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Question 1.
When her son dies, Kisa
Gotami goes from house to house? What does she ask for? Does she get it? Why
not?
Answer:
After the death of her only son, Kisa Gotami was overcome with grief. She
carried the dead body of her son in her arms and went from door to door asking
for medicine to cure her child, but nobody could provide any medicine. For
there is no such medicine available which can bring a dead person back to
life.
Question 2.
Kisa Gotami again goes from
house to house after she speaks with the Buddha. What does she ask for? Does
she get it? Why not?
Answer:
Gautama Buddha asks Kisa to bring a handful of mustard seeds from a house
where death had never knocked at the door. Kisa Gotami went from door to door,
but couldn’t find a single house where death had not taken a beloved away. She
could not get it as death is ineritable and anyone who is born is bound to die
one day.
Question 3.
What does Kisa Gotami
understand the second time that she failed to understand the first time? Was
this what Buddha wanted her to understand?
Answer:
After failing to procure a
handful of mustard seeds from a house where death had never knocked at the
door, she sat down by the roadside feeling helpless. She saw the lights of the
city that flickered and were extinguished. At last, it was darkness
everywhere.
She realised that death was
common to all and she was being selfish in her grief. Yes, this is what Buddha
wanted her to understand, that everyone who is born has to die one day.
Question 4.
Why do you think Kisa Gotami
understood this only the second time? In what way did Buddha change her
understanding?
Answer:
Earlier, she could see only her grief. When she went from door to door the
second time, she understood that everyone was dealing the with the loss of a
beloved one. There was not a single house in the town, where death had not
taken a father, a mother, a sister, a brother, son or a daughter. Everyone, at
some point or the other, have experienced the death of their loved ones.
Gautama Buddha helped her to understand all this, as he told her to bring a
handful of mustard seeds from a house where death had never knocked at the
door. This way she got aware that death is common to all human beings.
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?
Answer:
A selfish person is one who only thinks about himself or herself, and to
some extent Kisa Gotami was being selfish because we are humans and it is
natural for us to die. We do not easily accept the death of our loved ones.
Same has happened with Kisa Gotami. As it was her only child, she did not want
him to die finally went to Buddha to ask for help.