CBSE Class 10 English The Sermon at Benares Important Questions Set 03

Short Answer Questions

Question 1. How did people react when Kisa Gotami went to procure mustard seeds?
Answer: When Kisa Gotami went to procure mustard seeds, people pitied her and readily offered them. But when she asked whether anyone had died in their family, they said, “The living are few, but the dead are many,” and asked her not to remind them of their deepest grief. Their reaction highlights the universality of suffering.

Question 2. When Kisa’s son dies, she goes from house to house. What does she ask for? Does she get it? Why/Why not? (NCERT)
Answer: When Kisa’s son dies, she goes from house to house asking for medicine that could bring her son back to life. She could not get it because there is no medicine that can bring a dead person back to life. People said that she had lost her senses.

Question 3. How did the Buddha respond to Kisa Gotami’s request? What can be inferred about his method of teaching from the same? (CBSE Practice Set 2023)
Answer: When Kisa Gotami requested the Buddha to cure her son, he asked her to collect mustard seed from a house that had not experienced death. He gave her a task that required her to reflect and learn about the universal nature of suffering. The Buddha’s method of teaching can be understood as one where he engages the learner in a journey of self-discovery.

Question 4. How did Kisa Gotami realise that life and death is a normal process? (CBSE 2019)
Answer: Kisa Gotami realised that life and death is a normal process after the Buddha asked her to get a handful of mustard seed from a house where no loved one had ever died. When she went to all the houses, she realised that there was no one in the world whose dear ones had not died. Death is common to all.

Question 5. What does the Buddha say about the world? (CBSE 2023, 2012)
Answer: According to the Buddha, this world is afflicted with death and decay. The life of mortals is troubled, brief and combined with pain. Knowing the terms of the world, the wise do not grieve. Mourning only brings greater pain, while acceptance is the key to peace.

Question 6. Personal losses are a part and parcel of life. Instead of wailing over 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? (Delhi Gov. QB 2022)
Answer: Yes, I agree. In modern times, people move with the world at a fast pace. If people don’t understand the practicality of life, they will be under stress, which 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 in crying again and again over a loss. People should remain calm and composed, face the truth and move on in their lives.

Question 7. How does the author use metaphorical language in the story to effectively depict the reality of life?
Answer: The story compares human lives to the city lights that ‘flicker up and are extinguished again’, showing how brief life is. The world is called a ‘valley of desolation’, and grief is an ‘arrow’ that must be drawn out to find peace. These metaphors make the truths about death and suffering vivid and easy to grasp.

Question 8. Explain how the description of the state of Kisa Gotami after her son’s death reflects the sadness and helplessness within her, in ‘The Sermon at Benares’.
Refer to the given lines from the text:
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. The boy is dead.”
Answer: Kisa Gotami refused to accept that her only son was dead and carried his body from house to house asking for medicine. Her desperate actions show that grief had overpowered her reason. People thought she had lost her senses, which reflects the depth of her sorrow and her complete helplessness.

Question 9. The imagery of the flickering lights leads to a sense of realisation in Kisa Gotami. Justify.
Answer: Sitting tired by the wayside, Kisa Gotami watched the city lights flicker up and go out until darkness covered everything. She saw that human lives too begin and end in the same way. This image made her realise that death is common to all and that she had been selfish in her grief.

Question 10. How did Kisa Gotami realise that life and death is a normal process? (CBSE Delhi 2019)
Answer: The Buddha, in order to cure her son, asked Kisa Gotami to bring him a handful of mustard seeds from a house where the death of a loved one had never taken place. As Kisa Gotami went from house to house to obtain a handful of mustard seeds, she learned that everybody had lost somebody they loved dearly. She understood that death is inevitable; therefore, lamenting over the loss of loved ones is fruitless, as it does not bring them back to life.

Question 11. How did the Buddha teach Kisa Gotami the truth of life and death? (CBSE AI 2014; Delhi Com. 2013)
Answer: The Buddha, in order to cure her son, asked Kisa Gotami to bring him a handful of mustard seeds from a house where the death of a loved one had never taken place. As Kisa Gotami went from house to house to obtain a handful of mustard seeds, she learned that everybody had lost somebody they loved dearly. She understood that death is inevitable; therefore, lamenting over the loss of loved ones is fruitless, as it does not bring them back to life.

Question 12. Why was Kisa Gotami sad? What did she do in her hour of grief? (CBSE Delhi 2015)
Answer: Kisa Gotami was sad because she had lost her son, her only child.
In her hour of grief, Kisa Gotami carried the dead body of her son to all her neighbours, asking them for medicine.

Question 13. What did the Buddha want Kisa Gotami to understand? (CBSE Delhi 2015)
Answer: The Buddha wanted Kisa Gotami to understand that death is common to all; it is inevitable. He also wanted her to understand that lamenting over the loss of loved ones does not bring them back.

Question 14. Why did the Buddha choose Benares to preach his first sermon? (CBSE AI 2015)
Answer: Benares is the most holy of the dipping places on the River Ganges. It attracts crowds of people who want to get rid of their sorrows and sufferings. The Buddha wanted to lessen their sorrows and sufferings. That is why he chose Benares to preach his first sermon.

