The Sermon at Benares

Gautama Buddha was born in 563 B.C. He was a philosophical even in his childhood. He was sent for
schooling at the age of twelve. He was married at the age of sixteen. They had a son. When he was
twenty-five years old, one day when he was going for hunting he caught sight of a sick man, an aged man,
a dead man’s funeral procession and a monk. He realised that this world is a home of sufferings. He left
home in search of wisdom. He wandered for seven years and got enlightenment.

Summary

Gautama Buddha was born in 563 B.C. He was born in a royal family. He was a prince. His name was
Siddhartha Gautama. At the age of twelve, he was sent away for schooling. He studied all the sacred
Hindu scriptures. He returned after four years. At the age of sixteen, he married a princess. They had a
son. For ten years the couple passed a happy life. Siddhartha had been shielded from the suffering of the
world. However, when he was twenty-five, Siddhartha saw a sick man, then an aged man, then a funeral
procession. Finally, he came across a monk begging for alms. This was his first encounter with the harsh
realities of life. These sights made him so sad that he decided to renounce the worldly pleasures. He left
his family and became a beggar. He went out into the world to seek spiritual knowledge

Siddhartha Gautama wandered for seven years in search of wisdom and truth. Finally, he sat down under
a fig tree to meditate. He vowed to stay there until he got enlightenment. After seven days. Gautama got
enlightenment. He named the tree as the ‘Bodhi Tree’. that is ‘The tree of wisdom’. He became known as
‘the Buddha’ which means ‘enlightened’ or ‘the awakened’. He began to teach and to spread his message
of wisdom and truth. He became known as the Buddha (the enlightened).

Buddha gave his first sermon at Benares. It is the holiest of places on the bank of the river Ganges. His
first sermon reflects his wisdom about one inscrutable kind of suffering i.e. death. Here, the Buddha tells
about the universality of death which is inevitable and can’t be escaped.

A lady named Kisa Gotami had an only son. One day, her son died. She wanted that her child should
become alive again. She wanted some medicine to bring her son to life. People called her mad. At last,
she came across a man. He advised her to meet the Buddha. She approached Buddha with a request to
give her medicine so that her only son could he live again. After deep thought, the Buddha asked her to
bring a handful of mustard-seeds. But there was a condition. She must bring it from a house where no one
had died. Kisa Gotami went from door-to-door to get the mustard-seeds. She found mustard-seeds in
every home but she could not find a home where nobody had died. By evening, she was sad and tired. She
saw the lights of the city. Soon there was the darkness of the night. Now she considered the fate of man.
Now she realised that death is inevitable. No one can escape it.

She came back to the Buddha and asked for his blessings. The Buddha in his sermon told her that our life
is brief and painful. Everyone who takes birth has to die. The vessel made by the potter is not permanent.
It has to break one day. In the same way, everyone has to die. Death spares none. A father cannot save his
son. Everyone grieves when someone dear dies. But grieving cannot bring the dead back to life. So death
and sufferings are unavoidable. The wise persons do not grieve as they know the truth. Weeping does not
bring peace to the mind. On the other hand, a person’s pain becomes greater by grieving. His body also
suffers. One who has learnt to control his grief shall have peace of mind. That person is blessed, who has
overcome his sorrow.

Important Long/ Detailed Answer Type Questions- to be answered in about 100 -150 words each

Answer the following questions in 100-120 words:

2.”The world is afflicted with death said Buddha. Expand this thought revising KisaGotami’s experience.

Ans. When KisaGotami went to the Buddha for the medicine to revive her and Buddha told her to procure
a handful of mustard seeds from a house where no one has died. She then asked them if anyone in the
family had died, and they answered that many were dead in the house and it aggrieved them to remember
those dead people. She became weary and hopeless after going to several houses and getting the same
response. As she sat wearily she saw the city lights go out, and darkness reigned everywhere. She finally
grasped the Buddha’s underlying meaning. She returned to the Buddha and narrated her experience.
Thereafter the Buddha sermonized her that the life of mortals in this world is troubled and painful; that
the world is afflicted with death and decay, and so there is no point in grieving over something which is
inescapable.

