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Class 10 English - First Flight Chapter 10. The Sermon at Benares Summary, Explanation, Question Answers (NCERT Solutions)

The Sermon At Benares (10. The Sermon at Benares) CBSE class 10 English - First Flight Chapter 10. The Sermon at Benares summary with detailed explanation of the lesson The Sermon At Benares along with meanings of difficult words. Given here is the complete explanation of the lesson, along with summary, explanation and questions and answers of each topic of lesson 10. The Sermon at Benares.

English - First Flight (Chapter 10. The Sermon at Benares) Solution
 Thinking About The Text

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

Answer :


Kisa Gotami understood that death is common to all and that she was being selfish in her grief. She understood this only the second time because it was then that she found that there was not a single house where some beloved had not died.

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 one had died. He did this purposely to make her realize that there was not a single house where no beloved had died, and that death is natural. When she went to all the houses the second time, 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.


All Questions of English - First Flight Chapter 10. 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?
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?
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?
4. Why do you think Kisa Gotami understood this only the second time? In what way did the Buddha change her understanding?
5. How do you usually understand the idea of ‘selfishness’? Do you agree with Kisa Gotami that she was being ‘selfish in her grief’?

Thinking About 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.

  • give thee medicine for thy child
  • Pray tell me
  • Kisa repaired to the Buddha
  • there was no house but someone had died in it
  • kinsmen
  • Mark!

    • 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.

    Speaking
    The Buddha's sermon is over 2500 years old. Given below are two recent texts on the topic of grief. Read the texts, comparing them with each other and with the Buddha's sermon. Do you think the Buddha's ideas and way of teaching continue to hold meaning for us? Or have we found better ways to deal with grief? Discuss this in groups or in class.
    I. A Guide to Coping with the Death of a Loved One
    II. Good Grief

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