The Sermon at Benares Question Answer – Class 10 English

Before You Read

Activity

1. What is a sermon? Is it different from a lecture or a talk? Can this word also be used in a negative way or as a joke (as in "my mother's sermon about getting my work done on time…")?

A sermon is a religious or moral talk, usually given by a priest or a spiritual teacher, that tells listeners how they ought to live. It is different from a lecture or a talk: a lecture gives information on a subject, and a talk can be about anything, but a sermon always carries moral advice. Yes, the word can be used in a negative or joking way for a long, boring piece of advice that nobody asked for, such as "my mother's sermon about getting my work done on time".

2. Find out the meanings of the words and phrases given in the box.

3. Have you heard of the Sermon on the Mount? Who delivered it? Who do you think delivered a sermon at Benares?

Yes. The Sermon on the Mount was delivered by Jesus Christ on a hillside in Galilee. It contains his best-known teachings, such as "Blessed are the meek" and the Lord's Prayer. The sermon at Benares was delivered by Gautama Buddha. It was his first sermon after he attained enlightenment.

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?

When her only son dies, Kisa Gotami carries the dead child from house to house and asks her neighbours for medicine that will bring him back to life. She does not get it, because no medicine can cure death. The people pity her and think she has gone mad: "She has lost her senses. The boy is dead."

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?

The second time, she asks for a handful of mustard seed, as the Buddha told her. The seed, however, must come from a house where no one has lost a child, husband, parent or friend. People readily offer her mustard seed, but she cannot accept it, because in every house someone has died. As the people tell her, "the living are few, but the dead are many." So she does not get the seed she needs.

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?

The second time, Kisa Gotami understands that death is common to all. Sitting by the wayside, she watches the lights of the city flicker up and go out, and sees that human lives are like them. She realises that she had been selfish in her grief, thinking only of her own loss, when every family has lost someone dear. Yes, this was exactly what the Buddha wanted her to understand. He wanted her to accept that everyone born must die, so that she could stop lamenting and find peace of mind.

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

The first time, Kisa Gotami was blinded by her grief. She refused to accept her son's death and was looking only for a cure, so the words of her neighbours did not reach her mind. The Buddha did not argue with her or simply tell her that death cannot be avoided, because in her state she would not have believed him. Instead, he gave her a task that made her discover the truth herself. As she went from house to house looking for a family untouched by death, she heard of loss in every home. Her own experience taught her that death is universal. In this way the Buddha led her from a personal sorrow to a wider truth about life, and from selfish grief to calm acceptance.

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

Usually, selfishness means caring only about oneself and one's own gain, without thinking of others. In Kisa Gotami's case, the word is used in a deeper sense. Her grief was natural, since any mother would mourn her only child. But she behaved as though her loss was the only sorrow in the world. She carried her dead son about, demanded a cure and thought only of her own pain, forgetting that death had visited every house around her. In that sense I agree that she was being selfish in her grief. Once she saw that sorrow is shared by all, she could rise above her own loss. The Buddha teaches that the one "who has surrendered all selfishness" finds the path to peace.

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.

II. 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.

Three simple sentences:

1. Those who have been born cannot avoid dying in any way.
2. Death comes after old age.
3. All living beings are of this nature.

The single sentence with semicolons has the better rhythm. Its three parts flow into one another and build up slowly to the final, solemn statement, "of such a nature are living beings". This suits the calm, serious tone of a sermon. The three simple sentences are clear, but they sound short and jerky, and the link between the ideas is lost.

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.

Points for the discussion:

• "A Guide to Coping with the Death of a Loved One" treats grief as "an emotion natural to all types of loss". It lists the feelings a grieving person may have (sadness, anger, guilt, anxiety, loneliness, fatigue and disbelief) and advises friends to be patient and supportive.
• "Good Grief" by Amitai Etzioni is a personal account. After losing his wife and then his son, the writer says there is no "right" way to grieve. He found comfort in the maxim "We are not to ask why, but what": what survivors can do for one another. Keeping busy, calling each other and caring for the young widow and child gave his family consolation.
• The Buddha's sermon asks the grieving person to accept that death is common to all, to "draw out the arrow of lamentation" and to become composed.

