Jharkhand Board Class 10 English Notes | The Sermon at Benaras Solutions Chapter 10
Questions on Extract
Extract-1. "Not from weeping nor from grieving will anyone
obtain peace of mind; on the contrary, his pain will be the greater
and his body will suffer. He will make himself sick and pale, yet
the dead are not saved by his lamentation. He who seeks peace
should draw out the arrow of lamentation, and complaint, and
grief. He who has drawn out the arrow and has become composed
will obtain peace of mind; he who was overcome all sorrow will
become free from sorrow, and be blessed."
Q. (a) When will one's pain be greater and body will suffer?
(b) What will happen if a man grieves and weeps?
(c) Who can get peace of mind?
(d) Who will be blessed finally?
(e) Find a phrase from the passage which means 'as
against'.
Ans.(a) One's pain will be greater and body will suffer if one
grieves and weeps.
(b) He will be sick and pale.
(c) One can get peace of mind if one stops lamenting,
complaining and grieving.
(d) One who has overcome all sorrow will be free from it and
be blessed.
(e) 'on the contrary'.
Long Type Questions and Answer
Q. 1. Describe how Gautama Buddha attained
Enlightenment as given in. The Sermon at Benares'.
Ans. Gautama Buddha (563 B.C.-483 B.C.) was born as a
prince in northern India. At twelve he was sent away for schooling
in the Hindu sacred scriptures. He returned after four years. He
married a princess. They had a son. Buddha had been shielded
from the sufferings of the world. But while out hunting he saw a
sick man, then an aged man, then a funeral procession and finally
a monk begging for alms. These sights moved him greatly. He
went out to seek enlightenment concerning sorrows. He wandered
for seven years. He sat down finally under a fig tree. He was
enlightened after seven days. He named the tree the Bo tree (Tree
of Wisdom). He began to teach and to share his understandings. At
this point he became known as the Buddha(The Awakened or The
Enlightened). He preached his first sermon at the city of Benares.
Q. 2. Why did Kisa Gotami come to Gautama the Buddha?
What did new Gautama advise her to do? How did she follow his
advice? What new knowledge did she get thereafter? (V.Imp.)
OR, Why did Gotami fail to get of mustard seeds? What
did she learn?
Ans. Kisa Gotami had an only son and he died. In her grief
she took the dead child to all her neighbours. She asked for
medicine to cure the dead child. A man told Kisa that he couldn't
give the medicine. But he knew a physician who could give the
medicine. He was Gautama the Buddha. Kisa went to Gautama
and told about the case. The Buddha told her to bring a handful of
mustard seed. He told her that the mustard seed should be taken
from a house where no one has lost a child, husband, parent or
friend. Kisa went from home to home. She got the mustard seed.
But she did not only find any house where there had not occurred
any death. Kisa became tired and hopeless. She sat watching the
lights of the day. In darkness she considered the fate of man. Their
lives flicker up and are extinguished again. This was her new
knowledge.
Q. 3. What truth of life does Gautama the Buddha give out
in his first sermon? What moral teaching does he preach about
the truths or sufferings of life? (V.Imp.)
Ans. The Buddha says in his first sermon that human life is
brief, troubled and painful. There is no means by which one can
avoid dying. As ripe fruits fall, so mortals when born are always in
danger of death. Both young and adult, fools or wise fall to death.
A father can't save his son from death nor kinsmen their relations.
The mortals die like the vessels of a potter break. They are led to
death like an ox taken to slaughter. The world is affected by death
and decay.
Anyone will not obtain peace of mind from weeping or
grieving. On the contrary, his pain will be greater. His body will
suffer. The dead can't be saved from lamentation. One who seeks
peace of mind shall seek it if he overcomes all sorrows. The wise
know the truth of life: those who are born are to die one day. So
they don't grieve on deaths. They are blessed.
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