Chapter 10 The Sermon at Benares
Textbook Questions and Answers
Thinking about the Text
Question 1.
When her son dies, Kisa Gotami goes from house to house. What does she ask for? Does she get it? Why not?
जब उसका पुत्र मरता है, किसा गोतमी घर-घर जाती है। वह क्या माँगती है? क्या वह इसे प्राप्त करती है? क्यों नहीं?
Answer:
When her son dies, Kisa Gotami goes from house to house. She asks for medicine. No, she doesn’t get it because the people say that she has lost her senses and the boy is dead.
जब उसका पुत्र मरता है, तो किसा गोतमी घर-घर जाती है। वह दवा माँगती है। नहीं, उसे दवा नहीं मिलती है क्योंकि लोग कहते हैं कि वह अपनी सुधबुध खो चुकी है और उसका पुत्र मर चुका है।
Question 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?
किसा गोतमी, बुद्ध से बात करने के उपरान्त, पुनः घर-घर जाती है। वह दूसरी बार क्या माँगती है? क्या वह इसे प्राप्त करती है? क्यों नहीं?
Answer:
Kisa Gotami again goes from house to house after she speaks with the Buddha. Second time around she asks for a handful of mustard-seēd from a house where no one has ever died. She doesn’t get it because there is not any house where no one has ever died.
किसा गोतमी, बुद्ध से बात करने के उपरान्त पुनः घर-घर जाती है। दूसरी बार वह एक ऐसे घर से थोड़े से सरसों के दाने माँगती है जहाँ कभी कोई मृत्यु न हुई हो। उसे यह प्राप्त नहीं होता है क्योंकि वहाँ कोई घर ऐसा नहीं है जहाँ कभी किसी की मृत्यु ही नहीं हुई हो।
Question 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?
किसा गोतमी दूसरी बार क्या समझती है जो वह पहली बार समझने में असफल रही थी? क्या यह वही था जो बुद्ध उसे समझाना चाहते थे?
Answer:
Kisa Gotami understands that it is the fate of men, that their lives flicker up and extinguish again. Death is common to all.
Yes, the Buddha wanted her to understand this and also this that in this valley of desolation there is a path that leads him to immortality who has surrendered all selfishness.
किसा गोतमी समझती है कि यह व्यक्तियों की किस्मत ही है जो उनके जीवन को टिमटिमाती है और पुनः बुझा देती है। मृत्यु सबके लिए समान है।। हाँ, बुद्ध चाहते थे कि वह यह समझ जाए और यह भी कि इस दुःखमय संसार में एक मार्ग है जो उसे अमरत्व की ओर ले जाता है जिसने सम्पूर्ण स्वार्थ का समर्पण कर दिया है।
Question 4.
Why do you think Kisa Gotami understood this only the second time? In what way did the Buddha change her understanding?
आपके विचार में किसा गोतमी इसे केवल दूसरी बार ही क्यों समझती है? बुद्ध ने उसकी समझ को किस तरह से परिवर्तित किया? ।।
Answer:
I think Kisa Gotami understood this only the second time because after becoming weary and hopeless from her search for a deathless house, she sat down at the wayside watching the flickering and extinguishing lights of the city. This phenomenon leads her to understand that death is inevitable and common to all.Buddha changed her understanding by explaining that the life of morals in this world is troubled and brief and combined with pain. There isn’t any means by which you can avoid dying. Ripe fruits are early in danger of falling. All earthen vessels end in being broken.
मेरे विचार से किसा गोतमी केवल दूसरी बार ही इसे समझ पाई थी क्योंकि एक मृत्यु-रहित घर की अपनी खोज से थकने व निराश होने के कारण वह रास्ते के किनारे बैठ गई और शहर की टिमटिमाती व बुझती रोशनी को देखने लगी। यह घटना उसे समझाती है कि मृत्यु अवश्यम्भावी है और सबके लिए समान है।
बुद्ध उसके ज्ञान को यह स्पष्ट करते हुए परिवर्तित करते हैं कि नश्वरों का जीवन इस संसार में परेशानी भरा, संक्षिप्त व पीड़ा युक्त होता है। ऐसा कोई भी साधन नहीं है जिससे आप मृत्यु से बच सकते हैं। पका फल जल्दी गिरने के खतरे में होता है। मिट्टी के सभी बर्तन का अन्त टूटकर ही होता है।
Question 5.
