Chapter 4.2 - The Story of Gautama’s Quest
Meanings:
- prophesied – said what would happen in the future
- a renunciate – a person who gives up all the pleasures of life for a reason
- imaginable – possible to imagine
- mansion – large, impressive house
- secluded – isolated, far from everything
- realm – kingdom
- beheld – saw
- monk – a religious man who gives up all luxuries and lives apart from others
- vision – an idea or mental picture
- renounce – give up
- quest – search
- illumination – (here) understanding
- attainment -achievement; obtaining something
- nirvana – the state of peace and happiness that a person achieves after giving up all personal desires
- asceticism – simple and strict way of living for religious reasons
- in succession – one after the other
- decay – rot, get slowly destroyed
- stimulant – something that encourages you and gives you energy
- infused – make somebody have some particular quality
- overslack – very loose
- dumb – silent
- venerate – have great respect for
Pointers
1. Complete the following sentences with reference to the passage :
(a) Gautama, the Buddha, was born over two thousand five hundred years ago, as ……..
Ans: Gautama, the Buddha, was born over two thousand five hundred years ago, as Prince Siddharth.
(b) The king was determined to prevent his beloved son from ……..
Ans: The king was determined to prevent his beloved son from renouncing the world.
(c) For six years did Gautama practise ……..
Ans: For six years, did Gautama practise intense asceticism.
(d) He realised that making the body suffer was not ……..
Ans: He realised that making the body suffer was not the way to enlightenment and truth.
(e) To this day, we venerate this tree as ……..
Ans: To this day, we venerate this tree as the Bodhi Tree.
2. Write short notes on the following :
(a) Prince Siddharth’s protected life.
Ans: When Siddharth was born, it was prophesied that the infant would either grow to be a great Emperor or a renunciate who would usher comfort to lost souls. King Raja Shuddhodana was determined to prevent his son from renunciating the world. He surrounded the prince with every imaginable luxury and comfort in the magnificent palaces. Thus, palaces change depending on the season of the year. Prince Siddharth lived a secluded, protected life in the beautiful atmosphere of the royal mansions.
(b) The ‘four signs’ that Prince Siddharth beheld.
Ans: At the age of twenty-nine, Siddharth went out to see his kingdom and meet his subjects when he beheld what the Buddhist books call the ‘four signs’ – which reflected the impermanence of the world. He saw an old man, a diseased man, a dead man, and a monk, and he was exposed to a vision of dukkha, the world’s sorrow. From here began Gautama’s journey in quest of the Truth of Life.
(c) The message in the vision.
Ans: The message in the vision was to convey to Buddha that he should not torture his body to starvation in quest of the Truth of Life.
It is illustrated by the beautiful example of the sitar. The vision said that the sitar had to be tuned neither low nor high. If the string of a sitar is overstretched, it will break and lose its ability to make music. Similarly, an overslack string would not create music. In other words, we should not go to extremes in our efforts to achieve our goals.
(d) Sujata’s offering
Ans: A beautiful girl named Sujata appeared before Gautama as he was trying to get up to take a bath in the river but couldn’t due to weakness. Sujata was carrying a golden bowl filled with sweetened milk and rice. Seeing the weakened ascetic, she offered the bowl of milk and rice at his feet. Buddha accepted her offering. The first meal after many days of starvation refreshed him and instilled new strength in him. He realised that making the body suffer was not the way to enlightenment and truth.
3. Read aloud a paragraph of your choice from the passage.
Ans: Students must do this on their own.
4. Visit a library : Read stories about Gautama Buddha. Relate one story in the class.
Ans: Students must do this on their own.