The Sermon at Benares- Extra Questions

1. Write a brief note on Siddhartha Gautama’s early life?

2. What prompted Prince Siddhartha to renounce the world?
3. Why was Buddha hailed as the Awakened or the Enlightened?
4. What did the Buddha ask Kisa Gotami to bring & why? What condition did he impose?
5. What did Kisa Gotami realise about the fate of men? How did this realization come about?
6. What parallel does Buddha draw between mortals & a ripe fruit & earthen vessels?
7. According to the Buddha, why do the wise not grief?
8. How does weeping & grieving affect an individual?
9. What message did Buddha’s first sermon at Benares give?
Long Answer Type Question
1. “The Sermon at Benares” also deals with the enlightenment of Kisa Gotami. Discuss.
Reference to Context:
I. ―Kisa Gautomi 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. And she considered the fate of men that their lives flicker up and are
extinguished again.
a) Why was Kisa Gautomi weary and hopeless?
b) How according to Gautami did lives flicker up and extinguish again?
c) What made Gautomi understand these realities of life?
d) Bring out the symbolism of night reigning everywhere.