There are hardly any people who are not familiar with the name of Gautama Buddha. He is a great spiritual teacher who taught people the aesthetic value of life from the historic period. There were many spiritual leaders like Gautama Buddha, but he came into the limelight due to his spiritual knowledge. From the early stage of his life, he started following the path of spirituality and also made efforts to spread it. He built different religious communities and taught people the essence of life. He travelled throughout north India to preach his faith to common people. The stories of Buddha are incredible examples of his knowledge. The story of 'Kisagotami and the mustard seeds is one of the most popular stories of all. We will discuss the story in detail and the consequences of the story in this article.
A long time ago, there lived a young lady named Kisagotami. She was a married woman, and she also had a young little son. A terrible disease spread over the village at that time. People got sick and even started dying. Like other people of that village, the son of Kisagotami also suffered from the disease. Eventually, that little boy also died due to that disease. Kisagotami was so shocked that she could not believe her son was no more. She took her son to different people and told them to give him medicine. She wanted to cure her son badly. Everybody was trying to make her understand that her son was no more. But she ignored all of them and went to another person to bring the medicines for her son.
After some time, a kind-hearted person told her that he could not give her medicine to cure her son, but he knew someone who had a solution to Kisagotami’s problem. The man told the lady to go to the Buddha's monastery and talk with him. After listening to his words, Kisagotami immediately went to that place.
The woman pleaded with Buddha to provide medicine to cure her little son in order to make him alive. After looking at her condition, Buddha asked Kisagotami to get mustard seeds from any one of the houses in the city. Kisagotami was overjoyed to listen to his words. She thought she could arrange such a simple thing. But Buddha added with his previous words that he needed mustard seeds from that house where no one had ever died. So, Kisagotami went to bring mustard seeds. She wandered from door to door in the village. Everybody was prepared to give her seeds. Then she asked people if anyone in their house had ever died. People in every house replied that at least someone or the other had died in that house.
Meanwhile, Kisagotami understood the fact that everybody had lost their loved ones, and there is no one in the world who has never lost family members to death. Finally, she realized that death would not spare anyone. After that, she buried her son and came out of the grief of his son’s death. Then she returned to the Buddha's monastery and thanked Buddha for providing her with such an amazing lesson about life. Ultimately she became a follower of Buddha.
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The story of Kisagotami and the mustard seeds are very popular. It tells about a mother who could not take the pain of her son’s death. Then she interacted with Buddha and learned the reality of life. Buddha wanted the woman to discover the truth on her own. The story explains the main tenets of Buddha’s philosophy about life. Here we can see three concepts that Buddha presented very clearly.
At first, he highlighted the theory of Impermanence, often called Anicca. According to him, nothing in this world is permanent. Everything changes over time. It is a part of the natural cycle. This Impermanence leads to the development of another difficult problem which is Suffering, often called Dukkha. It is the second theory of Buddha.
He said suffering is also a part of life. It attacks our mental and physical health, respectively. We have to accept that gradually. People's desire to keep things the same creates more suffering in their lives. Instead of going against nature and its laws, we must accept all circumstances to be happy in our lives. The third fact that completes the three pillars of existence is the lack of a permanent soul, often called Anatta.
That signifies that no living creature has an immortal soul. Human life is bound up in the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Moreover, we should become selfless. We should not be affected by the continuous change and upwards and downward of life.
The three aspects of existence are applicable to the whole world. Without these theories of Buddha, people could have suffered more due to their unlimited desires.
After the realization of the truth about the Impermanence of the world, Kisagotmai went back to Buddha and decided to become a nun in his monastery. One of the important aspects of Buddhism was Nirvana, meaning salvation. Kisagotma started following a path that led to nirvana and ultimately became a well-known nun in one of the Buddhist monasteries. In the whole story, Buddha spoke about the Nirvana theory.
Nirvana defines the state of a person free from human desire and needs. Suffering comes from the attachment to loved ones. Nirvana is the only way that discontinues the cycle of rebirth and death and makes people free from attachments. They step into a new life. Buddhism enhances the spiritual knowledge of a person and ultimately makes him/her selfless. Like Kisagotami, we also can face grief after losing our loved ones. We tend to do anything or cross any limit to healing that is impossible to do. There are different people present in the world who are facing situations like Kisagotami. Ultimately, Humans need to understand that the world is full of miseries, and desires are the main cause of suffering. The suffering can be avoided by overcoming desire that, in turn, leads to a path to nirvana.
Q1. Which monastery did Kisagotami join as a nun?
Ans. Kisagotami joined the Jeetvana monastery(a dwelling place for Buddha at that time) as a nun. It is in modern-day Utter Pradesh.
Q2. Why didn't Buddha tell Kisagotami directly that her son had died?
Ans. Buddha wanted to make her understand and realize the truth of life. If he had told her directly, there were chances of Kisagotami not accepting the truth and being in grief forever.
Q3. How can one achieve nirvana?
Ans. Nirvana can be achieved by following the eight-fold path or ashtanga marga, which includes − observation, determination, meditation, memory, speech, means of livelihood, action, and exercise.
Q4. Explain the early life of Buddha.
Ans. As a young man, Buddha saw four sights; an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and an aesthetic. The first three sights convinced him of the presence of endless miseries of the world, but the vision of aesthetics inspired him to be calm and peaceful. So, he left his wife and child and started searching for answers to his questions about life. This was known as the ‘Great Renunciation’.
Q5. What was the moral of the Kisagotami story?
Ans. The moral of the story was that life and death are part and parcel of human life, and we should accept it without being so greedy about them.
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