A Great Son of India – Book Q A Class 10 ENGLISH
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Chapter: A Great Son of India (Dr. S. Radhakrishnan)
Comprehension Check I (Page 141) | www.WithTeachers.in
Question ❓.1 Who is the speaker?
Answer 🎯.1 The speaker is Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, a great teacher and philosopher.
Question ❓.2 On what occasion does he speak?
Answer 🎯.2 He speaks on the occasion of Swami Vivekananda's 92nd birthday, while distributing prizes for recitation and speech competitions.
Question ❓.3 What does the 'treasure of her past' refer to?
Answer 🎯.3 The 'treasure of her past' refers to India's religious consciousness and its ancient spiritual wisdom.
Question ❓.4 Where from did Vivekananda collect the treasure?
Answer 🎯.4 Vivekananda collected this treasure from the Indian scriptures and the life and sayings of his great Master, the transcendent religious genius, Shri Ramakrishna.
Question ❓.5 How are religion and science interrelated?
Answer 🎯.5 Modern religion must commend itself to the spirit of science and intellectual conscience. Whatever religious beliefs we accept must be justified and supported by rational evidence, otherwise they reduce to wishful thinking.
Question ❓.6 Why should religion be the maintaining faith of democracy?
Answer 🎯.6 Religion should support democracy because any religion which divides man from man, or supports privileges, exploitation, and wars, cannot be accepted today.
Question ❓.7 What could be the reason for the eclipse of religion?
Answer 🎯.7 The reason for the eclipse of religion is that religions, as they are practically followed today, seem to be both unscientific and undemocratic.
Question ❓.8 What is the ultimate truth of life?
Answer 🎯.8 The ultimate truth is that there is a "Beyond"—an ultimate reality or Supreme being—underlying, unifying, and inspiring this world of transience.
Question ❓.9 How does time act as a powerful force?
Answer 🎯.9 Time subjects great civilizations to its law, making everything pass away, including written words, painted pictures, carved stones, and heroic acts.
Question ❓.10 What explanation of the fundamental problem is provided by the Upanisads?
Answer 🎯.10 The Upanisads explain this by providing logical arguments and the experiences of men who bear witness to the reality of the Supreme, showing that there is a Beyond of which this world is an expression.
Comprehension Check II (Pages 143-144) | www.WithTeachers.in
Question ❓.11 What are the Vedas according to Vivekananda?
Answer 🎯.11 According to Vivekananda, the Vedas are not just books, but they mean the ever-expanding, accumulated treasure of spiritual laws discovered by different persons in different times.
Question ❓.12 What is Yoga in his opinion?
Answer 🎯.12 In his opinion, religion is Yoga, which means personal change, adjustment, integration, the reconditioning of one's nature, and the awakening of the life of the spirit in man, rather than just intellectual orthodoxy.
Question ❓.13 Which Yogas have been discussed by him in his writings?
Answer 🎯.13 He wrote books discussing Jnana Yoga, Raja Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Karma Yoga.
Question ❓.14 What is secularism?
Answer 🎯.14 Secularism does not mean being indifferent to religion; it means regarding all religions as sacred, believing in the freedom of conscience, and understanding and loving other religions rather than merely tolerating them.
Question ❓.15 Which experience of Sri Ramakrishna does Vivekananda teach people?
Answer 🎯.15 He teaches Sri Ramakrishna's experience of uniting with every religion—praying in the mosque of the Mohammedan, worshipping before the fire of the Zoroastrian, and kneeling to the Cross of the Christian.
Question ❓.16 What are the abuses of religion?
Answer 🎯.16 The abuses of religion include confusing it with obscurantism and superstition, and the insistence on practices like touchability and untouchability.
Question ❓.17 What is 'antar-jyoti' referred to in the text?
Answer 🎯.17 'Antar-jyoti' refers to the inner light or the Divine that is in all of us, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world and cannot be put out.
Question ❓.18 What is the ultimate test of true religion?
Answer 🎯.18 The ultimate tests of true religions are the recognition of truth and reconciliation with human beings.
Question ❓.19 What are necessary for creating the Ramrajya?
Answer 🎯.19 Creating the Ramrajya requires dedicated spirits doing constructive work to establish a spiritual religion that transcends ecclesiastical organizations and doctrinal sophistries, leading to the transformation of human society.
D. Writing (Page 145) | www.WithTeachers.in
(Answers in about fifty words)
Question ❓.20 What made Dr. Radhakrishnan think that the students were impressed and inspired?
Answer 🎯.20 The students who won the prizes and competed had the great opportunity of reading the writings of Swami Vivekananda. Dr. Radhakrishnan knew that Vivekananda's powerful teachings on freedom, personal change, and spiritual awakening naturally impress and inspire any reader.
Question ❓.21 How can we explain that Vivekananda was one of the leaders of the Indian Renaissance?
Answer 🎯.21 He was a leader of the Renaissance because he did not create a new system but interpreted India's ancient religious consciousness and treasures for the modern world. His teachings prepared Indians to consolidate their newly won freedom through reason, science, and spiritual awakening.
Question ❓.22 Why were the writings and speeches of Vivekananda very powerful?
Answer 🎯.22 His works were powerful because they were heavily fortified by quotations from the ancient Indian scriptures (Upanisads and Vedas) and deeply rooted in the life and sayings of his transcendent religious genius master, Shri Ramakrishna.
Question ❓.23 Why does the speaker consider 'science and democracy' as the dominant features of the modern world?
Answer 🎯.23 The speaker considers them dominant because they have "come to stay". Modern educated people demand rational evidence (science) for religious beliefs and reject any faith that supports privileges and exploitation, instead demanding equality and human rights (democracy).
Question ❓.24 What could be the reasons for this earth being unfit for human habitation?
Answer 🎯.24 The earth is subject to the transience of time and the physical laws of nature. It may become unfit for human habitation as the sun ages and alters over time.
Question ❓.25 Why are the Vedas ever-expanding? And what is the light that lighteth every man?
Answer 🎯.25 The Vedas are ever-expanding because they are the accumulated treasure of spiritual laws discovered by different people across time; thus, what is built forever is forever building. The light that lighteth every man is the "antar-jyoti", the Divine presence alive within us all.
Question ❓.26 How can religion lead to the transformation of human society?
Answer 🎯.26 Religion transforms society when it is treated as a spiritual force that surpasses enmity through ahimsa, raises work to worship, and rejects strict ecclesiastical rules. Dedicated spirits practicing this bring society closer to the Kingdom of God, or Ramrajya.