NCERT SOLUTIONS FOR CLASS 10 - ENGLISH NOTES - THE SERMON AT BENARES - QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS - CBSE

 

THE SERMON AT BENARES

 

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?

Ans: When her only son died, Kisa Gotami was suffering from extreme pain. She carried the dead body of her child in her arms and went from one way to another requesting medicine to cure her child. However no one could give any medicine. For there is no such medicine available which can bring a dead person back to life.

 

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?

Ans: At the point when she met the Buddha, he requested her to get a handful of mustard seeds from a house where nobody had lost a child, spouse, parent, or companion. She went from one house to another, yet couldn't get the mustard seeds in light of the fact that there was not a single house where nobody had died in the family.

 

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?

Ans: Kisa Gotami understood the second time that death is common to all and that she was being selfish in her misery. There was no house where some beloved had not passed on. Yes, this was what the Buddha wanted her to understand.

 

 

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

Ans: In the beginning, she could see just her grief. At the point when she went from one house to another the second time, she understood that everybody was dealing with the loss of a beloved one. There was not a single house in the town, where demise had not taken a dad, a mother, a sister, a sibling, child or a girl. Everybody, sooner or later or the other, have encountered the death of their friends and family. Gautama Buddha assisted her with seeing this, as he advised 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 people.

 

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

Ans: A selfish person is one who just thinks about himself, and somewhat Kisa Gotami was being narrow minded on the grounds that we are people and it is normal for us to die. We don't effectively acknowledge the death of our friends and family. Same has occurred with Kisa Gotami. As it was her lone child, she didn't want him to die and finally went to Buddha to for help. Yes, one might say that Kisa Gotami was being 'selfish in her grief'. In the light of her misfortune, she couldn't see that death is something that strikes every living being.

 

THINKING ABOUT THE LANGUAGE

I. This text is written in an old-fashioned style, for it reports an incident more than two millennia old. Look for the following words and phrases in the text, and try to rephrase them in more current language, based on how you understand them.

i) Give thee medicine for thy child
ii) Pray tell me
iii) Kisa repaired to the Buddha
iv) there was no house but someone had died in it
v) kinsmen
vi) Mark!

ANSWER

i) Give you medicine for your child
ii) Please tell me
iii) Kisa went to the Buddha
iv) There was no house where no one had died
v) Relatives
vi) Listen

II. You know that we can combine sentences using words like and, or, but, yet and then. But sometimes no such word seems appropriate. In such a case was can use a semicolon (;) or a dash (−) to combine two clauses.

She has no interest in music; I doubt she will become a singer like her mother.

The second clause here gives the speaker’s opinion on the first clause.

Here is a sentence from the text that uses semicolons to combine clauses. Break up the sentence into three simple sentences. Can you then say which has a better rhythm when you read it, the single sentence using semicolons, or the three simple sentences?

For there is not any means by which those who have been born can avoid dying; after reaching old age there is death; of such a nature are living beings.

Ans: The single sentence utilizing semicolons has a better rhythm. This is on the grounds that the three parts of the sentence are associated with one another in their meanings. The second clause gives additional information on the first clause. The third clause is directly related with both the first and the second. Their meanings are better conveyed on when they are joined by semicolons.