NCERT Solution for Class 10 English Chapter 8 The Sermon at Benares
Summary for Class 10 English Chapter 8 The Sermon at Benares
NCERT Solution for Class 10 English Chapter 8 The Sermon at Benares
Thinking about the Text
- 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 son died, she went from house to house, asking if she could get some medicine that would cure her child.
No, she did not get it because her child was dead and no medicine could have brought him back to life. - 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
When she first saw the Buddha, he told her to go find a home where no one had lost a child, husband, parent, or friend and pick a handful of mustard seeds. She went from house to house looking for mustard seeds, but she couldn’t find any because no one in the family had died. - 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 around, Kisa Gotami realized that death is universal and that she was being selfish in her mourning. There was no home where a loved one had not passed away. Yes, the Buddha intended for her to comprehend this. - Why do you think Kisa Gotami understood this only the second time? In what way did the Buddha change her understanding?
Answer
Earlier, she could see only her grief. When she went from door to door the second time, she understood that everyone was dealing the with the loss of a beloved one. There was not a single house in the town, where death had not taken a father, a mother, a sister, a brother, son or a daughter. Everyone, at some point or the other, have experienced the death of their loved ones. Gautama Buddha helped her to understand all this, as he told her to bring a handful of mustard seeds from a house where death had never knocked at the door. This way she got aware that death is common to all human beings. - How do you usually understand the idea of ‘selfishness’? Do you agree with Kisa Gotami that she was being ‘selfish in her grief ’?
Answer
A selfish person is one who only thinks about himself or herself, and to some extent Kisa Gotami was being selfish because we are humans and it is natural for us to die. We do not easily accept the death of our loved ones. Same has happened with Kisa Gotami. As it was her only child, she did not want him to die finally went to Buddha to ask for help.
NCERT Solution for Class 10 English Chapter 8 The Sermon at Benares
NCERT Solution for Class 10 English Chapter 8 The Sermon at Benares