How do you usually understand the idea of ‘selfishness’? Do you agree .. with Kisa Gotami that she was being ‘selfish in her grief?’ ।
आप ‘स्वार्थीपन’ के विचार को सामान्यतः कैसे समझते हैं? क्या आप किसा गोतमी से सहमत हैं कि वह अपने ‘दुःख में स्वार्थी’ रही थी?
Answer:
By the idea of ‘selfishness’ I usually understand that a man thinks about himself only without any consideration for others’ interests or reality of the world. Yes, I agree with Kisa Gotami that she was being ‘selfish in her grief.’ For her son’s life she forgot the reality of this mortal world where all are subject to death.
‘स्वार्थपरायणता’ के विचार से मैं सामान्यतः यह समझता हूँ कि दूसरों के हितों को व संसार की सच्चाई को समझे बगैर एक व्यक्ति जब केवल अपने बारे में ही सोचता है।
हाँ, मैं किसा गोतमी से सहमत हूँ कि वह अपने दुःख में स्वार्थी हो गई थी। अपने पुत्र के जीवन के लिए वह इस नश्वर जगत् की सच्चाई को भूल गई कि यहाँ सभी मृत्यु से बँधे हैं।
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.
यह मल पाठ पराने फैशन की शैली में लिखा गया है. क्योंकि यह दो हजार वर्ष से अधिक परानी एक घटना को प्रस्तुत करता है। मूल पाठ में निम्न शब्दों व पदबन्धों को खोजिए, और उनको अपने समझने के आधार पर अधिक प्रचलित भाषा में पुनः पदबन्धित करें।
- 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!
Answer:
- give you medicine for your child
- Please, tell me
- Kisa went to the Buddha
- there was no house where someone had not died relatives
- Pay attention/Remember
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?
यहाँ मूल पाठ से एक वाक्य दिया गया है जिसमें अर्द्धविराम का प्रयोग उपवाक्यों को जोड़ने के लिए है। वाक्य को तीन साधारण वाक्यों में बाँटिए। क्या फिर आप बता सकते हैं कि जब आप इसे पढ़ते हैं तो किसमें अधिक अच्छा सामंजस्य है, अर्द्धविरामों के प्रयोग वाले एकल वाक्य में या तीन साधारण वाक्यों में?
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.
Answer:
(i) There is not any means by which those who have been born can avoid dying
(ii) After reaching old age, there is death.
(iii) Living beings are of such a nature (i.e., they have to die).
The single sentence has better rhythm.
Speaking
[Note : Self attempt activity.]
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.
निम्न टॉपिक्स में से किसी एक पर (लगभग तीन पैराग्राफों का) एक पृष्ठ लिखें। आप मूल पाठ में दिये उन विचारों के विषय में भी सोच सकते हैं जो इन टॉपिक्स के साथ संगति रखते हैं और अपने स्वयं के विचार व अनुभव भी उनके साथ जोड़ सकते हैं।
Question 1.
Teaching someone to understand a new or difficult idea.
Answer:
To teach someone to understand a new or difficult idea is quite problematic. As it was for the Buddha to make Kisa Gotami understand that she should not be selfish and that all are subject to death.
To teach a new idea we should make use of concrete examples as the Buddha adopted. He said that ripe fruits are in early danger of falling. He also explicated that earthen vessels end in being broken. In this manner, the Buddha tried to teach a new idea.
Question 2.
Helping each other to get over difficult times.
Answer:
Helping each other to get over difficult times is the best approach to life. The Buddha in his first sermon at Benares followed it.