Question 15. Why did Kisa Gotami go from house to house? (CBSE AI 2015; AI 2012)
Answer: At first, Kisa Gotami carried the dead body of her son to all her neighbours asking for medicine that would revive her dead son. Later, the Buddha asked Kisa Gotami to bring him a handful of mustard seeds from a house where there had never been the death of a loved one. Kisa Gotami once again went from house to house looking for such a family to procure the mustard seeds.

Question 16. What did the Buddha do after he had attained enlightenment? (CBSE Foreign 2014)
Answer: After attaining enlightenment, Siddhartha Gautama renamed the peepal tree he had been meditating under the Bodhi Tree, the Tree of Wisdom. Soon he began to teach and share his new understanding. He came to be known as the Buddha (the Awakened or the Enlightened).

Question 17. Do you agree that Kisa Gotami was being selfish in her grief? Give a reasoned answer. (CBSE Delhi 2012)
Answer: Kisa Gotami was behaving like any mother would after losing her child. However, one may deem such behaviour selfish because Kisa Gotami thought only of her own grief. To her, her own grief seemed greater than all other sufferings. In her grief, she was blind to the fact that death was inevitable and that the pain is the same for all; every mortal goes through suffering.

Question 18. Why did Prince Siddhartha Gautama leave the palace and become a beggar? (CBSE AI 2011)
Answer: Before he came across the sick man, the aged man, the funeral procession and the monk begging for alms during his hunting expedition, Prince Siddhartha Gautama lived a life of comfort, unaware of the sufferings of the world. After he chanced upon those sufferings, Siddhartha Gautama left his comfortable life at the palace and went out into the world seeking enlightenment concerning the sorrows he had witnessed.

Question 19. What was Gautam Buddha’s life before he became Buddha?
Answer: Buddha was a prince named Siddhartha Gautama, in northern India. At twelve, he was sent away for schooling in the Hindu sacred scriptures and four years later, he returned home to marry a princess. They had a son and lived for ten years as befitted royalty.

Question 20. Why did the Buddha choose Benares to preach his first sermon? (Board Question)
Answer: Benares is the most holy dipping destination on the River Ganges, which is usually crowded with pilgrims who come to get a dip in the River Ganga, thus, getting rid themselves of their sorrows and sufferings. Buddha’s aim was to lessen the sufferings of human.

Question 21. How does Kisa compare the city lights to the fate of men?
Answer: Kisa considered the fate of men like the city lights that flicker up in the evening and are extinguished again. Similarly, the lives of men also flicker and then are extinguished.

Question 22. Who, according to Buddha, will obtain peace?
Answer: According to Buddha, he who seeks peace should draw out the arrow of lamentation, complaint and grief. He, who has drawn out the arrow and has become composed, will obtain peace of mind.

Question 23. “Not from weeping nor from grieving will any one obtain peace of mind; on the contrary, his pain will be the greater and his body will suffer." Whose words are these? Elucidate the teachings concerning ‘The Sermon at Benaras’.
Answer: According to Buddha, death and suffering are the part and parcel of life. One can not avoid this truth. One has to meet one’s destiny which is death. Birth and death is inevitable and related in a cycle, whoever enters the world has to exit at some point. One must remain calm and composed so that pain doesn’t overcome one, in the hour of grief. Nobody can get peace of mind by weeping or grieving, instead, the body will suffer. Wise people, never complain or lament over their loss but accept the truth. Hence the wisdom lies in the fact that people should not get distressed with pain, suffering and death.

Question 24. "The mustard seed must be taken from a house where no one has lost a child, husband, parent or friend." Concerning the context, elucidate.
Answer: This excerpt is related to Kisa Gotami in the text. Kisa Gotami had an only son who had died. In grief, she went to the Buddha and begged him to give her the medicine to make her son alive. Buddha instructed her to bring him a handful of mustard seeds but it should be brought from a house where no one had ever died. Poor Kisa Gotami went from house to house but never found a house where anybody had ever lost a beloved. She realised how selfish she had been in her grief and that death is common to all mortal beings.

Long Answer Questions

Question 1. “The life of mortals in this world is troubled and brief and combined with pain... .” with this statement of the Buddha, find out what Kisa Gotami learnt after the death of her child. (Delhi 2016) Or
How does Buddha bring about a different perspective in Kisa Gotami’s understanding of Life? (Delhi 2022) Or
Kisa Gotami lost her only son, so grief overwhelmed her. How did she learn that death is as normal in life as birth is? (CBSE 2021(C))
Answer: According to Buddha, all men are mortal so those who have been born cannot avoid dying. Life of mortal is always troubled and brief. Sorrow and suffering are inevitable to the mortals. All young and adult fall into the power of death; all are subject to death. So the wise do not grieve, knowing the terms of the world.
Kisa Gotami after the death of her child learnt from lord Buddha that death is common to all; he who has overcome pain will become free from pain, and be blessed.

