CBSE Class 10 English The Sermon at Benares Assignment Set 02

Short Answer Type Questions

Question. What message might the Buddha’s story hold for those who are in positions of power and privilege ?
Answer: The Buddha’s story teaches those in positions of power and privilege the importance of humility, compassion, and selflessness. It emphasizes the transient nature of worldly wealth and status, urging individuals to seek inner peace and enlightenment rather than clinging to material possessions.

Question. How did the Buddha respond to Kisa Gotami’s request? What can be inferred about his method of teaching from the same?
Answer: When Kisa Gotami requested the Buddha to cure her son, he asked her to collect mustard seeds from a house that had not experienced death. He presented her with a task that required her to reflect and learn about the universal nature of suffering. Buddha’s method of teaching can be understood as one where he engages his student in a journey of self-discovery.

Question. What does the Buddha say about the world?
Answer: According to the Buddha, this world is full of sufferings, death and sorrows. And knowing the terms of this temporary world, no wise man should mourn for its loss. Mourning can only bring discord in life while acceptance is the key to peace.

Question. Elucidate any one quality that Siddhartha demonstrated when he gave up his status and family. Explain your choice.
Answer: Siddhartha demonstrated his sacrificing nature when he gave up his status and princely home. He was disturbed to see people’s suffering and wanted to find out a solution to eradicate their suffering and diseases. This shows his empathetic nature.

Question. Do you think being enlightened placed a far greater responsibility on the Buddha than being king would have? Justify your stance.
Answer: Yes, enlightenment added to his responsibilities. As a king, he was more concerned with the physical well being of his countrymen but now he had an obligation to take care of their mental health also. Now he was a changed man who could help people with his spiritual lessons.

Question. The Buddha renounced his worldly life to attain enlightenment. How might the sermon at Benares have helped Siddhartha Gautama’s wife if she had heard it?
Answer: On hearing Gautam’s lessons his wife might realise that every person was born into this world to fulfil a particular role in this world. She should stop lamenting her husband’s departure from her married life thinking it was the end of the role of a husband. Moreover, he was a different person altogether now.

Question. How can death be considered an equaliser?
Answer: Death works as an equaliser in two ways. For an individual, it equalizes by ending his griefs, sorrows, wants and desires. Death is even a great equaliser for nature by eliminating old and sick people from the world and thereby creating a balance between deaths and births on the earth.

Question. Kisa understood the temporality of life as she sat at the wayside watching the city lights. Can you think of any other object or phenomenon, natural or man-made, that might similarly reflect the fragile nature of human life? Justify your choice.
Answer: We can think of an earthen pitcher, a flower’s blooming and drying, changing seasons and the daily occurrence and exit of a day and night to understand the fragile nature of human life. They depict that nothing is permanent in this world and no one waits for another. Everything is bound to leave after the expiration of its time periods like the sun and moon come and go at a particular time every day.

Question. Grief is often seen as a measure of love. Do you think the Buddha’s sermon undermines a mother’s love? Justify your response.
Answer: Kisa Gotami was in grief because she had lost her son at an early age. Her motherhood was stopping her from accepting the reality of his son’s death. Buddha was a wise man who knew that death was inevitable. He did not undermine a mother’s love instead he made it easy for Kisa to accept the ultimate truth of life and stop lamenting her sorrows.

Question. What message might the Buddha’s story hold for those who are in positions of power and privilege?
Answer: Buddha’s story illustrates that death is the ultimate reality of this world that can’t be delayed or avoided by positions of power and privilege. Power, position and relatives are left behind here in this world only after death. A man goes empty-handed in the same manner as he came at the time of his birth.

Question. How did Kisa Gotami realise that life and death is a normal process?
Answer: Kisa Gotami went from house to house but was unable to find any where nobody had died. She grew tired and became hopeless; she sat down at the wayside watching the lights of the city as they flickered up and were extinguished again. She realised that similar to the city lights the human lives also flicker up for some time and then are finally extinguished.

Question. Why did Prince Siddhartha leave the palace and become a beggar?
Answer: 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 their suffering, he left the palace and moved to the path of attaining enlightenment.