The Buddha sermonized that you shouldn’t be blind in your grief. Kisa Gotami was facing the most difficult time of her life. The Buddha helped her in getting over it by facing the reality of this mortal world. Our friends and relatives help one another in difficult times.
Thus, helping each other to get over difficult times is good for human beings.
Question 3.
Thinking about oneself as unique, or as one among billions of others.
Answer:
Both perceptions are right if their own spheres. One máy think of one self as unique, or as one among billions of others.
In my opinion, it is better to think one self as unique. By this perception, the vivacity to life remains intact. The allurements of life do hot go down the drain Ohe will have sublimity inconceivability. The Buddha also proved himself as unique among billions of others. There are many who proved themselves unique. Thus, one may think about oneself as unique or as one among billions of others.
Important Questions and Answers
Question 1.
What made Prince Siddhartha to leave his family and Palace?
राजकुमार सिद्धार्थ को किसने उसका राजमहल और परिवार त्यागने को विवश किया?
Answer:
Prince Siddhartha had seen sights of suffering. He was a prince. He thought that life has no pain and sufferings. He saw a sick man, an aged man, a funeral procession and a monk begging for alms. He wanted to know the cause of their suffering. He left his palace and family to seek enlightenment concerning the sorrows he had witnessed. These sights moved him very much. He wandered for seven years. He finally sat down under a peepal tree. He got enlightenment.
राजकुमार सिद्धार्थ ने दुःखों के दृश्य देखे थे। वह एक राजकुमार था। उसने सोचा कि जीवन में कोई दुःख और तकलीफ नहीं है। उसने एक बीमार को देखा, एक वृद्ध, एक शव यात्रा और भिक्षु को भिक्षा माँगते
देखा। वह उनके दुःख का कारण जानना चाहता था। उसने अपना राजमहल और परिवार त्याग दिया और दुःखों के निवारणार्थ ज्ञान प्राप्त करने के लिए चला गया जो दुःख उसने देखे थे। इन दृश्यों ने उसे बहुत व्यथित किया था। वह सात वर्षों तक घूमता रहा। वह अन्त में एक पीपल के वृक्ष के नीचे बैठ गया। उसे बुद्धत्व प्राप्त हुआ था।
Question 2.
How was Prince Siddhartha transformed into Gautam Buddha?
राजकुमार सिद्धार्थ गौतम बुद्ध में किस प्रकार से परिवर्तित हुआ था? .
Answer:
Prince Siddhartha was very much moved by the sorrows he had witnessed. When he was 25 years old, he removed royalty and went out into the world to seek enlightenment concerning the sorrows he had wi wandered for seven years, and finally sat down under a peepal tree. He vowed to stay under the tree until enlightenment came. After the seven days of the enlightenment, he renamed the tree the Bodhi tree. He became known as the Buddha.
राजकुमार सिद्धार्थ ने जो दुःख देखे थे, उनसे वह बहुत विचलित हो गया था। जब वह 25 वर्ष का था, राजपाट का त्याग कर ईश्वरीय ज्ञान की खोज के लिए संसार में निकल पड़ा। वह सात वर्षों तक घूमते रहे और अन्त में एक पीपल के वृक्ष के नीचे बैठ गए। उसने उस वृक्ष के नीचे बैठने की तब तक प्रतिज्ञा की जब तक ईश्वरीय ज्ञान प्राप्त नहीं हो जाए। ईश्वरीय ज्ञान प्राप्ति के सातवें दिन, उसने उस वृक्ष का नाम बोधि वृक्ष रख दिया। वे बुद्ध के रूप में जाने जाने लगे थे।
Question 3.
What do you know about the first sermon of Buddha?
आप बुद्ध के प्रथम उपदेश के बारे में क्या जानते हैं?
