The Ghost Brahman Question Answer Class 11 English Second Semester
1. What problem did the Brahman face after getting married and how did he try to solve it?
Ans. After getting married, the poor Brahman found himself in a sea of troubles for his want of enough money to support his family. His sources were limited and with this, he realized that he could not support his mother and his newly married wife. He had no other means to eam money at his own village.
He could solve this problem by earning money somehow or other. Therefore, he decided to leave his village and travel to distant lands to earn money, intending to return only when he had accumulated a substantial amount.
2. How did the poor Brahman manage to marry?
Ans. As the Brahman was not a Kulin, he found it very difficult to get married. For his marriage he had to arrange a good sum of money. Therefore he went to rich people and begged of them to give him money. He needed a large sum of money not for the expenses of the wedding but for giving to the parents of the bride. He begged from door to door, flattered many rich folk and at last he was able to arrange the sum he needed for his marriage. The wedding took place in right time and he brought home his wife to his mother.
3 Why did the poor Brahman have to leave home and go to distant countries?
Ans. With much difficulty the poor Brahman arranged the large sum of money for his marriage. He spent most of the amount in marriage expenses besides giving a large volume to the bride’s parents. After a short time he was left with nothing. He was in a great distress and found it very difficult to support his mother and wife with basic needs. He then unfolded his wretched condition to his mother and told her that he must go to distant countries to earn for their living. He had no other means to earn money in his own village. So he decided to leave home and go to far away countries.
4. When did the ghost get into the Brahman’s family and how did the ghost deceive the Brahmin’s wife and mother?
Ans. After getting married the Brahman realized that he could not support his wife and mother with his limited resources. To solve this problem he decided to travel to distant countries to earn money, intending to return only when he had accumulated a substantial amount. He took his mother’s blessings and went out. On the very same day in the evenig the ghost took the exact appearance of the Brahman and came into the Brahman’s family.
The Brahman’s wife, seeing her husband came back so early doubted and asked the reason for his early return. The ghost that asumed the Brahman’s appearance told that it was not a lucky day and he had already got some money. In this way the ghost convinced the Brahman’s wife. The mother even did not doubt him as the ghost and the Brahman were exactly like each other in everything. In this way the ghost befooled both the Brahman’s wife and mother with his troks and started to live there.
5. What happened when the Brahman returned home after some years?
Ans. When the Brahman returned home after some years, he remained awestruck to see another like him in the house. When he asked the ghost about his identity, in reply, the ghost informed him that he was the owner of the house and claimed the Brahman’s wife and mother as his own. According to the ghost everyone knew the fact and he was living there for years. The Ghost even charged the Brahmin of pretending to be the owner of the house. The Brahmin was severely humiliated by the ghost and was driven away from his own house. The Brahmin was left speechless in wonder and shock. He did not know what to do and at last he deemed to go to the king to sort out this problem.
6. How did the ghost’s deception affect the Brahman’s life? What challenges did it create?
Ans. The ghost’s deception made the Brahman completely baffled. He was filled with wonder. The ghost took over his house, his mother and even his wife. The Brahman was even drove out of his own house and everyone in the village including his mother and wife believed that the ghost was the real Brahman. The ghost’s deception completely turned the Brahman’s life upside down.
Thus the deception of the ghost created the challenge of being mistaken for an imposter by his own family and the villagers. The poor Brahman was left homeless and helpless. He was struggling hard to prove his identity and to reclaim his life, his home and his family from the ghost
7. Why did the Brahman go to the King? How did the king behave with him then?
Ans. After some years the Brahman returned from his travels and discovered to his surprise that the imposter ghost Brahman in his house was living with his wife and mother. The ghost’s deception made him bewildered. He was humillated by the ghost who drove the Brahman away from the house. He was greatly shocked and became mute with wonder. He could not find any solution to this crux. He even came to know that everyone in the village including his wife and mother believed that the imposter was the real Brahman. So, he went to the king to place this problem before him for solution.
The king was puzzled as both the Brahman and the ghost looked indentical. The king could not find any suitable way to resolve the matter. He repeatedly postponed his judgement. Day after day the Brahman went to the king and the king put off the judgement for the following day. The poor Brahmin had to return every day without getting any solution to his problem.
8. Hiw did the Brahman react to the King’s repeated delays in revolving his case and what did this reflect about his situation?
Ans. As both the Brahman and the ghost looked indentical, the king being confused was unable to find any suitable way to resolve the case. He postponed the issue for the following day everytime. The poor Brahman had to hear ‘Come tomorrow’ every day. He went away from the king’s palace weeping and striking his forehead with his palm of his hand everyday. He felt himself in the ocean of frustration and despair. He became helpless at the king’s inability to do justice. He started feeling wretchedly unhappy about his cursed life.
