MCQs For NCERT Class 10 English Chapter 10 The Sermon at Benares

Please refer to the MCQ Questions for Class 10 English Chapter 10 The Sermon at Benares with Answers. The following A Letter to God Class 10 English MCQ Questions have been designed based on the current academic year syllabus and examination guidelines for Class 10. Our faculty has designed MCQ Questions for Class 10 English with Answers for all chapters as per your NCERT Class 10 English book.

The Sermon at Benares Class 10 MCQ Questions with Answers

Please see below The Sermon at Benares Class 10 English  MCQ Questions, solve the questions and compare your answers with the solutions provided below.

Question. For how much time did Gautama sit under the peepal tree?
(a) Seven years
(b) Six years
(c) Seven days
(d) Four days   

Question. Which of the following statement is not true in accordance with the chapter ‘The Sermon at Benares’?
(i) The real name ofGautamBudhhawas PrinceDevdatt.
(ii) The sight of a monk begging alms moved the prince towards the path of enlightenment.
(iii) Kisa Gotami was grieving for her dead husband.
(iv) It took Gautam Buddha ten years to gain enlightenment.
(v) Prince Siddhartha was married at the age of sixteen.
(vi) Prince Siddhartha was shielded from the sufferings of the world till twenty five years of his life.
(a) (i), (iv) and (v)
(b) (i), (iii) and (iv)
(c) (ii), (v) and (vi)
(d) (i), (ii) and (iii)   

Question. What does the word ‘enlightenment’ mean in the context of the chapter ‘The Sermon at Benares’?
(a) A state of being innocent
(b) A state of high spiritual knowledge
(c) A state of deserted brain
(d) A state of begging alms   

Question. Those who do not grieve are ……… …
(a) arrogant
(b) proud
(c) happy
(d) wise  

Question. Why did Kisa Gotami want to bring her dead child back to life? Choose the least possible reason.
(a) She could not accept the truth that her only son was dead.
(b) She believed in rebirths.
(c) She believed that medicine could cure her son.
(d) None of the above 

Question. What could be the reason that Prince Siddhartha was shielded from the sufferings of the world?
(a) To prevent him from becoming a great spiritual leader as foretold on his birth.
(b) He was unable to accept the truth about the sufferings of the world.
(c) He did not want to see the sufferings of the world.
(d) None of the above   

Question. “She has lost her senses. The boy is dead.” – Who is ‘she’ and ‘the boy’ in the given sentence?
(a) Kisa Gotami and her dead husband
(b) Kisa Gotami and Gautam Buddha
(c) Kisa Gotami and her dead son
(d) Kisa Gotami and a man from neighbourhood  

Question. Which of the following are the teachings of Buddha as mentioned in the chapter ‘The Sermon at Benares’?
(i) The life of mortals in this world is troubled and brief and combined with pain.
(ii) There is no means by which those that have been born can avoid dying.
(iii) The fate of men is like city lights which flicker up and then extinguish again in darkness.
(iv) Not from weeping nor from grieving will anyone obtain peace of mind.
(a) Option (i)
(b) Option (ii) and (iii)
(c) Options (i), (ii) and (iv)
(d) None of these 

Question. Why do you think Gautam Buddha ask Kisa Gotami to bring mustard seeds from the house where no one had ever died?
(a) To put her down.
(b) To make her realise that death is common to all.
(c) To keep her busy till he was cured her son.
(d) All of the above   

Question. The lesson talks of Buddha’s life as prince to show that ……….. .
(a) he lived a happy and fulfilling life
(b) he was a prosperous man
(c) he was a pampered and a wealthy man
(d) he was ignorant to the sufferings of the world    

Question. What does the sermon in the chapter ‘The Sermon at Benares’ reflect?
(a) Buddha’s wisdom
(b) Buddha’s enlightenment
(c) Story of Kisa Gotami
(d) Death is common to all   

Question. Prince Siddhartha lived for ten years as befitted royalty. What does the underlined phrase mean?
(a) Royal person
(b) Someone who lives by royal treasures
(c) Someone who lives as a king or a queen should
(d) None of the above 

Extract Based MCQs :

Read the extract to attempt the questions that follow.
At twelve, he was sent away for schooling in the Hindu sacred scriptures and years later he returned home to marry a princess. They had a son and lived for ten years as befitted royalty.
At about the age of twenty-five, the prince here to fore shielded from the sufferings of the world, while going out on hunting, chanced upon a sick man, then an aged man, then a funeral procession, and finally a monk begging for alms. These sights so moved him that he at once became a beggar and went out into the world to seek enlightenment concerning the sorrows he had witnessed.