Question. Where and when did Siddhartha become the Buddha?
Answer: At the age of twenty five, Siddhartha confronted a sick man then an aged man then a funeral procession and finally a monk. These sights moved him so much that he left the palace and wandered for seven years to seek enlightenment. Finally he sat under a fig tree until enlightenment came. He renamed the tree ‘The Bodhi Tree’ and got the name Buddha.

Question. Kisa compared human life to an inanimate object. What is it and why does she do so ?
Answer: Kisa compared human life with the lights of the city which flickered up and then extinguished again and the darkness of the night spreads everywhere. Similarly human life takes birth, flickers up and then extinguished and the darkness of sadness spreads in the life of the remains. She compared so because she was in great grief of the death of his son.

Question. Why was Kisa Gotami sad? What did she do in her hour of grief?
Answer: Kisa Gotami was sad because her only son had died. In her hour of grief, she went from door to door asking for some medicine which would bring her son back to life but could not find it.

Question. What did the Buddha want Kisa Gotami to understand?
Answer: The Buddha wanted Kisa Gotami to understand’ that death is common and must come to all. One should not grieve and lament the death of near and dear ones. Everyone must accept the truth of death.

Question. Why did the Buddha choose Benares to preach his first sermon?
Answer: The Buddha chose Benares to preach his first sermon because he regarded it the most holy place on the bank of the Ganges. The devotees take a holy dip in it. His sermon reflects wisdom about one kind of suffering beyond one’s realization.

Question. Why did Kisa Gotami go from house to house?
Answer: Kisa Gotami went from house to house because she wanted medicine to cure her dead son. At last, someone told about Buddha who could cure her dead son. Buddha told her to find a house where the death had not touched.

Question. Why did the Buddha ask Kisa Gotami to bring a handful of mustard seeds?
Answer: The Buddha asked Kisa Gotami to bring a handful of mustard seeds from a house where no one had died ever, because he wanted her to realize the ultimate truth of life. Now she came to know that no one can escape death as death is common to all.

Question. How did the Buddha teach Kisa Gotami the truth of life?
Answer: The Buddha asked Kisa Gotami to bring a handful of mustard seeds from a house where no one had died. She could not find such a house. She now realised the ultimate truth of life that no one can escape death. So, she should not grieve on the death of her son. Thus, the Buddha taught Kisa Gotami the truth of life.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question. Grief or sadness is an emotion natural to all types of loss or significant change. You have been asked to present an analysis of the approaches of Lencho and Kisa Gotami in dealing with their respective losses. Write this presentation draft including your insights, and comparing the approaches of both. You may begin like this : One acknowledges that Lencho had unwavering faith in God whereas Kisa Gotami in her grief, believed that her son ..... however .....
Answer: One acknowledges that Lencho had unwavering faith in God, whereas Kisa Gotami in her grief believed that her son could be brought back to life, however, she eventually learns a profound lesson on the universality of death. Lencho’s faith in divine intervention led him to seek help directly from God, illustrating a deep-rooted belief in the supernatural’s benevolence towards human affairs. He was so confident in this belief that he attributed the arrival of help solely to a divine source, overlooking the human agency involved. This faith guided his actions entirely, showing a single minded reliance on a higher power for resolution. Conversely, Kisa Gotami’s initial denial of her son’s death reflects a desperate hope for reversal, a common initial response to grief. Her journey, prompted by the Buddha’s task to find a mustard seed from a household untouched by death, gradually unveils to her the universal nature of suffering and loss. This task, while seemingly simple, leads her to the realization that death is an inevitable part of life that affects all, teaching her acceptance and the importance of moving forward. The contrast between Lencho’s unwavering faith in God as a direct benefactor and Kisa Gotami’s eventual understanding of death’s universality underlines different dimensions of dealing with loss. Lencho’s approach is rooted in externalizing hope towards a divine figure, maintaining a somewhat static stance towards his situation. In contrast, Kisa Gotami’s journey represents an internal transformation, a move from denial towards acceptance, facilitated by a broader engagement with her community and the human condition itself. Through these narratives, we observe that while faith and hope can offer comfort in times of loss, the path to acceptance and understanding often requires confronting the reality of our shared experiences of suffering and mortality. Lencho’s story teaches us about the strength and resilience that faith in a higher power can provide, whereas Kisa Gotami’s story offers a lesson in the healing that comes from acknowledging our shared human vulnerabilities and the cyclical nature of life and death. Both approaches, though different in their methods and outcomes, highlight the complex and multifaceted nature of human response to loss.

