Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
Answer the following question in 30-40 words :
How did Kisa Gotami realize that life and death is a normal process?
Advertisements
Solution
Kisa Gotami understood that death is common to all and that she was being selfish in her grief. She understood this only the second time because it was then that she found that there was not a single house where some beloved had not died. The first time around, she was only thinking about her grief and was, therefore, asking for a medicine that would cure her son. When she met the Buddha, he asked her to get a handful of mustard seeds from a house where no one had died. He did this purposely to make her realize that there was not a single house where no beloved had died and that death is natural. When she went to all the houses the second time, she felt dejected that she could not gather the mustard seeds. Then, when she sat and thought about it, she realized that the fate of men is such that they live and die. Death is common to all. This was what the Buddha had intended her to understand.
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
Why did the Buddha choose Benares to preach his first sermon?
When her son dies, Kisa Gotami goes from house to house. What does she ask for? Does she get it? Why not?
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?
Why do you think Kisa Gotami understood this only the second time? In what way did the Buddha change her understanding?
How do you usually understand the idea of ‘selfishness’? Do you agree with Kisa Gotami that she was being ‘selfish in her grief’?
Attempt the following question in 100-150 words:
Describe the journey of Siddhartha Gautama becoming the Buddha.
What is the significance of the Buddha’s request for a handful of mustard seeds and the addition of a condition to it?
Why did Kisa Gotami become weary and hopeless?
How does Buddha bring about a different perspective in Kisa Gotami's understanding of life?
What did Kisa Gotami do after the death of her only son?
