The Sermon at Benaras

Q.1. Who was Gautama Buddha ? When and where was he born ?
Ans. Gautama Buddha was a Prince who was named Siddhartha Gautam by his parents. He was born in 563 B.C. in North India. He had been shielded from the sufferings of the world. He attained enlightenment under a Peeple tree and named the tree as 'Tree of Wisdom'.

Q.2. Mention the incident which prompted Prince Siddhartha to become a beggar? [Board Term-II, 2012 Set EL (6202231
Ans. One day during his hunting trip, Prince Siddhartha came across a sick man, an aged man, a monk asking for alms and also witnessed a funeral procession. He could not understand the cause of those sufferings. So he left home and became a beggar to find the cause of human suffering.

Q.3. Why was Kisa Gotami sad ? What did she do in her hour of grief? [Board Term-II, 2015 Set 2/1/5)
Ans. Kisa Gotami was sad because her only son had died. In her hour of grief, she went from house to house and asked for medicine to cure him. She had become selfish in wanting her son back.

Q.4. Kisa Gotami again goes from house-to-house after she speaks with the Buddha. What does she ask for the second time? Does she get ? Why not? [Board Term-II, 2012 Set EL (62018)] [NCERT)
Ans. Kisa Gotami goes from house to house. She asks for some mustard seeds. The Budhdha had asked her to bring the seeds from a house where no death had ever taken place. But she was unable to find such a house. It made her realise that death is inevitable and that no one can deny the nature's cycle.

Q.5. What did Kisa Gotami learn in the end ? [Board Term-II, 2012 Set EL (62021)]
Ans. In the end, Kisa Gotami realised and learnt that death is common to all and that no one could avoid dying. People weep over their dead ones but it is only the wise who do not grieve as they have accepted the truth. A person should only try to seek inner peace.

Q.6. How did Buddha teach Kisa Gotami the truth of life? [Board Term-II Outside Delhi II, 2014, Code-221
Ans. Kisa Gotami was in deep gief because her only son had died. She went from door to door, seeking help. Someone directed her to Sakyamuni, the Buddha. The Buddha asked her to bring a handful of mustard seeds. This raised a hope in Gotami's heart that her son could be revived. But the condition imposed by Sakyamuni was that the seeds must be from a house where there had been no death. But she was unable to find any such hous. Now she realized the bitter truth that sorrows are a part and parcel of life.

Q.7. What did the Buddha do after he had attained enlightenment ? Why?
Ans. Prince Siddhartha Gautama was deeply pained by the sufferings he saw around him. He left home to find he cause of human suffering. After wandering for seven years, he finally sat under Peepal tree to meditate till he received enlightenment. A spiritual understanding about the cause of human suffering came to him and 'The Buddha’ set out to share it with the world to relieve the mortals of their sufferings.

Q.8. What does the Buddha say about the world ?
Ans. The Buddha says that everything in this world is subject to death. He further says that the world is deeply affected by suffering, disease or pain. Inevitably there is death and decay.

Q.9. What did the Buddha want Kisa Gotami to understand?
Ans. The Buddha wanted to make her understand that death is the common to all and no one can avoid dying. There can be no medicine that can bring the dead back to life. The Buddha wanted Kisa Gotami to understand this very fact of life.

Q.10. How did Kisa Gotami come to realize the fact that death is the common end of life? 
Ans. The Buddha asked Kisa Gotami to bring a handful of mustard - seeds from a house where no death had ever taken place. Kisa Gotami failed to find any such house. Thus she came to realize that death was the common end of all.

Q. 11. With what does the Buddha compare the death and decay of human beings?
Ans. The Buddha compares the death and decay of human beings with ripe fruits and earthen vessels. Ripe fruits are early in danger of falling; so also, mortals ever remain in danger of death. Earthen vessels always end in being broken; so is the case with human beings. Every human being is fated to die in the end.