CBSE Class 10 English The Sermon at Benares Important Questions Set 02

Extract Based Questions

Extract 1

(a). What made Kisa Gotami approach the Buddha?
1. She was told that Gautama Buddha was a prophet.
2. She was told that Gautama Buddha was a physician.
3. She was told that Gautama Buddha was caring.
4. She was told that Gautama Buddha could cure her child.
5. She was told that Gautama Buddha was enlightened.
Choose the correct option from the following:
(a) (1), (2) and (4)
(b) (2), (3) and (4)
(c) (1), (3), and (5)
(d) (2) and (4)
Answer: (d) (2) and (4)

(b). Select the most appropriate option for (1) and (2).
(1) Kisa Gotami was an old woman.
(2) She had a deceased son.
(a) (1) is false and (2) true.
(b) (2) is the opposite of (1).
(c) (2) further relates to (1).
(d) Both (1) and (2) cannot be inferred from the extract.
Answer: (a) (1) is false and (2) true.

(c). Which literary device is used in the line-‘Kisa Gotami repaired to the Buddha’ in the extract?
(a) Irony
(b) Symbolism
(c) Stylistic
(d) Paradox
Answer: (c) Stylistic

(d). Select the option which is the synonym of ‘went to ’ in the extract.
(a) Preserve
(b) Repaired
(c) Procure
(d) Surrender
Answer: (b) Repaired

(e). From the options given below, identify what exactly Buddha wanted to tell the woman in “The mustard-seed must be taken from a house where no one has lost a child, husband, parent or friend.”
(a) It is possible to cure her son.
(b) Bring a handful of mustard seed.
(c) No human being is immortal.
(d) Man has to undergo illness.
Answer: (c) No human being is immortal.

Extract 2

(a). Who was ‘he’ in the passage ? When and where was ‘he’ born ?
Answer: ‘He’ was Gautam Buddha, a Prince who was named Siddhartha Gautama by his parents. He was born in 563 BCE in North India.

(b). Mention the incident which prompted ‘him’ to become a beggar ?
Answer: Once, Prince Siddhartha had gone for hunting where he came across a sick man, an aged man, a monk asking for alms and also witnessed a funeral procession. Unable to understand those sufferings, he became an ascetic and went in search of spiritual knowledge.

Extract 3

(a). 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 house to house in search of a medicine to cure him. She had become selfish in wanting her son back.

(b). What did the Buddha want Kisa Gotami to understand ?
Answer: Buddha wanted Kisa Gotami to understand that death is common to all and no one could avoid dying. No one could save their relatives. Death was inevitable.

Short Answer Questions

Question 1. When her son dies, Kisa Gotami goes from house to house. What does she ask for? Does she get it? Why not? (NCERT)
Answer: When Kisa Gotami’s only son dies, she goes from house to house asking for some medicines that could bring life back to her son. No, she does not get any such medicine. Death is common to all. Once a mortal dies, no medicine can bring the life back.

Question 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? (NCERT)
Answer: Kisa Gotami again goes from house to house after she speaks to the Buddha. The Buddha had asked her to bring some mustard seeds from a household which had never lost any family member. She was offered mustard seeds by almost all the households but there was not a single household that had not lost any member of the family. So she did not get the required mustard seeds.

Question 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? (NCERT)
Answer: Kisa Gotami could not find a house where nobody had died before. She sat down hopelessly watching the lights of the city, as they flickered up and were extinguished again. Now she understood the fate of a man. She realised that death was common to all and she was not the only one who had lost her child. Almost every household had lost a child, parents or any other relative. Yes, this was the point that Gautama Buddha wanted her to understand.

Question 4. Why do you think Kisa Gotami understood this only the second time? In what way did the Buddha change her understanding? (NCERT)
Answer: Kisa Gotami did not understand that death is common to all for the first time. When she could not find a household that had not lost any person she understood that she was not the only one who had lost her son. The Buddha changed her perception. Now she realised that death is common to all. One should not grieve as it does not help in getting peace of mind.

Question 5. How do you usually understand the idea of ‘selfishness’? Do you agree with Kisa Gotami that she is being ‘selfish in her grief ’? (NCERT)
Answer: Selfishness usually means thinking and working for own benefits. When we keep self before others, we are selfish. I don’t agree with Kisa Gotami that she was ‘selfish in her grief’. She had lost her only son and wanted some medicines for him. This act cannot be called a selfish act. She did not want the medicine at the cost of others. It was a desperate effort of a mother for her son which cannot be called an act of selfishness.

