Question 1.
When her son dies, Kisa Gotami goes from house to house. What does she ask for? Does she get it? Why not?
Answer:
After the death of her only son, Kisa Gotami was struck by deep grief. Carrying her child’s lifeless body, she visited every house in her neighborhood, asking for a medicine that could revive her son. However, no one could give her any medicine, because there is no remedy that can bring a dead person back to life.
Question 2.
Kisa Gotami goes from house to house again after speaking to the Buddha. What does she ask for? Does she get it? Why not?
Answer:
After speaking with Buddha, Kisa Gotami asks each household for a handful of mustard seeds from a home where no one has ever died. She does not succeed, since every family has experienced death at some point. Thus, she cannot get the mustard seeds, as death is universal and inevitable.
Question 3.
What does Kisa Gotami learn the second time that she didn’t understand the first time? Is this what Buddha wanted her to realize?
Answer:
When Kisa Gotami failed to find a single house unaffected by death, she realized that death is a natural part of life and happens to every family. She understood that she was not alone in her grief and that her pain was not unique. Yes, this is precisely what the Buddha intended for her to understand—that all living beings are mortal and loss is part of the human experience.
Question 4.
Why do you think Kisa Gotami understood this lesson only the second time? How did Buddha help change her understanding?
Answer:
The first time, Kisa Gotami was blinded by her own sorrow and couldn’t see beyond her personal loss. When she went door to door for the mustard seeds, she learned every household had suffered similar loss. Buddha’s request showed her, in a practical way, that death is common to all, making her realize she was not alone. Through this experience, her perspective changed from focusing solely on her grief to seeing the universality of suffering.
Question 5.
How do you usually understand the idea of selfishness? Do you agree that Kisa Gotami was selfish in her grief?
Answer:
Selfishness usually means thinking only of oneself. In her sorrow, Kisa Gotami was focused on her own suffering, wishing to reverse her child’s death even though loss is part of every life. While it’s natural to grieve deeply, her total absorption in her misery was a kind of selfishness—as she failed to recognize that others endure similar pain. Ultimately, her journey helped her realize that grief is a shared, universal emotion.