Question

When her son dies, Kisa Gotami goes from house to house? What does she ask for? Does she get it? Why not?

Answer 1

Hint: The context of the above question is given in the chapter ‘ The Sermon at Benaras’ taken from Betty Renshaw Values and Voices: A College Reader (1975). The theme of the chapter is that death is inevitable.

Complete answer:
The story is about an incident, which happened when Buddha was at Benaras for his first sermon after enlightenment.
When Kisa Gotami’s son died, she went from house to house twice-
- The first time she went from house to house asking for medicine for her dead son. She carried him in her hands. She did not get the medicines because people knew that her son was already dead and they felt that she had lost her senses. However, she met one man who advised her to go to Sakyamuni, the Buddha, to get medicine for her child.
- The second time she went from house to house asking for mustard seed. She asked for mustard seed on the advice of Buddha. Buddha had asked her to get a handful of mustard seeds from such a house where no one had lost a child, husband, parent or friend. She did not get mustard seeds as well because all the houses had lost one or the other family member.

Note: Kisa Gotami later realised that everyone around is afflicted with death. Death is synonymous with birth. Like a fruit ripens to fall, similarly, a man is born to ultimately die. Attachments and unacceptance of something that is bound to happen will only bring sorrow, suffering and pain. Acceptance will relieve one of all his/her pain.