Class 10 English — First Flight · Chapter 8 NotesThe Sermon at Benares

Gautama Buddha was born as Prince Siddhartha Gautama in northern India around 563 B.C. At twelve, he was sent to study the Hindu sacred scriptures and returned home four years later to marry a princess. They had a son and lived as royalty for ten years. At about twenty-five, while out hunting, he saw a sick man, an old man, a funeral procession, and a monk begging for alms. These sights deeply moved him, and he left his palace to seek enlightenment about the sorrows he had seen. He wandered for seven years and finally sat under a peepal tree, vowing to stay until enlightenment came. After seven days, he became enlightened, renamed the tree the Bodhi Tree (Tree of Wisdom), and became known as the Buddha (the Awakened or the Enlightened). He preached his first sermon at Benares, a holy city on the River Ganges.

• Siddhartha Gautama was born in 563 B.C. and died in 483 B.C.
• He was a prince who lived a sheltered life until he saw suffering.
• He left home at about twenty-five to seek enlightenment.
• He attained enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree after seven years of wandering.
• He delivered his first sermon at Benares.

Kisa Gotami had an only son who died. Overcome with grief, she carried the dead child to her neighbours, asking for medicine to cure him. People thought she had lost her senses. A man told her about Sakyamuni, the Buddha, who could help. She went to the Buddha and cried, "Lord and Master, give me the medicine that will cure my boy." The Buddha asked her to bring a handful of mustard seed from a house where no one had lost a child, husband, parent, or friend. Kisa Gotami went from house to house, and everywhere people gave her mustard seed, but when she asked if anyone had died in their family, they replied that the living are few but the dead are many. She found no house without death. She became weary and hopeless, sat by the wayside, and watched the city lights flicker and go out. She realised that human lives also flicker up and are extinguished, and that death is common to all.

• Kisa Gotami's only son died, and she could not accept it.
• The Buddha asked her to find mustard seed from a house untouched by death.
• She could not find any such house because death visits every family.
• She understood that death is universal and that her grief was selfish.

The Buddha's sermon at Benares explains the nature of human suffering. He says that the life of mortals is troubled, brief, and combined with pain. There is no way for those who are born to avoid dying; after old age comes death. Just as ripe fruits fall and earthen vessels break, so all living beings are subject to death. Both young and old, fools and wise, all fall under the power of death. No father can save his son, nor relatives their kin. While relatives lament, mortals are carried off one by one, like an ox led to slaughter. The world is afflicted with death and decay, so the wise do not grieve. Weeping and grieving do not bring peace of mind; they only increase pain and make the body suffer. The dead are not saved by lamentation. One who seeks peace should draw out the arrow of lamentation, complaint, and grief. Becoming composed, one obtains peace of mind and becomes free from sorrow.

• The Four Noble Truthssuffering exists, it has a cause, it can end, and there is a path to its end.
• Life is brief and filled with pain; death is inevitable for all.
• Grief and weeping do not bring back the dead or give peace.
• One must remove the arrow of sorrow to attain peace of mind.
• Surrendering selfishness leads to immortality (nirvana).

Kisa Gotami's realisation marks the turning point of the chapter. After failing to find a house without death, she thinks, "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." This shows her acceptance of suffering as a universal truth. The Buddha's sermon reinforces that the wise do not grieve because they understand the terms of the world. By drawing out the arrow of lamentation and becoming composed, one obtains peace of mind and becomes free from sorrow. This state of freedom from sorrow is nirvana. The chapter thus teaches that suffering is an inescapable part of life, but by accepting it and letting go of selfish grief, one can find true peace.

• Acceptance of death as universal is the first step to overcoming grief.
• Selfishness in grief means being absorbed in one's own sorrow.
• Surrendering selfishness leads to immortality (nirvana).
• Nirvana is the state of freedom from sorrow and peace of mind.

The chapter is written in an old-fashioned style because it reports an incident more than two millennia old. It uses words and phrases such as "give thee medicine for thy child," "Pray tell me," "repaired to the Buddha," "kinsmen," and "Mark!" These expressions reflect the ancient setting and the formal tone of a religious text. The narrative also uses similes like "as ripe fruits are early in danger of falling" and "as all earthen vessels made by the potter end in being broken" to explain the inevitability of death. The semicolon is used to combine clauses, as in "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." This structure gives the sermon a rhythmic and solemn quality.

• The text uses archaic language to reflect its ancient origin.
• Similes from nature and daily life make the sermon easy to understand.
• Semicolons are used to combine related clauses and create rhythm.