Question. You have been chosen to address the student gathering from the nearby schools, to speak on “How to Deal with Loss — Personal or Material”. Prepare the speech draft in not more than 120 words, with reference to the commonality of themes in John Benyman’s ‘The Ball Poem’ and ‘A Sermon at Benaras’. You may begin this way . Good Morning everyone. Today, I’d. like to discuss
Answer: Good morning everyone, Today I would like to discuss two pieces of literature that offer a powerful insight into how we can learn to deal with loss. The loss of the ball in the poem leaves the small boy grief stricken as it is his first experience of a loss of a possession. Whereas the mother Kisa Gotami also experienced the same feeling when she lost her only child. The poet who has seen the boy grieving leaves him alone instead of consoling him as he wants him to learn how to take life in its stride and bear the losses bravely. While Budhha made Kisa Gotami learn that loss is inevitable and so should not give a set back to the person. She learns a lesson that death is common to all and no grieving or lamenting can bring back dead to life. To conclude I would like to say that loss of any type is irreparable. but grieving cannot provide respite. So, one should learn to face all the hurdles bravely.

Question. Through the story of Kisa Gotami, what did the Buddha try to preach to the commonman?
Answer: Through the story of Kisa Gotami, the Buddha tried to teach the world the harsh truth of life and death. Kisa Gotami was a lady who had lost her only child to illness. She was so disheartened that she couldn’t accept his death. She asked everybody to bring her son back to life. Later, she went to ask Buddha for help. Buddha asked Kisa to bring mustard seeds from a house where no one has ever died, in order to bring his son back to life. Regretfully, Kisa couldn’t find such a house. Then, Buddha told her the truth of life, i.e., death is ultimate and inescapable. Every mortal has to die one day. This world is full of sorrows and griefs but a wise man should not mourn his loss for this temporary world. Surely, acceptance of loss and death is the only way to live with peace.

Question. Read the given quote by actor Jim Carrey.
"I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer."
Can you relate this to the Buddha’s life before and after he attained enlightenment? Provide examples from the text to support your answer
Answer: Yes, this quote directly applies to Buddha’s life. The quotation stresses that getting money and popularity should not be the only aim of a person. Prince Siddharth was born with a silver spoon who had not heard of money or name. He had been living a happy happy married life. But one day his heart moved on seeing an old and sick man. He realised that his power and position could not buy health and happiness. He renounced his worldly life in the search for real power and peace. After getting enlightenment he got to know the truths of life and he decided to help people to come out of the darkness of ignorance. He explained this truth to a grieved mother by asking her to bring a handful of mustard seeds from a house where no one had died. Buddha’s wisdom helped the mother to reflect upon life and accept her son’s untimely death.

Question. Sermon at Benares could just as well be considered another glimpse of India. If it were part of the story ‘Glimpses of India’, what ideas, values and/ or experiences would it highlight? How would you present this historical part of India?
Answer: If it were part of the story ‘Glimpses of India’ the spiritual teachings of Buddha can be included to give mental clarity to the people. The experience of Kisa Gotami can be added to impart a lesson to the grieving people. Benares or Varanasi is one of the seven sacred cities of Hinduism due to the presence of the river Ganges there. Besides Ganga, Bodhgaya and Bodhi trees in Sarnath can be highlighted. Buddha delivered his first sermon there. The fact that Varanasi or Benares is popular for its traditional silk sarees known as Benarasi saree worldwide is worth highlighting in the history of Benares. Varanasi is also called the city of Lord Shiva. Rare crystal and stone shiva lingas are available here. At last, Gulabi Minakari of Benares can’t be left behind in the lessons’ s highlights.