Question 6. Where did Gautama Buddha preach his first Sermon? What was it all about?
Answer: Gautama Buddha preached his first sermon at Benares, the holiest city. It was about the ways to overcome our sorrows. It reflects Buddha’s wisdom about one inscrutable kind of suffering.

Question 7. Why was Kisa sad? What advice was given to her?
Answer: Kisa Gotami had lost her only son. He was dead. She loved him very much and wanted him to be alive. But she could not find any medicine so she was sad. She was advised to go to Buddha.

Question 8. How did Kisa Gotami realise that life and death is a normal process? (Delhi 2019)
Answer: Buddha asked Gotami to bring mustard seeds from a house which had never lost any member of the family. She was unable to get such a house only then she came to know that life and death is a normal process so as man is mortal and is bound to die.

Question 9. When and where was Gautama Buddha born? Why did he decide to leave the palace?
Answer: Gautama Buddha was born in 563 B.C. in Northern India. Buddha was away from all the sorrows of life. Once he saw a sick man, a beggar, an aged man and a funeral procession. He realised that the world was full of sorrow. He wanted to attain knowledge. So he decided to leave the palace to get enlightened.

Question 10. How did ‘Bodhi Tree’ get its name?
Answer: After seven years of wandering Gautama sat under a peepal tree. He attained knowledge under that tree and got enlightened. He renamed the tree as ‘Bodhi tree’ which means the tree of wisdom. ‘Bodhi’ means knowledge.

Question 11. What kind of suffering is reflected in the Sermon?
Answer: Grief over the death of a loved one is the main theme of this sermon. People fail to understand that death is common to all. All mortals have to die. There is no use of lamentation. One does not get peace of mind unless one overcomes the sorrows.

Question 12. What were the greatest sorrows that pained Buddha?
Answer: Poverty, illness and death were the greatest sorrows that pained Buddha. He saw a poor man begging, an old man and a funeral procession that changed his course of life. These sights moved him so much that he went out into the world to seek enlightenment and truth.

Question 13. Why did people think that Kisa had become mad?
Answer: Kisa Gotami’s only son had died. She was not ready to accept the fact that once a mortal dies, he/she cannot be brought back to life. She went to her neighbours with her dead son to get some medicines to bring him back to life. People thought that Kisa had gone mad.

Question 14. According to Gautama Buddha, how can a person get a peace of mind?
Answer: A person can get peace of mind only if he draws out the arrows of lamentation, complaint and grief. Those who overcome all sorrows become free from disillusion, get peace of mind and be blessed.

Question 15. When her son dies, Kisa Gotami goes from house to house. What does she ask for? Does she get it? Why not?
Answer: Kisa Gotami’s only son dies. She almost becomes mad in grief. She goes from house to house asking for a medicine that can ‘cure’ her dead son. No, she doesn’t get such a medicine. No medicine can bring a dead person to life.

Question 16. Describe the early life of Gautama Buddha.
Answer: 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.

Question 17. What did Kisa Gotami do when her only son died? What did her neighbours think about her?
Answer: Kisa Gotami’s only son had died. She was overwhelmed with grief. She carried the dead child to all her neighbours. She asked them for medicine to cure her son. The neighbours thought she had lost her senses. A dead child could never be cured.

Question 18. What did Buddha say about the mortals of the world?
Answer: The Buddha said to Kisa Gotami that the life of mortals is troubled and brief in this world. Those who have been born can’t avoid dying. As ripe fruits are in danger of falling, so mortals are always in danger of death. All earthen vessels end in being broken.

Question 19. 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: For the first time, Kisa Gotami goes from house to house asking for a medicine that can cure her dead son. She is told that no medicine can make a dead person alive. The second time she understands what the Buddha wanted her to understand. She understands that death is common to all, and no lamentation or grieving will make a dead person alive.

Question 20. How do you usually understand the idea of ‘selfishness’? Do you agree with Kisa Gotami that she was being ‘selfish in her grief’?
Answer: One is selfish when he or she thinks only for himself or herself. One becomes subjective forgetting the universal truth. Kisa Gotami was selfish in grief. She forgot that all mortals are destined to die. Weeping for her dead son would not bring him back to life. No medicine or lamentation would bring a dead person back to life.

Question 21. What were the sights that moved and shocked Gautama?
Answer: 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 solution of all these sufferings. He wanted to seek enlightenment.

Question 22. How did Kisa Gotami go to the Buddha? What did Buddha ask Gotami to do?
Answer: 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.