Answer:
After his enlightenment Buddha started his journey again. He reached Benaras. He preached his first sermon in the city of Benaras. It reflects the wisdom of Buddha about one inscrutable kind of suffering, Kisa Gautami implored the Buddha to revive her only son. He sent her to bring a handful of mustard seed from the house where there was no death. She got none. She also knew that everyone will die. Death is inevitable to all. In the similar manner all the sufferings are part of life.
ईश्वरीय ज्ञान प्राप्ति के पश्चात् बुद्ध ने अपनी यात्रा पुनः प्रारम्भ की। वह बनारस पहुँचा। उसने अपना पहला उपदेश बनारस शहर में दिया था। यह एक समझ के परे दुःख के विषय में बुद्ध के ज्ञान को दर्शाता है। किसा गौतमी बुद्ध से प्रार्थना करती है कि वह उसके इकलौते पुत्र को पुनर्जीवित कर दे। उसने गौतमी से ऐसे घर से सरसों के मुट्ठीभर दाने लाने को कहा, जहाँ पर कोई मौत नहीं हुई हो। उसे एक भी घर ऐसा नहीं मिला। वह भी यह जान गई थी कि सभी की मृत्यु होगी। सभी के लिए मौत आवश्यक है। इसी तरह से समस्त दुःख जीवन का भाग है।
Question 4.
What did Buddha say about the life of mortals?
बुद्ध ने मरणशील मानवों के जीवन के विषय में क्या कहा था?
Answer:
Buddha said that the life of mortals is full of pain and sufferings. There are some reasons of all these sufferings. After reaching old age there is death. As ripe fruits are early in danger of falling. As all earthen vessels made by the potter end in being broken. So is the life of all the mortals. All fall into the power of death. No one is spread by death. Death is inevitable to all human beings. Pain and sufferings are also part of the life of a mortal.
बुद्ध ने यह कहा था कि मरणशील मानवों का जीवन दुःख और तकलीफ से भरा हुआ है। इन सभी परेशानियों के कुछ कारण हैं । वृद्धावस्था में पहुँचने के उपरान्त मृत्यु होती है। जैसे कि पके फलों को पेड़ से टूटकर गिरने का खतरा अधिक होता है। जैसे एक कुम्हार के द्वारा बनाए गए मिट्टी के सभी बरतन का अन्त टूटने में ही है। ठीक वैसे ही मरणशील मानवों का जीवन है। सभी मृत्यु के शिकंजे में फँसते हैं। मृत्यु से कोई भी नहीं बच सका है। सभी मानवों के लिए मृत्यु अनिवार्य है। मरणशील मानव के जीवन का दुःख और तकलीफ भाग है।
Question 5.
Why do the wise not grieve for death?
बुद्धिमान लोग मृतकों के लिए दुःखी क्यों नहीं होते हैं?
Answer:
As we all know death is compulsory part of life. Wise do not grieve for the dead because they know the terms of the world. A father can’t save his son nor kinsmen their relations. Relatives look on and lament deeply but the dead are carried off one by one for cremation. So the wise know that this world is afflicted with death and decay. Wise man know the reality that all will die. Thus there is no cause to grieve for death.
जैसे कि हम सभी जानते हैं कि मृत्यु जीवन का एक अनिवार्य हिस्सा है। बुद्धिमान लोग मृतकों के लिए दुःखी नहीं होते हैं क्योंकि वे जानते हैं कि यह संसार की रीति है। एक पिता अपने पुत्र को नहीं बचा सकता है और न ही परिजन अपने रिश्तेदारों को। रिश्तेदार देखते रह जाते हैं व अत्यधिक दुःख प्रकट करते हैं किन्तु मृतकों को एक-एक करके दाहकर्म के लिए ले जाया जाता है। अतः बुद्धिमान जानते हैं कि संसार मृत्यु व नश्वरता से परिपूर्ण है। बुद्धिमान व्यक्ति वास्तविकता जानते हैं कि सभी की मृत्यु होगी। इस प्रकार से मृत्यु के लिए दु:खी होने का कोई कारण नहीं है।
Question 6.
According to the Buddha, how can one seek peace?