Question. What lesson did Kisa Gotami learn the second time that she had failed to learn the first time?
                                                                              Or
Life is full of trials and tribulations. Kisa Gotami also passes through a period of grief in her life. How does she behave in those circumstances?
                                                                              ​​​​​​​Or
Life is full of trials and tribulations. Kisa Gotami also passes through a period of grief in her life. How does she behave in those circumstances? what lesson does a reader learn from the story of her life? Give any two points how you would like to act in the midst of adverse circumstances
Answer: After the death of Kisa Gotami’s only child, she became very sad. She carried her dead child to her neighbours in order to get medicine to bring him to life. Her neighbours thought that she had gone insane as she was unable to accept the fact that . It was then that someone suggested her to meet Gautama Buddha. When she met Gautama Buddha he gave her an exercise to do. She was asked to collect mustard seeds from a house where no one has ever died. She went from one house to another but was unable to find a single house where no one has died. This way she realised that death is a part of life and anyone who is born is bound to die one day. Thus, Buddha changed her understanding of death by this exercise.

Question. Why did Gotami go to the Buddha? What lesson did he teach her?
Answer: Kisa Gotami lost her only son and grieved. She is desperate in saving his life. She went to the Buddha. Gautama Buddha relieves her from her pain by his guidance and kindness. All human beings are victims of such desires and they suffer but the timely guidance and kindness may help them. Timely help and sympathy is a great help for those who are in grief. Gautama Buddha helped Kisa Gotami by his words love and guidance in overcoming her grief. It is a big relief for the grieving person if support and care are extended to them in time.

Question. What lesson on death and suffering did Buddha teach Gotami in the chapter, ‘The Sermon at Benares’?
Answer: Gautam Buddha taught Kisa Gotami in her hour of grief that the life of human beings is troubled as human beings are mortals. Their life is combined with pain. Death is common to all and is inevitable. Human lines are similar to the ripe fruits which will fall down after ripening or earthern vessels which will break one day. One should accept death and must understand that weeping and grieving will never bring back the dead alive.

Question. Gotami comes to Buddha praying to him to revive her dead son. Buddha asks her to bring a handful of mustard seeds from a house where no one has lost a child, husband, parent or friend. Through this simple act, Buddha communicates the most profound truth of life, not only to Gotami but also to the whole mankind. What is the truth that Buddha communicates? What lesson does Gotami learn? What changes would take place in a common man’s life if that truth is understood?
                          ​​​​​​​                          ​​​​​​​                          Or
Why did Buddha ask Gotami to bring a handful of mustard seeds? What did he want to teach her?
Answer: The Buddha communicates the truth of life that death is common to all. The life of mortals, i.e. human beings, is troubled, brief and combined with pain and untold sufferings. Nobody can escape death. So, those who are born, will certainly die one day. Hence, we should not grieve on death. Kisa Gotami learns the lesson that death is the ultimate truth of life. She could not find any house where no one had ever died. She now realized that death comes to all. No one can escape death. The lights of the city flicker and resemble the fate of men. If a common man realizes that death is common to all, he will not weep on death and never grieve on sorrows. He can get peace of mind by drawing out the arrow of lamentation from his heart. He who has overcome sorrows will be free from sorrows and be blessed.

Question. ‘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 death of her child.
Answer: According to Buddha, the life of mortals in this world is troubled and brief and combined with pain. He told Kisa Gotami about this ultimate truth of life. After the death of her son, she could not find any house where no one had died ever. Now, she came to realize that death is common to all. We cannot console ourselves by weeping and grieving. She also learnt that no one can escape death. As all earthen vessels end in being broken, so is the life of mortals. So, when born, mortals are always in danger of death and agony. Kisa Gotami learnt that he who does not lament, complain and grieve, would be free from sorrow and will be blessed.