Question 23. Why did Kisa Gotami say, ‘How selfish am I in my grief!’ What did she realise about the fate of mankind?
Answer: Kisa Gotami became weary and hopeless. At last, the darkness of the night reigned everywhere. She realised that she had been very selfish in her grief. Death spares none. One who is born is destined to die sooner or later. No grieving or lamenting would bring a dead person to life.

Question 24. What did the Buddha want Kisa Gotami to understand?
Answer: The Buddha wanted Kisa Gotami to understand that all men and women are mortals. And all mortals are destined to die. No lamentation and grieving can bring a dead person back to life. Therefore, she should stop lamenting and grieving on the death of her son. Overcoming the sorrows makes a person free from sorrows.

Question 25. Did Kisa Gotami get a handful of mustard seeds as directed by the Buddha?
Answer: Kisa Gotami — house to house — people pitied — a handful of mustard seeds — couldn’t find any house.

Question 26. Can grieving and lamentation avoid death and decay in this world? What did the Buddha say in this regard?
Answer: This world — afflicted with death and decay — wise don’t grieve — No one will ever get peace of mind — weeping or grieving. Weeping or grieving — makes a person sick and pale — the person — overcome all sorrow — free from sorrow. He will then be blessed.

Question 27. Describe the main message that the lesson ‘The Sermon at Benares’ gives to the readers.
Answer: The Buddha — wants us to understand — this world is full of sufferings, death and decay — Death spares none — Death — the ultimate truth of life — born — will die sooner or later. — lamentation or grieving — the dead to life again.

Question 28. 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: speaks with the Buddha — goes from house to house again — asks for a handful of mustard seeds — must get it from a house where no one has ever lost a child, husband, parent or friend — doesn’t get such a house — doesn’t exist such house in the world.

Question 29. Why do you think Kisa Gotami understood this only the second time? In what way did the Buddha change her understanding?
Answer: Kisa Gotami — understood this universal truth only for the second time — realised that death spares none — Men and women are mortals — mortals are destined to die sooner or later. The Buddha changed her understanding — realised that she was selfish in grief. No amount of lamentation can bring the dead to life.

Question 30. How did Siddhartha Gautama get enlightenment? Why did he name the fig tree as the Bodhi tree?
Answer: Final solution — sufferings and pains afflicted the people of the world — Wandered — seeking enlightenment — under a fig tree — stay there until enlightenment — Enlightened after seven days — renamed the fig tree — as the Bodhi Tree or Tree of Wisdom — First sermon at the city of Benares on the River Ganges.

Question 31. Elucidate any one quality that Siddhartha demonstrated when he gave up his status and family. Justify your choice.
Answer: By giving up his status and family, Siddhartha demonstrated selflessness. He was born a prince into a royal family, but he gave up all the riches and worldly pleasures in order to seek enlightenment and understand the causes of sorrow and suffering in human life.

Question 32. What did the prince do after he had received enlightenment?
Answer: The prince wandered for seven years and finally sat down under a peepal tree, where he vowed to stay until enlightenment came. Enlightened after seven days, he renamed the tree the Bodhi Tree (Tree of Wisdom) and began to teach and share his new understanding. He preached his first sermon at Benares.

Question 33. 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: No, the Buddha’s sermon does not undermine a mother’s love. While the sermon emphasises the need to overcome grief, it doesn’t devalue a mother’s love. The teachings encourage understanding and compassion, and they also acknowledge that grief is a natural emotion when someone we love passes away.

Question 34. Briefly state how Kisa compares the city lights to the fate of men.
Answer: Kisa Gotami observes how the lights of the city flicker up and are extinguished again. Just as the lights flicker and eventually fade into darkness, she reflects on the transient and fleeting nature of human life. This comparison leads her to accept the universal reality of death.

Question 35. What is the significance of the Buddha choosing Benares for preaching his first sermon?
Answer: Benares is a holy city on the banks of the river Ganges, usually crowded with pilgrims who come to take a dip to rid themselves of their sins and sorrows. The Buddha’s aim was to lessen human suffering, and for that he chose one of the most sacred places for Hindus, where many seekers gathered.

Question 36. Describe the author’s approach in portraying the journey of Prince Siddhartha Gautama towards enlightenment.
Answer: The author takes an insightful approach to depicting Siddhartha Gautama’s journey towards enlightenment. He shows how the prince, shielded from the world’s suffering, encounters a sick man, an aged man, a funeral procession and a monk. These experiences deeply affect him and lead him to question life’s meaning. The author emphasises the prince’s determination and search for truth, highlighting his transformation into the Buddha.