The Sermon at Benares

Summary

1. Buddha’s Early Life: 

Gautama Buddha (563 B.C. — 483 B.C.) was born as a prince. He was named Siddhartha Gautama. At the age of ten, he was sent away for schooling. He studied Hindu sacred scriptures. He was married to a princess at the age of sixteen. He had a son. Ten years of his married life were spent in royal luxuries. At the age of 25, 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 gave up the luxuries of royal life. He set out in search of enlightenment. After wandering for seven years, finally, he meditated under a fig tree. Enlightened after seven days, he renamed the tree as the Bodhi Tree. It was the Tree of Wisdom. He became known as the Buddha — the Awakened or the Enlightened one. The Buddha preached his first sermon at Benares, the holy city on the Ganges.

2. Kisa Gotami’s Only Son Died: 

Kisa Gotami’s only son had died. She was deeply grieved. She carried her dead son to all her neighbours. She asked them for medicine. The people thought that she had lost her senses. At last, a man advised her to go to Sakyamuni, the Buddha. She went to him and requested to give some medicine that could save her son. The Buddha gives her an exercise through which she realises that death is inevitable.

Comprehension Questions. Answer the following questions in 30-40 words:

1. Who is referred to as “wise” by the Buddha in his sermons? 

Buddha preached in his sermons that everything that is born will die one day. Death is inevitable: both young and adult or fools and wise are subject to death. According to Buddha, people who realise and accept this fact and do not lament are wise. 

2. How did the Buddha teach Kisa Gotami the truth of life? 

Buddha changed Kisa’s thinking with the help of a simple act—asking her to procure a handful of mustard seeds from the house where no one had died. She could not understand it. But, gradually she understood that death is inevitable. 

3. Describe the life of Gautama Buddha before enlightenment. 

Buddha was earlier a prince and lived in luxury. When he encountered suffering and grief, it made him sad. He renounced everything and went in search of a way to get rid of suffering. He wandered for seven years. Then, one day, he sat under a fig tree and vowed not to leave until he was enlightened. 

4. What moved Siddhartha Gautama to seek the path of enlightenment? 

While going for hunting Siddhartha Gautam saw a sick man, an old man, a funeral procession and a monk begging. This encounter with the sufferings of human beings moved him to seek the path of enlightenment. 

5. What did the Buddha preach to the people? 

Buddha said that death is common to all mortals. You cannot avoid it. No amount of weeping and lamenting can bring back a dead. So wise men don’t grieve. Weeping and lamenting rather spoil one’s health. To gain peace in life, one must not lament, complain or grieve about their loss.

Answer the following questions in 100-120 words:

1. How did Buddha seek and achieve enlightenment?
Once Gautama went for hunting. On the way, he saw a sick man, an old man, a funeral procession and a begging monk. He was filled with sorrow. He renounced everything and went out into the world to seek enlightenment concerning the sorrows he had witnessed after having wandered for seven years, Buddha sat under a fig tree until he was enlightened. After a week’s time, he received enlightenment and renamed the tree as Bodhi Tree (Tree of Wisdom) and began to preach.

2. “To seek peace one should draw out the arrow of lamentation.” What do you infer from the Buddha’s statement?
Buddha said that death is common to all mortals. Those who are born must die one day. You cannot avoid it. Death is certain. As ripe fruits fall off the trees and meet an end so do the lives of the mortals. Life of a man is like an earthen pot that breaks and meets its end. No amount of weeping and lamenting can bring a dead back to life. So, wise men don’t grieve. They understand that it is the law of nature. Also, weeping and lamenting bring no gains. It rather spoils one’s health and gives more pain. If only you take out the arrow of lamentation and get composed you will get peace of mind.

3. Describe the journey of Siddhartha Gautama becoming the Buddha.
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 as Bodhi Tree or the Tree of Wisdom. He became known as the Buddha or the Enlightened one. Then Buddha gave his first sermon at Benares on the River Ganges.