Model view for the discussion:

I believe the Buddha's ideas still hold great meaning for us. Modern writers agree with him on the main point: grief is natural and universal, and nobody can escape loss. Etzioni's advice to stop asking "why" is very close to the Buddha's teaching that weeping cannot bring back the dead. The Buddha's way of teaching is also remarkable. Instead of lecturing Kisa Gotami, he let her discover the truth through her own experience, and good counsellors still use this method today.

At the same time, modern thinking has added something useful. The Buddha says "the wise do not grieve", whereas modern guides accept that anger, guilt and sadness are normal and need time to heal. They also stress the role of friends and family in helping the grieving person. So I feel the best way to deal with grief combines both: the Buddha's acceptance of death as part of life, and the modern understanding that the grieving must be treated with patience and support.

Writing

Write a page (about three paragraphs) on one of the following topics. You can think about the ideas in the text that are relevant to these topics, and add your own ideas and experiences to them.

1. Teaching someone to understand a new or difficult idea

Teaching a difficult idea is not just a matter of explaining it. A good teacher finds a way for the learner to see the idea for himself or herself. The Buddha knew this well. He could have told Kisa Gotami at once that her son was dead and that death comes to everyone. In her grief she would not have listened. So he sent her to look for mustard seed from a house where no one had died, and she learnt the truth from her own experience.

I saw the same thing when I tried to help my younger brother with fractions. My explanations and rules only confused him. Then I cut a roti into four pieces and asked him to give me one piece. When he saw that one piece was "one-fourth", the idea suddenly made sense to him. A concrete example, a small task or a story often teaches more than a long explanation.

Patience matters too. A learner may need time, and may fail more than once before understanding, just as Kisa Gotami failed to understand the first time. A good teacher does not grow angry, but changes the method until the learner sees the light. In the end, the best teaching makes learners feel that they discovered the idea themselves.

2. Helping each other to get over difficult times

Everyone faces difficult times, such as the loss of a loved one, illness, failure in an examination or trouble at home. At such moments a person often feels that the suffering is his or hers alone. Kisa Gotami felt this way when her son died. Only when she learnt that every family had lost someone did she find the strength to overcome her grief. Knowing that others share our pain makes it easier to bear.

We can help others in difficult times in many simple ways. We can listen patiently without judging, visit them, share their daily work or just sit with them in silence. In "Good Grief", Amitai Etzioni's family and friends kept calling one another, played with the little child Max and stayed with the young widow. When floods strike our villages in Assam, neighbours share food, shelter and labour, and this support helps families start again.

Helping others also helps us. It teaches us kindness and reminds us that we belong to a larger human family. A society in which people stand by one another in bad times is stronger and happier. As the Buddha taught, when we surrender our selfishness and think of others, we find peace ourselves.

3. Thinking about oneself as unique, or as one among billions of others

Every person is unique. No two people have the same face, fingerprints, thoughts or dreams. It is natural and healthy to value our own talents and feelings, and this belief gives us confidence and a sense of purpose.

Yet each of us is also one among billions of people who are born, live, suffer, rejoice and die. Kisa Gotami thought her sorrow was special until she found that death had visited every house. When we remember that others too have problems, often bigger than ours, our own troubles seem smaller. We become more patient, more humble and more caring.

I think the wisest way is to keep both ideas in mind. We should believe in our own worth and work to make the best of our lives, but we should not become selfish or proud. Seeing ourselves as part of humanity helps us share others' joys and sorrows, and that makes life meaningful.

You may choose any one topic in the examination; write about three paragraphs and link your ideas to the lesson.

In This Lesson: What You Can Do

1. Read and discuss the following extract from Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet with the students. (Joy and Sorrow)

Gibran says that joy and sorrow are not opposites but two faces of the same experience: "Your joy is your sorrow unmasked." The things that make us happy are the very things that can make us sad when we lose them. He gives two images. The cup that holds wine was once burnt in the potter's oven, and the lute that soothes us was hollowed out with knives. Suffering shapes us and makes us able to hold greater joy: "The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain." Joy and sorrow are "inseparable"; when one is with us, the other is near. This links to the sermon, since Kisa Gotami's deep love for her son was the cause of her deep sorrow.

2. Help students to read and memorise the following extract from Tagore.

In these lines Tagore asks us not to grieve because a loved one "is no more", but to be thankful that she lived. Death is not "the extinguishing of a light" but "the putting out of the lamp because the dawn has come": the soul has passed into a new and brighter life. Like the Buddha, Tagore teaches calm acceptance of death in place of endless lamentation.