Chapter 8 — The Sermon at Benares

The chapter tells the story of how the Buddha taught Kisa Gotami—a woman grieving the death of her son—that death is universal and unavoidable. Through the parable of the mustard seed, the Buddha shows her that every household has experienced loss, leading her to understand grief differently and achieve peace.

According to the text, Gautama Buddha (563–483 B.C.) was born as a prince named Siddhartha Gautama in northern India. At age twenty-five, while hunting, he encountered a sick man, an aged man, a funeral procession, and a monk begging for alms. These sights moved him to leave his sheltered life and seek enlightenment. After wandering for seven years and sitting under a peepal tree, he became enlightened, renamed the tree the Bodhi Tree (Tree of Wisdom), and became known as the Buddha (the Awakened or Enlightened One).

Kisa Gotami is a woman whose only son dies. In her grief, she carries the dead child to her neighbors asking for medicine, but they tell her the boy is dead. Eventually, someone directs her to the Buddha, telling her he is a physician who can help. She goes to the Buddha seeking medicine to cure her son.

The Buddha asks Kisa Gotami to bring a handful of mustard seed from a house where no one has lost a child, husband, parent, or friend. As she goes from house to house, people give her mustard seed, but when asked if anyone in their family has died, they all answer that the dead are many. Through this experience, Kisa Gotami learns that death is universal—every household has experienced loss. This parable teaches that grief and death are common to all of humanity.

After visiting many houses and discovering that every family has lost someone, Kisa Gotami becomes weary and sits watching the city lights flicker and go out. She realizes that human lives, like those lights, flicker up and are extinguished. She understands that death is common to all and that she was being selfish in her grief. She recognizes that there is a path beyond this valley of desolation for those who surrender all selfishness.

The Buddha's sermon teaches that life is troubled, brief, and combined with pain. Death is inevitable for all who are born—no one can avoid it, whether young or old, wise or foolish. He explains that lamentation and weeping will not bring peace; instead, they increase suffering. He advises drawing out the arrow of lamentation and grief to obtain peace of mind. Those who overcome sorrow will be free and blessed.

The arrow of lamentation refers to the pain and sorrow caused by grief. The Buddha uses this metaphor to suggest that just as one would remove a physical arrow from a wound, one must draw out the metaphorical arrow of lamentation, complaint, and grief to find peace. He teaches that doing so leads to peace of mind and freedom from sorrow.

The Buddha uses several metaphors: he compares mortal lives to ripe fruits early in danger of falling, to earthen vessels made by a potter that end in being broken, and to lights that flicker up and are extinguished. He also uses the metaphor of an arrow of lamentation to represent grief. These comparisons help illustrate the inevitability of death and decay in human life.

According to the text, Benares is described as the most holy of the dipping places on the River Ganges. The Buddha preached his first sermon there, which reflects his wisdom about human suffering. The choice of this sacred location emphasizes the spiritual importance of the teachings being delivered.

The chapter uses several literary devices: similes (lives compared to ripe fruits and earthen vessels), metaphors (the arrow of lamentation, the valley of desolation), and the extended parable of the mustard seed. The old-fashioned language style (like 'thy', 'thee', 'repaired to') also contributes to the formal, spiritual tone of the text.

Yes, the NCERT Class 10 English (First Flight) textbook, including Chapter 8 'The Sermon at Benares', is available for free download on CBSE PrepMaster. No sign-up is required.