Questions from the textbook. Thinking about the Text

1. Why did Prince Siddhartha leave the palace and become a beggar?
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 this, he left the palace and became a beggar to search for enlightenment.

2. When her son dies, Kisa Gotami goes from house to house. What does she ask for? Does she get it? Why not?
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.

3. 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?
When she met the Buddha, he asked her to get a handful of mustard seeds from a house where no one had lost a child, husband, parent or friend. She went from house to house, but could not get the mustard seeds because there was not a single house where no one had died in the family.

4. 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?
Kisa Gotami understood the second time that death is common to all and that she was being selfish in her grief. There was no house where some beloved had not died. Yes, this is what the Buddha wanted her to understand.

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

First time round, she was only thinking about her grief and was, therefore, asking for a medicine that would cure her son. When she met the Buddha, he asked her to get a handful of mustard seeds from a house where no has died. He did this purposely to make her realize that there was not a single house where no beloved had died, she felt dejected that she could not gather the mustard seeds. Then, when she sat and thought about it, she realized that the fate of men is such that they live and die. Death is common to all. This was what the Buddha had intended her to understand.

Practice Questions

Q1Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow. 

(a) The Buddha preached his first sermon at the city of Benares, most holy of the dipping places on the River Ganges; that sermon has been preserved and is given here. It reflects the Buddha’s wisdom about one inscrutable kind of suffering. 

i. How is Benares described in the lesson?

a. the most holy of the dipping places on the river Ganges

b. the capital of India on the river Ganges

c. the most polluted of the dipping places on the river Ganges

d. the most populated of the dipping places on the river Ganges 

ii.What was the sermon preached by Buddha about?

 a. good and evil in the society 

b. ways to please to God 

c. ways to have an immortal life 

d. inscrutable kind of suffering

iii. According to Buddha, how can a person seek peace?

a. visit all pilgrim places

b. stop lamenting and complaining 

c. meditate for seven days 

d. take a dip in river Ganges 

iv. Find a word from the extract which means a religious talk.

a. inscrutable

b. preached

c. wisdom

d. sermon

(b) 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.' 

i. Why did Kisa Gotami travel from house to house?

a. to collect mustard seeds

b. to find some food

c. to beg for some money

d. to find her missing son

ii. What did the people tell Kisa Gotami when she asked about the death of their family members?

a. living are few, but the dead are many

b. dead are few, living are many

c. many of their dead are immortal

d. all are immortal 

iii. What effect does the weeping or grieving have on us? 

a. greater peace 

b. greater pain and suffering 

c. greater enlightenment 

d. greater life lessons are learnt 

iv. Find the exact word from the extract which means great sadness.

a. pitied

b. dead

c. die

d. grief

Q2 Answer the following questions in 30-40 words each. 

(a) Who is referred as ‘wise’ by the Buddha in his sermons? 

Buddha preached in his sermons that everything that is born will come to its end. Death is inevitable: both young and adult or fools and wise are subject to death. But the people who do not grieve knowing the terms of the world are called wise people. Wise people neither weep nor grieve. 

(b) How did Kisa Gotami realise that life and death is a process? 

Kisa Gotami went from house to house but was unable to find one house where no one had died. She was tired and hopeless and 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 human lives also flicker up for some time and are extinguished again. 

(c) Why was Gautama known as the Buddha? 

Gautama sat under a pipal tree until he attained enlightenment. After seven days he got enlightenment and began to teach and share his new understandings. So he came to be known as the Buddha (the Awakened or the Enlightened). 

(d) With what does Buddha compare the death of human beings? 

Gautama Buddha compares the death of human beings to ripe fruits. Just as fruits, when they ripen, are liable to fall, so mortals, when born, are always in danger of death. An earthen vessel made by the potter end in being broken so is the life of all mortals.

Q3 Answer the following questions in 100 -120 words. 

(a) 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?

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. 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 through this exercise. This helped her could come to terms with the truth. 

(b) 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?

Yes, I agree with the message that Gautama Buddha has given about life. In the modem 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 of 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.