard seed, because death had visited every home.

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?

Answer: The second time, Kisa Gotami understood that death is common to all living beings and no one can escape it.
Earlier, she thought only she had suffered, but later she realized everyone faces the same truth of life — death.
Yes, this is exactly what the Buddha wanted her to understand — that life is full of sorrow and the wise accept it calmly.

4. Why do you think Kisa Gotami understood this only the second time? In what way did the Buddha change her understanding?

Answer: Kisa Gotami was blinded by her grief and love for her son, so she couldn’t think clearly the first time.
The Buddha did not explain death directly; instead, he gave her a task that helped her see the truth herself.
By visiting many homes, she realized that death spares no one.
Thus, the Buddha changed her understanding from personal sorrow to universal truth.

5. How do you usually understand the idea of ‘selfishness’? Do you agree with Kisa Gotami that she was being ‘selfish in her grief’?

Answer: Usually, selfishness means thinking only about one’s own needs and feelings, without considering others.
Yes, Kisa Gotami was selfish in her grief, because she only thought about her own pain and wanted her son back, not realizing that everyone suffers from loss.
After realizing the truth, she understood that clinging to personal sorrow is selfish, and one must accept death as a natural part of life.

1. What did the Buddha chance upon when he went for hunting?

 While out hunting, Buddha saw a sick man, an old man, and a dead body for the first time. These sights shocked him deeply, as he realized that sickness, old age, and death are unavoidable parts of human life.

2. At what age, the Buddha was sent for schooling? What did he learn there?
 Buddha, known as Siddhartha, was sent to school at the age of twelve. There he studied sacred scriptures, history, philosophy, and the arts of warfare. He became skilled in knowledge as well as in physical training, yet remained thoughtful about human suffering.

3. Why did Gautam Buddha notice the sufferings for the first time at the age of 25 years?
 Gautam Buddha was kept inside the palace away from sorrow. At 25, when he went out, he saw sickness, old age, and death for the first time. These experiences opened his eyes to the truth of suffering in human life.

4. Which events forced Gautam Buddha to leave his home?
Seeing an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and finally a monk made Gautam Buddha realize that worldly pleasures cannot give peace. He left his palace, wife, and son at 29 to seek enlightenment and find the way to end human suffering.

5. Did Kisa Gotami get what she wanted? If no, then, how come did she get out of her grief?
 Kisa Gotami wanted medicine to bring her dead child back to life. She did not get it. Instead, Buddha’s lesson made her realize that death is natural and comes to all. Accepting this truth helped her come out of her grief.

6. How do grieving for the dead affect a person?
 Grieving too long for the dead makes a person sad, weak, and restless. It fills the mind with pain and prevents one from living peacefully. Buddha teaches that wise people accept death calmly, as it is a natural part of life.

7. How can a person come out of mourning due to the death of his loved one?
 A person can come out of mourning by understanding the truth of life—that death is inevitable. Instead of clinging to grief, one should accept reality with courage. Buddha’s teaching shows that peace comes when we let go of attachment and accept impermanence.

8. Where did siddharta hot enlightment? what nam was given to him after that? 

Siddhartha got enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya, in the Indian state of Bihar.

After attaining enlightenment, he was called “the Buddha”, which means “the Enlightened One” or “the Awakened One.”

9. what did the buddha do after he had attained enlightment?

After attaining enlightenment, the Buddha decided to share his knowledge and wisdom with others.
He wanted to help people overcome their suffering and ignorance.

So, he went to Benares (Varanasi) and gave his first sermon at the Deer Park in Sarnath.
In this sermon, he taught people about the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, showing them the way to peace, kindness, and freedom from sorrow.

10. Why did Sidhartha Gautam abandon his luxutious life?

Siddhartha Gautama abandoned his luxurious life because he was deeply moved by the sufferings of people.

When he went out of his palace for the first time, he saw an old man, a sick person, a dead body, and a monk.
These sights made him realize that old age, sickness, and death are unavoidable parts of life, and that worldly pleasures cannot give true peace.

So, at the age of 29, he left his palace, wife, and son to find the truth of life and a way to end human suffering.
This great renunciation is known as “The Great Going Forth.”