बुद्ध के अनुसार किस प्रकार से शान्ति को प्राप्त किया जा सकता है?
Answer:
According to the Buddha, lamentation, complaint, grief etc. are the arrows. They unceasingly injure our head and heart. He who has drawn out these arrows and remain composed will obtain peace of mind. He who has overcome all sorrows will become free from sorrows. And that man or woman without any discrimination will be blessed. Thus neither from weeping nor from grieving, no one will’ obtain peace of mind. Accept with a composed mind all those that life bestows upon us.
बुद्ध के अनुसार विलाप, शिकायत, दुःख आदि तीर हैं। ये हमारे मस्तिष्क व हृदय को लगातार छलनी करते रहते हैं। वह जिसने इन तीरों को निकाल फेंका है और शान्त चित्त हो गया है, दिमागी और मन की शान्ति प्राप्त कर लेगा। वह जिसने समस्त दुःखों को जीत लिया है, वह दु:खों से मुक्त हो जायेगा। और वह पुरुष या स्त्री बिना किसी भेदभाव के आशीर्वाद प्राप्त कर लेगा। इस प्रकार, किसी को भी मन की शान्ति न तो रोने से प्राप्त होगी और न ही दुःखी होने से प्राप्त होगी। शान्त चित्त से वह सभी स्वीकार करें जो जीवन ने हमें प्रदान किए हैं।
Question 7.
What was the cause of leaving palace by Gautam Buddha?
गौतम बुद्ध के राजमहल को छोड़ने का क्या कारण था?
Answer:
When Prince Siddhartha attained the age of 25, he once went on hunting. On his way he saw four things. All these things made him to think about his own life. He saw a sick man, then an aged man, then a funeral procession and finally a monk who was begging for alms. All these sights moved Prince Siddhartha. He decided to search the reason of all these sufferings. He left his palace at night in search of enlightenment. He was very much moved by all these pain and sufferings. Prince Siddhartha was then became Gautam Buddha.
जब राजकुमार सिद्धार्थ ने 25 वर्ष की उम्र पाई, वह एक बार शिकार के लिए गया। उसने अपने रास्ते में चार वस्तुओं को देखा। इन सभी को देखकर वह अपने जीवन के बारे में सोचने लगा। उसने एक बीमार आदमी, फिर एक वृद्ध व्यक्ति, फिर एक शव यात्रा और अन्त में एक साधु को देखा था जो कि भिक्षा माँग रहा था। इन सभी बातों से राजकुमार सिद्धार्थ हिल गया था। उसने इन सभी परेशानियों को खोजने का निर्णय किया था। उसने ईश्वरीय ज्ञान की प्राप्ति हेतु रात्रि में अपने महल को छोड़ दिया। वह इन दु:खों और तकलीफों से बहुत आहत हुआ था। तब राजकुमार सिद्धार्थ गौतम बुद्ध बन गया था।
Question 8.
How did Kisa Gautami know the ultimate truth about human life?
किसा गौतमी ने मानव जीवन के विषय में अन्तिम सत्य को कैसे जाना?
Answer:
Kisa Gautami implored Gautam Buddha to revive her only son. Gautam Buddha asked her to find a house where there is no deathless family, she sat down at the wayside watching the lights of the city, as they flickered up and were extinguished again. Then she considered the fate of men, that their lives flicker up and are extinguished again. All the thought to herself that death is common to all. Surrendered selfishness leads to immortality.
किसा गौतमी ने गौतम बुद्ध से उसके एकमात्र पुत्र को पुनर्जीवित करने की प्रार्थना की थी। गौतम बुद्ध ने उससे कहा कि वह उस घर को ढंढे जहाँ पर मत्य नहीं हई हो। जब उसे मत्य रहित छ वह रास्ते के किनारे बैठकर शहर की रोशनियों को देखने लगी जो टिमटिमाती थी और बुझ जाती थी। तब उसने मृत्यु की नियति को माना कि उनका जीवन टिमटिमाता है और बुझ जाता है। और फिर उसने सोचा कि मृत्यु सबके लिए समान है। समर्पित स्वार्थ अमरता की ओर ले जाता है।
Comprehension Passages
Passage 1.
