English (First Flight) · CBSE Class 10 · Prose: Gautama Buddha (Betty Renshaw) · Poem: For Anne Gregory (W. B. Yeats) · 25 Quiz
The Sermon at Benares — Summary, Background, Theme & Word-Meanings
Background & Author
The chapter (from Betty Renshaw’s Values and Voices) narrates the story of Gautama Buddha (563 B.C.–483 B.C.), born Prince Siddhartha Gautama in northern India. Shielded from suffering, at about twenty-five he saw a sick man, an old man, a funeral procession and a monk. Deeply moved, he left his royal life to seek enlightenment. After seven years he attained it under the peepal tree (the Bodhi Tree) and became the Buddha (‘the Enlightened One’). His first sermon was preached at Benares (Varanasi).
Theme
The sermon teaches the great truth that death is inevitable and common to all, and that grieving cannot bring back the dead. True peace comes from accepting the universal nature of death and drawing out the ‘arrow of grief’.
Summary
Kisa Gotami’s only son died. Mad with grief, she carried the dead child from house to house begging for medicine to bring him back to life. People thought she had lost her senses. At last a man sent her to the Buddha. She begged him for medicine to cure her son. The Buddha agreed — but asked her to first bring a handful of mustard-seed from a house where no one had ever lost a child, husband, parent or friend.
Kisa Gotami went from house to house. Everyone willingly offered her mustard-seed, but in every single house someone had died — ‘the living are few, but the dead are many’. Weary and hopeless, she sat by the roadside watching the city lights flicker up and die out, and suddenly understood the truth: death is common to all; her grief was selfish. She realised that ‘in this valley of desolation there is a path that leads to immortality for him who has surrendered all selfishness’.
The Buddha then taught that the life of mortals is ‘troubled, brief and combined with pain’ — no one born can avoid death, just as ripe fruits are in danger of falling and earthen pots must break. Neither weeping nor grieving brings peace; it only increases pain and harms the body. One who draws out the arrow of lamentation and grief and becomes composed obtains peace of mind and is blessed, free from sorrow.
The Poem — For Anne Gregory (W. B. Yeats)
A conversation between a young man and a young woman about love and outward beauty. The young man says a man can only love the woman for her beautiful ‘honey-coloured’ (yellow) hair, not for herself alone. She replies that she can dye her hair brown, black or carrot so that men may love her for herself. The young man answers that he heard an old religious man declare that only God could love her for herself alone and not her yellow hair. The poem reflects on whether true love is for a person’s inner self or only for outward appearance.
Word-Meanings
sermon = a religious/moral talk; chanced upon = came across by chance; enlightenment = high spiritual knowledge; inscrutable = that cannot be understood; dipping places = bathing places; repaired to = went to; procure = obtain; valley of desolation = an area filled with deep sorrow; mortals = those bound to die; afflicted with = affected by suffering; lamentation = expression of sorrow; composed = calm and in control; kinsmen = relatives. (Poem) ramparts = the high walls around a fort; despair = hopelessness; hair-dye = colour used to change hair colour.
NCERT Textbook Solutions (The Sermon at Benares + For Anne Gregory)
TT-1When her son dies, Kisa Gotami goes from house to house. What does she ask for? Does she get it? Why not?
She goes from house to house asking for medicine to cure (bring back to life) her dead son. She does not get it, because the boy is already dead — there can be no medicine for the dead — and people thought she had ‘lost her senses’.
TT-2Kisa Gotami again goes from house to house after she speaks with the Buddha. What does she ask for the second time? Does she get it? Why not?
The second time she asks for a handful of mustard-seed — but from a house where no one had ever lost a child, husband, parent or friend. She does not get it, because there is no such house; in every home someone dear had died — ‘the living are few, but the dead are many’.
TT-3What 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 she understands that death is common to all — no family escapes it — and that her grief was selfish because she thought only of her own loss. Yes, this was exactly what the Buddha wanted her to realise: that death comes to everyone and grief must be accepted, not fought.
TT-4Why do you think Kisa Gotami understood this only the second time? In what way did the Buddha change her understanding?
She understood it only the second time because she experienced the truth herself — going house to house, she saw that every family had suffered death. The Buddha changed her understanding not by preaching directly, but by leading her to discover the universal truth of death through her own experience, which made it far more convincing and lasting.
TT-5How do you usually understand the idea of ‘selfishness’? Do you agree that she was being ‘selfish in her grief’?
Usually ‘selfishness’ means thinking only of oneself and one’s own needs. In a sense, Kisa Gotami was ‘selfish in her grief’ because she felt her loss was the greatest and unique, forgetting that death and sorrow are common to all. (One may also feel her grief was natural for a mother, but the Buddha’s point was that excessive, self-centred grief brings no peace.)
TL-1Rephrase the old-fashioned words/phrases in current English.
• ‘give thee medicine for thy child’ → give you medicine for your child.
• ‘Pray tell me’ → Please tell me.
• ‘Kisa repaired to the Buddha’ → Kisa went to the Buddha.
• ‘there was no house but someone had died in it’ → there was no house in which someone had not died (every house had had a death).
• ‘kinsmen’ → relatives.
• ‘Mark!’ → Note! / Listen! / Pay attention!
TL-2Break the semicolon sentence into three simple sentences. Which reads better?
Three simple sentences: ‘There is no 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.’
The single sentence using semicolons reads better — it flows smoothly and has a more impressive, sermon-like rhythm, linking the related ideas together.
AG-1What does the young man mean by ‘great honey-coloured / Ramparts at your ear’? Why are young men ‘thrown into despair’ by them?
By ‘great honey-coloured ramparts at your ear’, the young man means the young woman’s beautiful golden/yellow hair, piled up beside her ears like the high walls (ramparts) of a fort. Young men are ‘thrown into despair’ because they are so dazzled by this outward beauty that they can love only her lovely hair and appearance — not her true, inner self.
AG-2What colour is the young woman’s hair? What does she say she can change it to? Why?
Her hair is yellow (honey-coloured / golden). She says she can use hair-dye to change it to brown, black or carrot (red). She would do so in order that young men might then love her for herself alone and not for her yellow hair.
AG-3What qualities make an object desirable? (sample)
(Sample) An object is desirable for qualities such as its beauty, usefulness, quality, brand, price and features — e.g. a phone for its camera and speed, a car for its looks and mileage, a dress for its design and comfort. To sell it, one would emphasise these attractive qualities. But the poem reminds us that people should not be valued like objects, only for outward qualities.
AG-4Do we love others for their qualities, or ‘for themselves alone’?
(Sample) Often we are first attracted to people by their qualities — physical or mental. But the deepest love, such as a parent’s love for a newborn or for a challenged child, is given ‘for themselves alone’, regardless of beauty or talent. The poem suggests that truly selfless love — loving a person for their very self — is rare and perhaps divine (‘only God’), yet it is the ideal we should seek.
AG-5Can we separate ‘the person’ from how they look, sound and walk? How do relationships change as people change?
(Sample) It is very hard to fully separate ‘the person himself/herself’ from their looks, voice and manner, since these are part of who they are. As people grow and change over the years, our relationships also deepen and change — ideally, true affection moves beyond mere appearance to love the person’s character and inner self, which endures even as looks fade.