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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: When she met the Buddha, he asked her to get a handful of mustard seeds from a house where no one had lost a child, husband, parent, or friend. She went from house to house, but could not get the mustard seeds because there was not a single house where no one had died in the family.

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: Kisa Gotami understood the second time that death is common to all and that she was being selfish in her grief. There was no house where some beloved had not died. Yes, this was what the Buddha wanted her to understand.

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 that death is common to all and that she was being selfish in her grief. She understood this only the second time because it was then that she found that there was not a single house where some beloved had not died.

First time round, she was only thinking about her grief and was therefore asking for a medicine that would cure her son. When she met the Buddha, he asked her to get a handful of mustard seeds from a house where no one had died. He did this purposely to make her realize that there was not a single house where no beloved had died, and that death is natural. When she went to all the houses the second time, she felt dejected that she could not gather the mustard seeds. Then, when she sat and thought about it, she realized that the fate of men is such that they live and die. Death is common to all. This was what the Buddha had intended her to understand.

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: Selfishness is preoccupation with I, me, and myself. Kisa Gotami was not in a position to think about other people’s grief. It is natural to feel sad over death of near and dear ones. But most people carry on their next responsibility of performing proper last rites of the dead. People seldom carry a dead body in the hope of some miracle happening to that. The family and the society always comes to be with those in hours of grief. But later on the life goes on. But Kisa Gotami was so engrossed in her sorrow that she forgot to think about live members of her family and society.

Q.5 When did the seagull get over his fear of flying over the sea?
Ans:
The seagull was afraid of flying over the sea because he thought that he would drown. His family decided to teach him a lesson. They left him unattended. The mother tore at a piece of fish that lay at her feet now and then in his front. Since the seagull was hungry too much, he was . compelled to attempt his first flight in order to get food. He was successful. This is when he got over his fear flying over the sea.

Q.9 Describe the first flight of the young seagull.
Ans:
The young seagull dived at the fish due to hunger and fell outwards and downwards into space. He thought of getting drowned but his wings spread outwards automatically. He moved downwards and outwards and landed safely on the sea and floated on it without any fear.

Q.2 Do you think that the seagull’s family loved him? Justify their attitude towards him?
Ans:
The young seagull had two brothers and a sister. His parents flew with them to leave him alone on the ledge as he could not muster up the courage to fly with them. His parents could have fed him. But, they refused to give him any food. They wanted him to fly and dive for his food. They threatened to let him starve. They did so because they loved him. The parents were right in what they did because they wanted to teach him the importance of confidence and self-reliance. One can’t depend on their parents all his life to be fed. Thus, it was important for him to learn to fly, dive and search his own food. So, the attitude the seagull family showed to him was actually their love, care and concern for him.

Q.3 Why was the young seagull pretending to be asleep? What did he actually observe while doing so?
Ans:
The young seagull came to the brink of the ledge. He stood there on one leg with the other leg hidden under his wing. He closed his one eye, then the other, and pretended to be falling asleep. He did so because he wanted to know whether they were interested in him or not but he observed that his family was not noticing him. He saw his brothers and sister lying on the plateau. They were dozing. His father was preening the feathers on his white back. Only his mother was looking at him. Now and then, she tore at a piece of fish that lay at her feet. Then she scrapped each side of the back on the rock.