Gautama Buddha (563 B.C. – 483 B.C.) began life as a prince named Siddhartha Gautama, in northern India. At twelve, he was sent away for schooling in the Hindu sacred scriptures and four years later he returned home to marry a princess. They had a son and lived for ten years as befitted royalty. At about the age of twenty-five, the Prince, heretofore shielded from the sufferings of the world, while out hunting chanced upon a sick man, then an aged man, then a funeral procession, and finally a monk begging for alms. These sights so moved him that he at once went out into the world to seek enlightenment concerning the sorrows he had witnessed. He wandered for seven years and finally sat down under a peepal tree, where he vowed to stay until enlightenment came. Enlightened after seven days, he renamed the tree the Bodhi Tree (Tree of Wisdom) and began to teach and to share his new understandings.
1. Tick (✓) the correct answers :
Question 1.
(i) Prince Siddhartha had
(a) A son
(b) A son and daughter
(c) Two sons
(d) Two sons and two daughters
Answer:
(a) A son
(ii) When was Siddhartha sent to school?
(a) At the age of 12 years
(b) At the age of 6 years
(c) At the age of 15 years
(d) He never went to school
Answer:
(a) At the age of 12 years
Question 2.
(i) What was the prince shielded from?
(ii) What was the effect of the sights he saw on his way?
Answer:
(i) The prince was shielded with the sufferings of the world.
(ii) The sights moved him very much and he went to seek enlightenment.
Question 3.
(i) Find out the word from the passage similar in meaning to – religious books’.
(ii) Find out the word from the passage opposite in meaning to ‘nun’.
Answer:
(i) scriptures
(ii) monk
Passage 2.
At that point he became known as the Buddha (the Awakened or the Enlightened). The Buddha preached his first sermon at the city of Benaras, most holy of the dipping places on the River Ganges; that sermon has been preserved and is given here. It reflects the Buddha’s wisdom about one inscrutable kind of suffering.
Kisa Gotami had an only son, and he died. In her grief she carried the dead child to all her neighbours, asking them for medicine, and the people said, “She has lost her senses. The boy is dead.” At length, Kisa Gotami met a man who replied to her request, “I cannot give thee medicine for thy child, but I know a physician who can.” And the girl said, “Pray tell me, sir; who is it?” And the man replied, “Go to Sakyamuni, the Buddha.”
1. Tick (✓) the correct answers :
Question 1.
(i) Buddha preached his first sermon at
(a) Gaya
(b) Benaras
(c) Ranchi
(d) Gorakhpur
Answer:
(b) Benaras
(ii) What happened to the son of Kisa Gautami?
(a) He was dead
(b) He fell unconscious
(c) He was very notorious
(d) He did not obey his mother
Answer:
(a) He was dead
Question 2.
(i) What did Kisa Gautami do in her grief?
(ii) What did the man say to Kisa Gautami?
Answer:
(i) In her grief Kisa Gautami carried her dead son to all her neighbours for medicine.
(ii) The man said to Kisa Gautami that he could not give her son medicine but he knew a physician who would give her medicine.
Question 3.
(i) Find out from the passage the word similar in meaning to ‘save’.
(ii) Find out from the passage the word opposite in meaning to–“alive’.
Answer:
(i) preserve
(ii) dead
Passage 3.
Kisa Gotami repaired to the Buddha and cried, “Lord and Master, give me the medicine that will cure my boy.” . The Buddha answered, “I want a handful of mustard-seed.” And when the girl in her joy promised to procure it, the Buddha added, “The mustard-seed must be taken from a house where no one has lost a child, husband, parent or friend.” Poor Kisa Gotami now went from house to house, and the people pitied her and said, “Here is mustard-seed; take it!” But when she asked, “Did a son or daughter, a father or mother, die in your family?” They answered her, “Alas! the living are few, but the dead are many. Do not remind us of our deepest grief.” And there was no house but some beloved one had died in it. Kisa Gotami became weary and hopeless, and sat down at the wayside watching the lights of the city, as they flickered up and were extinguished again. At last the darkness of the night reigned everywhere.