Question. Personal losses are a part and parcel of life. Instead of wailing on them, we should move on in life. This message of Gautama Buddha has become more relevant in modern times. Do you agree ? Why/Why not ?
Answer: Yes, I agree with the message that Gautama Buddha has given about life. In the modern times, people have a lot to explore and move with the world at the same pace. If people don’t understand the practicality of life, they will be under stress which would in turn affects, their personal and professional lives. People need to understand that everyone who is born will have to die one day. There is no use being sad or crying over the loss. People should remain calm and composed in such situations. They should face the truth and move on in life.

Extract Based Questions

​​​​​​​1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follows :
Poor Kisa Gotami now went from house to house, and the people pitied her and said, “Here is mustard-seed; take it!” But when she asked, “Did a son or daughter, a father or mother, die in your family?” they answered her, ‘Alas! the living are few, but the dead are many. Do not remind us of our deepest grief”. And there was no house but some beloved one had died in it.

Question. Kisa Gotami’s joy was short-lived because _____.
(a) she was not assured any help by her neighbours
(b) no physician could revive her son
(c) she could not get mustard seed from each house
(d) she realised that death could not be averted
Answer: (d) she realised that death could not be averted

Question. In sending Kisa Gotami from house to house, what was Buddha trying to teach her. Answer in about 40 words.
Answer: Buddha asked Kisa to collect mustard seed from those houses where death had not knocked. His idea was based on the acceptance of two truths: the continuity of life and the inevitability of death, that humans are mortal and death is the only truth, and cultivating detachment from loved ones and the importance of silence for attaining inner peace.

Question. Read the following interpretations (a)-(c) of the word ‘poor’ and identify which one correctly corresponds to its contextual meaning.
(a) in need or want of money
(b) weak or feeble
(c) unfortunate or miserable
Answer: (c) unfortunate or miserable

Question. Is it correct to say that had Buddha been alive today, he could have become either a counsellor or a psychologist? Why?
Answer: Yes, he could have been either a counsellor or a psychologist because both provide behavioural therapy to a disturbed person.

2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follows :
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 years as befitted royalty. At about the age of twenty-five, the prince heretofore shielded from the sufferings of the world, while going out on hunting, chanced upon a sick man, then an aged man, then a funeral procession, and finally a monk begging for alms. These sights so moved him that he at once became a beggar and went out into the world to seek enlightenment concerning the sorrows he had witnessed.

Question. What was the unintended effect of the sights Buddha saw?
(a) He felt dejected and sorrowful
(b) He renounced royalty
(c) He decided to become an ascetic
(d) He decided to consult a pandit
Answer: (a) He felt dejected and sorrowful

Question. Read the following descriptions (a)-(c) and identify which one correctly corresponds to the extract.
(a) A debate is a formal discussion on a particular topic, usually with two or more people presenting different viewpoints and arguments.
(b) A soliloquy is a speech given by a character alone on stage, which reveals their innermost thoughts and feelings to the audience.
(c) A narrative a story or account of events, experiences, or the like, whether true or fictitious.
Answer: (c) A narrative a story or account of events, experiences, or the like, whether true or fictitious.

Question. What did the sights Gautama witnessed at the age of twenty-five years drive him to? Answer in about 40 words.
Answer: The sights Gautama witnessed at the age of twenty-five years drove him to become a beggar. He 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 peepal tree, where he vowed to stay until enlightenment came.

Question. Why was Prince Siddhartha sent away at the age of twelve?
Answer: Prince Siddhartha was sent away at the age of twelve for schooling in sacred Hindu scriptures.

3. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follows :
A. Mark! While relatives are looking on and lamenting deeply, one by one mortals 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.

Question. Why don’t the wise grieve?
Answer: The wise don’t grieve because they understand that death is inevitable. They understand that all living beings are afflicted with death and decay.

Question. According to the extract, what characteristic can be attached to people who do not grieve?
Answer: According to the extract, those who do not grieve are wise.

Question. Which animal are men compared to?
(a) All animals
(b) Someone named Mark
(c) All wise people
(d) An ox
Answer: (d) An ox

Question. Which word would correctly substitute ‘hence’, in the given sentence from the extract?
It’s not dark, hence you can see everything properly.
Answer: therefore