Question. What was the unintended effect of the sights Buddha see?
(a) He felt dejected and sorrowful
(b) He renounced royalty
(c) He decided to become an ascetic
(d) He decided to consult a pandit   

Question. What did the prince see while he was out on hunting?
(a) He saw a sick and aged man.
(b) He saw a funeral procession.
(c) He saw a monk begging for alms.
(d) All of the above  

Question. Choose the option that lists the set of statements that are NOT TRUE according to the given extract.
(i) He was Lord Buddha.
(ii) He was kept away from sorrows of life.
(iii) He was just ten years old when he left the kingdom.
(iv) He became a beggar because he was dethroned.
(v) He gained enlightenment.
(vi) His son was ten years old when he left the kingdom.
(a) (iii) and (iv)
(b) (i) and (iv)
(c) (ii) and (v)
(d) (ii) and (vi)   

Question. Pick the option that correctly classifies Fact/s(F) and Opinion/s (O) given below.
1. He was born a prince and was kept away from sorrows.
2. He should not have taken such a rash decision.
3. His wife and son must have hated him.
4. He was the enlightened one.
(a) F- 1, 3 and O-2, 4
(b) F-2, 3 and O-1, 4
(c) F-1, 4 and O-2, 3
(d) F-1 and O-2, 3, 4 

Question. He decided to seek
(a) self-consciousness
(b) enlightenment
(c) cure for people frompain
(d) helpless people fromsorrow   

Read the extract to attempt the questions that follow.
Poor Kisa Gotami now went from house to house, and the people pitied her and said, “Here is mustard-seed; take it!” But when she asked, “Did a son or daughter, a father or mother, die in your family?” they answered her, “Alas! the living are few, but the dead are many. Do not remind us of our deepest grief.” And there was no house but some beloved one had died in it.

Question. Which of the following options represent the correct understanding of the word ‘poor’ in the phrase “Poor Kisa Gotami”?
(a) In need of money
(b) Weak
(c) Unfortunate
(d) Inferior  

Question. Pick the option that explains — ‘…the living are few, but the dead are many.’
(a) It shows the high death rate and low birth rate in the city of Benares.
(b) It highlights the holy status of Benares where many Hindus go to die.
(c) It throws light on the numerous loved ones the villagers had lost over time.
(d) It reflects that many children who had died in the village for various reasons. 

Question. The community’s response to Kisa in the above extract was somewhat different from before. Why do you think that was the case?
(a) They had learnt from Buddha’s sermons.
(b) They were able to help Kisa in some way this time.
(c) They understood parental grief.
(d) They liked Kisa and enjoyed talking to her. 

Question. Imagine you are a photo journalist visiting the city at the time Kisa Gotami went from house to house.
You documented her experience given in the above extract in a photo series.
Your publisher wants to publish the photo series in three parts wherein Part 1 shows Kisa’s visits to the houses; Part 2 depicts her conversations with people, and Part 3 captures Kisa’s reflections at the end of the day sitting by the wayside.
The publisher would also like you to choose titles for the series and its three parts.
Look at the titles given below, and choose the options that provide the most appropriate set of titles.
(1) Series Title – From Darkness to Light.
Part I – Living in Loss; Part II – A Mother’s Journey; Part III – Mustard Seed
(2) Series Title – Mustard Seed.
Part I – A Mother’s Journey; Part II – From Darkness to Light; Part III – Living in Loss
(3) Series Title – A Mother’s Journey.
Part I – Mustard Seed; Part II – Living in Loss; Part III – From Darkness to Light
(4) Series Title – Living in Loss.
Part I – From Darkness to Light; Part II – Mustard Seed; Part III – A Mother’s Journey
(a) 1 and 2
(b) 2 and 3
(c) 3 and 4
(d) 1 and 4  

Question. “Do not remind us of our deepest grief.” The tone of the speaker(s) is
(a) disillusioned
(b) sceptical
(c) ironic
(d) solemn  

1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
“Alas! the living are few, but the dead are many. Do not remind us of our deepest grief.” And there was no house but some beloved one had died in it.

(a) Who is the speaker in the above lines?
(a) Buddha
(b) Kisa Gotami
(c) one of the people from whom Kisa asked for mustard seeds
(d) none of these

(b) Choose the option that lists the set of statements that are NOT TRUE according to the given extract.
1. The living population is very few.
2. The living population has increased manifold.
3. The dead should be remembered often.
4. The dead are less in number.
5. There was no house where no one had died.
6. The dead should not be reminded of.
7. Many people keep dying and returning back to life.
(a) 2, 3, 4
(b) 5, 6, 7
(c) 3, 5, 7
(d) 1, 5, 6

(c) Pick the option that correctly classifies fact/s(F) and myth/s (M) given below.