1. Tick (✓) the correct answers :
Question 1.
(i) What did Buddha want from Kisa Gautami?
(a) A handful of gold coins
(b) A handful of flowers
(c) A handful of mustard seed
(d) A handful of sugar
Answer:
(c) A handful of mustard seed
(ii) Where did Gautami sit down?
(a) At the wayside
(b) At Bodh temple
(c) At the bank of river
(d) All the above
Answer:
(a) At the wayside
Question 2.
(i) Why did Gautami go from house to house?
(ii) From what house did Buddha say Gautami to bring the mustard seed?
Answer:
(i) Gautami went from house to house in search of mustard-seed.
(ii) Buddha told Gautami to bring the mustard-seed from a deathless house.
Question 3.
(i) Find out the word from the passage similar in meaning to – ‘sorrow’.
(ii) Find out the word from the passage opposite in meaning to – ‘light’.
Answer:
(i) grief
(ii) dark
Passage 4.
And she considered the fate of men, that their lives flicker up and are extinguished again. And she thought to herself, “How selfish am I in my grief! Death is common to all; yet in this valley of desolation there is a path that leads him to immortality who has surrendered all selfishness.” The Buddha said, “The life of mortals in this world is troubled and brief and combined with pain. For there is not any means by which those that have been born can avoid dying; after reaching old age there is death; of such a nature are living beings. As ripe fruits are early in danger of falling, so mortals when born are always in danger of death. As all earthen vessels made by the potter end in being broken, so is the life of mortals. Both young and adult, both those who are fools and those who are wise, all fall into the power of death; all are subject to death.
1. Tick (✓) the correct answers :
Question 1.
(i) What is common to all according to Gautami?
(a) Education
(b) Freedom
(c) Death
(d) Having bath in cold water of Ganga
Answer:
(c) Death
(ii) Who makes earthen vessels?
(a) Ironsmith
(b) Carpenter
(c) Engineer
(d) Potter
Answer:
(d) Potter
Question 2.
(i) What is the danger to a ripe fruit?
(ii) What is the power of death?
Answer:
(i) A ripe fruit has a danger of falling.
(ii) The young and adult, fool and wise all fall into the power of death.
Question 3.
(i) Find out the word from the passage similar in meaning to put off’.
(ii) Find out the word from the passage opposite in meaning to – ‘immortal’.
Answer:
(i) extinguish
(ii) mortal
Passage 5.
“Of those who, overcome by death, depart from life, a father cannot save his son, nor kinsmen their relations. Mark! while relatives are looking on and lamenting deeply, one by one mortals are carried off, like an ox that is led to the slaughter. So the world is afflicted with death and decay, therefore the wise do not griev, knowing the terms of the world.
“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 has overcome all sorrow will become free from sorrow, and be blessed.”
1. Tick (✓) the correct answers :
Question 1.
(i) What is the world afflicted with in this passage?
(a) Nuclear power
(b) Infectious diseases
(c) Death and decay
(d) None of the above
Answer:
(c) Death and decay
(ii) From what a father cannot save his son?.
(a) From accident by a bike
(b) From death
(c) From his carelessness
(d) All the above
Answer:
(a) From accident by a bike
Question 2.
(i) Who can obtain the peace of mind?
(ii) What are the arrows as given in this passage?
Answer:
(i) One who remains composed can obtain peace of mind.
(ii) The arrows of lamentation, complaint and grief are given in this passage.
Question 3.
(i) Find out the word from the passage similar in meaning to – ‘search’.
(ii) Find out the word from the passage opposite in meaning to – meet’.
Answer:
(i) seek
(ii) depart