3. Why did KisaGotami understand the message given by the Buddha only the second time? In what way
did the Buddha change her understanding?

Ans. KisaGotami had lost her only son and in grief, she carried her dead son to all her neighbours to get
him cured and restored back to life. Finally, she went to the Buddha asking him for a medicine to cure her
boy. The Buddha felt that she needed to be enlightened about the truth of life — that death and sorrow are
inescapable. He could see that grief had blinded her, and it would be difficult for her to accept the truth.
So the Buddha told her to procure mustard seeds from a house where none had died. KisaGotami went
from door to door. Then she realized that there was no house where no one had died and that death is
common to all. She came back to the Buddha where he sermonized her that life in this world is troubled
and filled with sorrows. He gave her examples of ripe fruits and earthen vessels whose ‘lives’ are short.
This way he made her realize that death is unavoidable and none —even the near and dear ones — can
save anyone from death.

4. The Buddha said, “The world is affected by death and decay, therefore, the wise men do not grieve,
knowing the terms of the world.” Do you think the statement is appropriate even for today’s life? Write
your views in the context of the above statement.

Ans. The above-said statement holds true concerning today’s life as well. Buddha said that death is
common to all mortals. Those who are born must die one day. Death is certain, can’t be avoided. As ripe
fruits fall off the trees, so is the life of mortals. Life of a man is like an earthen pot that breaks and meets
its end. No amount of weeping and lamenting can bring the dead back to life. So, wise men don’t grieve.
They understand that it is the law of the world. Weeping and lamenting produces 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. To overcome sorrow, become free of sorrow. But in today’s world, man has
forgotten this. He makes all kinds of efforts to provide himself with the comforts and earns money by all
means whether wrong or right. He forgets that one day he has to die and everything will be left here only.

6. How did Buddha seek and achieve enlightenment?

Ans.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 from there till he was enlightened. After being enlightened that took a week’s
time, he renamed the tree as Buddha Tree (Tree of Wisdom) and began to preach.

7. Through the story of KisaGotami, what did the Buddha try to preach to the common man?

Ans. Buddha said that death is common to all mortals. Those who are born must die one day. You cannot
avoid it. Death is certain. He taught this, through the story of KisaGotami, Kisa was a common woman
whose son had died. She could not believe it and carried her son to neighbours requesting them to give
her a medicine to cure him. People thought that she was not in her senses. She approached Buddha. He
asked her to procure a handful of mustard seeds but he put a condition that they should be procured from
a house where no death has ever taken place. Kisa could not find such a house. She, sad and depressed,
sat on the sideways and watched city lights that flickered and extinguished. It made her realize that
human lives flicker and extinguish as well and that death is an unavoidable phenomenon. She thought
herself to be selfish for thinking only about her grief.

8. What did Buddha say about death and suffering? Explain by giving examples from the text.
Or
“If one seeks peace one should draw out the sorrow of lamentation.” What do you infer from the
Buddha’s statement?

Ans. 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. To overcome sorrow,
become free of sorrow.

Q.11. Why did Siddhartha came to be called the Buddha? Where did he give his first sermon?

Ans. Siddhartha Gautama wandered for seven years in search of wisdom and truth. Finally, he sat down
under a big people tree to meditate. He vowed to stay there until he got enlightenment. After seven days,
Gautama got enlightenment. He named the tree as the ‘Bodhi Tree’. , that is ‘The tree of wisdom.’ He
became known as ‘the Buddha’ which means ‘enlightened’ or ‘the awakened’. He began to teach and to
spread his message of wisdom and truth. The Buddha gave his first sermon at Benares. It is the holiest of
places on the hank of the Ganges. His first sermon reflects his wisdom about one kind of suffering i.e.
death. Here the Buddha tells about the universality of death which is inevitable and can’t be escaped.