Question 2. The sight of a sick man, an aged man, a funeral procession and a monk made Siddhartha leave his home and go out in search of enlightenment. What lesson about life do you learn from this episode?
Answer: Siddhartha lived a life full of luxuries till the age of twenty-five. Once when he went outside to hunt, he saw a sick man, an aged man, a funeral procession and finally, a monk begging for alms. The sight moved Siddhartha so much that he left the home and went in search of enlightenment. The incident revealed a great truth — life is short. Beauty, riches, comforts all are transitory and vanish one day. If we all understand this fact and work towards making our life valuable for others, there would be no fight, grudges and pain. When somebody does something wrong, he/she forgets that one day we are going to be punished for our wrong deeds. In our trouble, we should have faith in God to struggle in life and wait for good times to come.

Question 3. Why did Kisa Gotami meet the Buddha? How did Buddha change her life? (CBSE 2023)
Answer: Kisa Gotami met the Buddha to seek his help. Gotami’s son had died. She had become bereaved. She went to the Buddha to make her son alive again. The Buddha told her to bring a handful of mustard seeds from a family where no one had died. To save her son, she went from house to house, but she did not get a single family where no one had died. Then the Buddha told her that suffering is destined to happen in the life of every human being. Death is inevitable. Human beings are mortals. They are bound to death one day. It is common to all. We should be free from sorrow. The path to enlightenment is to surrender all material gains and draw out the arrows of lamentation and grief. Through his preaching the Buddha transformed the life of Kisa Gotami. Now, she was able to understand that nobody can deny death. It is bound to happen to all.

Question 4. What lesson on death and suffering did the Buddha teach Gotami in the chapter, ‘The Sermon at Benaras’? (CBSE 2018)
Answer: Buddha taught Gotami that death is inevitable. Gotami, who was sulking over her only son’s death and begging for medicines to bring him back to life, could not accept the fact that death could happen to anyone at any time. Buddha made her realise that there is not a single house in which a dear one hasn’t passed away. Every mortal being is meant to feel the congestion of the coffin. He told her that while the relatives are sulking over their dear ones’ deaths, more and more of them will continue losing their lives. This is the way the world works; every earthen pot is meant to break at a point of time. Wise men don’t become upset over the death of anyone because they know that it is meant to happen sometime or the other. Life is just a play, where God is the director and we are the actors. One should realise that their dear ones will go to an even better place after their death and this should provide a sense of comfort to everyone. Hence, instead of sulking over our dear ones’ deaths, we should pray for them to reach heaven.

Question 5. Describe the journey of Siddhartha Gautama becoming the Buddha. (Delhi 2020)
Answer: Siddhartha Gautama had a long and inspiring journey to become the Buddha. He was a royal Prince. As a royal prince he led a luxurious life. He married a royal Princess. He always remained in his palace and was shielded from all sufferings. He never had a sight of sufferings out of his palace. Once he was outside his palace, he encountered four gloomy sights. He saw a sick man, an aged man, a funeral procession and a monk begging for alms. His observation led him to a gloomy conclusion. That life was full of sorrow and sufferings. He was disillusioned. He wanted to know the cause of all sufferings. He wanted to know the truth. In search of truth, he left his palace and family. He wandered here and there for 7 years in search of truth. He left all the worldly pleasure to seek enlightenment. Finally, he sat down under a peepal tree, where he vowed to stay until enlightenment came. After seven days he was enlightened. He began to teach and share his new understanding. At that point he became known as the Buddha, the Awakened or the enlightened.

Question 6. Describe the journey of Siddhartha Gautama becoming the Buddha.
Answer: 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.

Question 7. 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?
Answer: 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 Sakyamuni, 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.

Question 8. What does the Buddha say about the life of mortals in this world? How can one obtain the peace of the mind?
Answer: 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 are 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 the blessed one.

Question 9. Why did Kisa Gotami go to every neighbour? Why did she say, ‘How selfish am I in my grief’?
Answer: Only son had died. — filled with grief. — carried the dead child to all her neighbours. — asked for medicine. — lost her senses in grief. medicine for her dead son. — meeting the Buddha, followed his instructions. Couldn’t get a handful of mustard seeds she realised what the Buddha wanted her to understand realised that she was very selfish in her grief was grieving for her dead child death spares non no lamentation or grieving can bring a dead person back to life again.

Question 10. Describe the main teachings of the Buddha as highlighted in ‘The Sermon at Benares.’
Answer: shielded from the sufferings of the world — a sick man, an aged man and a funeral procession for the first time, moved and shocked at the sights — gave up his royal luxuries and went out in search of the permanent solution of all those sufferings and sorrows — got the enlightenment — became known as the Buddha or the Awakened one — first sermon at Benares — wanted to tell the world that death is the ultimate truth — mortals are destined to die sooner or later — no family in the world where no one has lost a child, husband, parent or friend — Lamenting for a son or a parent — like showing selfishness in grief — no lamentation or grieving can bring a dead man back to life — world is afflicted with death and decay — who has overcome all sorrow become free from sorrow — will be the blessed one.