SEBA Class 10 English Lesson 10 – The Sermon at Benares (Assamese Medium)
Looking for SEBA Class 10 English Lesson 10 – “The Sermon at Benares” solutions? Ospin Academy provides complete Assamese Medium solutions, including chapter summaries, important questions, and exam-focused content.
📖 Chapter Overview:
“The Sermon at Benares” highlights the teachings of Gautama Buddha. It describes Buddha’s first sermon after attaining enlightenment, focusing on the inevitability of death and the path to overcome sorrow.
📌 Key Topics Covered:
- Buddha’s Early Life and Enlightenment
- The Story of Kisa Gotami
- The Universal Truth of Death
- The Path to Overcome Sorrow
- Teachings of Detachment and Peace
📌 Important Questions for Exams:
- Who was Gautama Buddha, and what was his early life like?
- Describe the story of Kisa Gotami and her realization.
- What is the main message of “The Sermon at Benares”?
- How does Buddha explain the inevitability of death?
- What is the significance of the mustard seed in the story?
📝 How Ospin Academy Helps:
- Comprehensive Assamese Medium Solutions
- Exam-Focused Q&A for Better Understanding
- Detailed Chapter Summaries and Analysis
- Dedicated SEBA Board Exam Preparation
Prepare confidently with Ospin Academy’s detailed solutions for SEBA Class 10 English Lesson 10 – “The Sermon at Benares”.
Class 10 English (First Flight & Footprints) PDF Solutions 2025-26 | SEBA Assam
Download Class 10 English (First Flight & Footprints) PDF with textbook solutions, MCQs, and extra exercises for SEBA Assam 2025-26.
Chapter 10
The Sermon at Benares
Thinking about the Text
Q.1 When her son dies, Kisa Gotami goes from house to house. What does she ask for? Does she get it? Why not?
Ans.: Following the death of her son, Kisa Gotami goes from house to house to ask for medicine to bring her son back to life. She does not get it because there is no medicine to bring a dead person back.
Q.2 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?
Ans.: Kisa Gotami goes from house to house after speaking with Buddha. This time she asks for a handful of mustard seeds. She does not get it because the condition stated by Buddha for the choice of the house was one where nobody has ever died, which was not possible.
Q.3 What does Kisa Gotami understand the second time that she failed to understand the first time? Was this what the Buddha wanted her to understand?
Ans.: Second time Kisa Gotami understands that death is inevitable and no one can be saved from it. She understood the temporary nature of human life. Yes it was exactly the same thing that Gautama Buddha wanted her to understand.
Q.4 Why do you think Kisa Gotami understood this only the second time? In what way did the Buddha change her understanding?
Ans.: Kisa Gotami understood the truth about death because the first time she was overwhelmed by the feeling of loss due to the death of her son. She was not able to see the bigger truth behind the actual situation. Buddha helped her in understanding by sending her house to house to find the house where nobody has ever dies. This expanded her viewpoint and she was able to see beyond her grief.
Q.5 How do you usually understand the idea of ‘selfishness’? Do you agree with Kisa Gotami that she was being ‘selfish in her grief ’?
Ans: This is when she realizes that she was being ‘selfish in her grief’. I agree with this because by asking for medicine for her dead son and then asking people if anyone they know has died, Kisa Gotami was indeed being selfish. She was reminding those people about the loved ones that they had lost.
Thinking about language
Q.1 This text is written in an old fashioned style, for it reports an incident more than two millennia old. Look for the following words and phrases in the text, and try to rephrase them in more current language, based on how you understand them.
• give thee medicine for thy child.
• Pray tell me.
• Kisa repaired to the Buddha.
• there was no house but someone had died in it.
• kinsmen
• Mark!
Ans.:
They give you medicine for your child.
• Please tell me.
• Kisa went to the Buddha.
• There was no house in which ‘someone had not died.
• relatives
• Listen! / look!
Q.2 You know that we can combine sentences using words like and, or, but, yet and then. But sometimes no such word seems appropriate. In such a case we can use a semicolon (;) or a dash (-) to combine two clauses. She has no interest in music; I doubt she will become a singer like her mother.
The second clause here gives speaker’s opinion on the first clause. Here is a sentence from the text that uses semicolons to combine clauses. Break up the sentence into three simple sentences. Can you then say which has a better rhythm when you read it, the single sentence using semicolons, or the three simple sentences?
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.
Ans.:
(i) For there is not any means by which those who have been born can avoid dying.
(ii) After reaching old age there is death.
(iii) Such is the nature of living beings.
In my opinion, the three simple sentences have better rhythm.
Writing
Q.1 Write a page (about three paragraphs) on one of the following topics. You can think about the ideas in the text that are relevant to these topics, and add your own ideas and experiences to them.
1. Teaching someone to understand a new or difficult idea
2. Helping each other to get over difficult times
3. Thinking about oneself as unique, or as one among billions of others.
Ans.:
Teaching someone to understand a new or difficult idea
We know that to teach someone is difficult because the perspective and understanding of each individual is different and for teaching one needs to understand the psyche and mindset. It is generally seen that once a person starts following a path, every suggestion that goes against that established belief is considered unwelcomed. This makes the situation all the more difficult.
It takes a whole new level of wisdom and patience to help someone understand your own viewpoint. At the time when a person is going through a period of grief or mental turmoil, they find understanding the bigger picture all the more irrelevant. Thus, only a wise and patient person can teach the tensed individual any new idea. Helping each other to get over difficult times When an individual of a community is going through hard times, it becomes the responsibility of all the other community members to try to bring peace to the tensed individual. It is a harsh reality that problems are a part and parcel of the life and it is impossible to bypass them at all times, but the support of others makes it easier to handle.
At the times when someone is grieving the loss of a loved one, then the moral support and consoling from the fellow community members makes it relatively easier to get that phase of mental and emotional stress.
Thinking about oneself as unique or as one among billions of others
Humans tend to be selfish in the short term and it is a well known characteristic trait. We tend to consider our sorrows, our own troubles a pedestal up than others. This idea is because of our understanding that our personal problems are exclusive and hence nobody else has gone through that level of suffering.
This is the basic reason behind the grief that one faces at certain instances. It becomes hard for anyone to see past that grief at that time. If a person is able to see the bigger picture and understand the harsh reality that nothing is exclusive in this world then the amount of grief and the degree of suffering can be drastically cut down.
SEBA Class 10 English Lesson 10 – The Sermon at Benares FAQs (Assamese Medium)
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