TEACHER’S SUPPORT DOCUMENT

Subject: English Topic: The Sermon at Benares Grade: X

Attachments
Practice Sheet 1 Practice Sheet Answer Scheme 1
Class Test combined Class Test Answer Scheme combined
PPT 1 Video 1

Additional References
Book:
1. First Flight Reader Class 10
Web link:
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.

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Vocabulary
Word Meaning
1. heretofore - till then
2. inscrutable - mysterious
3. procure - to obtain something, especially with difficulty
4. weary - tired
5. flickered up - to keep going on and off as it shines or burns
6. extinguished - put out
7. mortals - human beings
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 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

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under a fig tree till 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 text book.
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

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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.
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