(a) F – 1, 4 and M – 2, 3
(b) F – 3, 4 and M – 1, 2
(c) F – 1, 3 and M – 2, 4
(d) F – 1 and M – 3

(d) Buddha said that _________ leads to more pain and sickness.
(a) speaking
(b) reminding
(c) lamentation
(d) anger

(e) What is the ‘deepest grief’?
(a) a lost thing
(b) a dead person
(c) a lost house
(d) a lost jewellery

2. And she thought to herself, “How selfish am I in my grief! Death is common to all; yet in this valley of desolation there is a path that leads him to immortality who has surrendered all selfishness.” The Buddha said, ‘‘The life of mortals in this world is troubled and brief and combined with pain. For there is not any means by which those that have been born can avoid dying; after reaching old age there is death; of such a nature are living beings. As ripe fruits are early in danger of falling, so mortals when born are always in danger of death. As all earthen vessels made by the potter end in being broken, so is the life of mortals. Both young and adult, both those who are fools and those who are wise, all fall into the power of death; all are subject to death.

(a) Why was Kisa Gotami sad?
(a) Because she had nowhere to live
(b) Because her only son had died
(c) Because she had nothing to eat
(d) Because her son was sick

(b) What did she realize after going house-to-house asking for mustard seeds?
(a) she realized death is common to all and she shouldn’t be selfish
(b) she realized no one wants to save her son
(c) she learnt that no one liked her
(d) None of these

(c) What did Buddha want Kisa Gotami to understand?
(a) That her son is still alive and she doesn’t need to grieve
(b) That everyone else is selfish and does not want to help her
(c) That no one can avoid death and the wise accept this truth of life
(d) Anyone can overcome death by fighting for it

(d) Which word from the extract means the same as ‘bleakness’?
(a) immortality
(b) desolation
(c) surrendered
(d) selfishness

(e) What effect does the weeping or grieving have on us?
(a) It makes us feel better about it later
(b) It makes us believe in immortality
(c) It makes our pain greater than before
(d) None of these

Question. He wandered for seven years and finally sat down under a peepal tree, where he vowed to stay until enlightenment came. Enlightened after seven days, he renamed the tree the Bodhi Tree (Tree of Wisdom) and began to teach and to share his new understandings.
(a) Who is ‘He’ here? Why did ‘he’ wander for seven years?
(b) After the enlightenment, what did he come to be known as?
Ans. (a) He is Siddhartha Gautama, a prince of a large kingdom in North India. Once on a hunt, he came across the harsher truths of life, sickness, old age and death. Disillusioned with his luxurious life, he left his kingdom and wandered for seven years to find the meaning of life.
(b) Once he sat under the Bodhi tree, he remained there till he found enlightenment. Once he understood the true meaning of life, he began preaching to people and came to be called Buddha.

Question. Kisa Gotami became weary and hopeless and sat down at the wayside watching the lights of the city, as they flickered up and were extinguished again. At last, the darkness of the night reigned everywhere. And she considered the fate of men, that their lives flicker up and are extinguished again.
(a) Why did Kisa Gotami become weary and hopeless?
(b) What did she realise at this point?
Ans. (a) Buddha has told Kisa to bring mustard seeds from a home where no death had occurred. She could not find any such household. Thus, by evening, she became hopeless and dejected, knowing that the quest was futile.
(b) Kisa was aggrieved at the loss of her son whose corpse she had taken to Buddha to revive. She realised finally that death was a natural progression of life and that it affects each human being.

Question. As all earthen vessels made by the potter end in being broken, so is the life of mortals. Both young and adult, both those who are fools and those who are wise, all fall into the power of death; all are subject to death.
(a) Why did Buddha not teach this lesson to Kisa first and asked her to get the mustard seeds?
(b) What comparison does Buddha make between a human being and pottery?
Ans. (a) Buddha wanted Kisa to make the realisation on her own. She was so beside herself with grief that she would not have heard any wise words of Buddha. Thus, she had to be taught the lesson practically.
(b) Buddha says that a potter moulds articles with clay and tries to make them as durable as possible but one day the clay pot will break, this way even human beings, though sturdily built will have to die one day.

Question. “Not from weeping nor from grieving will any one obtain peace of mind; on the contrary, his pain will be greater and his body will suffer. He will make himself sick and pale, yet the dead are not saved by his lamentation.”
(a) How can one obtain peace at the death of a loved one according to Buddha?
(b) What is the meaning of the word: Lamentation?
Ans. (a) One can obtain peace at the death of a loved being by realising the ultimate truth, that death was inevitable. It will come in some form. Thus, we must make our peace with it and avoid constant weeping and suffering.
(b) Lamentation means to grieve for someone.