His daily weeping and lamenting reflected his deep sense of injustice and laxity of an individual against the system of the state and the ruler that appeared indifferent to his plight.
9. What role did the cowboy children play in the resolution of the Brahman’s problem?
Ans. On his way back from the king’s court, the Brahman used to pass a spot at which a great many cowboys used to play. They let the cows graze on the meadow and played at royalty. Everyday they saw the Brahman passing by weeping. Noticing the Brahmin’s sorrow one day the neat-herd king ordered his playmates to bring the Brahman to him. On hearing the sad story of the Brahman, the neatherd king decided to help him. The neat-herd king instructed the Brahman to get the king’s permission for him to solve the problem. When the Brahman told the king that the neat-herd king could solve the problem, the king agreed, hoping for a resolution to the complex case. Then the neatherd king devised a plan in a very clever way to expose the ghost. The next morning he asked both the Brahman and the ghost to enter a phial with a small neck. The ghost turned himself into a small creature and entered into the phial. The mouth of the phial was corked up. In this way the ghost was trapped and the phial was thrown into the sea by the Brahman. Finally the Brahman reclaimed his life.
10. What strategy did the neatherd king use to identify the real Brahman and to expose the ghost?
Ans. The neatherd king was very clever and used a tricky strategy to expose the ghost and identify of the real Brahman. He presented a phial with a narrow neck before them and challenged both the Brahman and the ghost to enter it. He declared that whoever could enter the phial would be the rightful owner. The neatherd king knew that it would only be possible for the ghost as it was a supernatural entity. The ghost being unable to realize the tricky mind oft he neatherd king, turned itself into a small creature and entered the phial. Thus it exposed its true nature and the real Brahman was identified.
11. How did the Brahman finally get rid of the ghost finally? What was the fate of the Brahman after the incident?
Ass. The neat-herd king helped the Brahman to get rid of the ghost finally. The neat-herd king used a clever strategy to execute his tricky plan. He presented a phial with a narrow neck before the Brahman and the ghost. He set a challenge before them. He declared that whoever would be able to enter the phial would be decided as the rightful owner of the house and the family. The ghost then foolishly entered the phial believing that doing so would prove his ownership. The neat-herd king promptly corked the phial and trapped the ghost. The Brahman then, according to the instruction of the neat-herd king threw the phial into the sea and got rid of the ghost permanently.
After this incident the Brahman lived happily for many years and begot sons and daughters.
12. What does the story suggest about wisdom and ingenuity of the neat-herd king compared to the real king?
Ans. The present story ‘The Ghost Brahman’ points out unequivocally that wisdom and ingenuity are not always tied to status or power. In spite of being a man of royal blood and status, the real king had the want of clear-sightedness and the power to resolve a crux. He found it very difficult and was puzzled to differentiate between the ghost Brahman and the real Brahman. His wit surrendered to innovate any tricky plan to provide justice to the poor Brahmin. On the other hand a simple child playing at royalty, the neatherd king set forth greater insight and problem solving skills than the real king. How nicely he resolved the Brahman’s problem simply using his acuteness and wisdom! The clever trick of the neatherd king to expose the identity of the ghost clearly speaks of the fact that wisdom, ingenuity and intelligence can never have any restriction and may come from unexpected persons.
13. What does the story reveal about the role of social status and power in the pursuit justice?
Ans. The present story ‘The Ghost Brahman’ discloses that social power and social status are not always aligned with justice. The real king, the man of royal blood and status, failed miserably to establish justice by resolving the Brahman’s case. Despite his authority he seemed paralysed to explore his insight and wisdom in front of a difficult situation. Whereas, the neatherd king, who was a mere child of lower status, applied his wit to deliver justice. In this way we may say that true wisdom and justice and equity are not confined to those in high status and position. Justice may appear sometimes from unexpected sources.
14. In what way does the story “The Ghost Brahman” illustrate the theme of truth versus deception?
Ans. In the story The Ghost Brahman’ we can see a conflict between the real and the fake. Where the Brahman is real, the ghost Brahman, the imposter is the fake. The story illustrates the theme of truth versus deception through this conflict. The ghost’s deception is strong enough to befool the villagers including the Brahman’s wife and mother. However the truth conquers ultimately when the neat-herd king exposes the ghost’s reality. This leads to the restoration of the Brahman’s rightful place. This highlights the idea that while deception can cause temporal confusion, the truth is enduring and is revealed at last.
15. What a wicked world this is!”-Who is the speaker? Why did the speaker make this comment?
Ans. The speaker here is the real Brahman, in the story The Ghost Brahman’.
When the Brahman returned from his travel, to his surprise he found that his house was occupied by another identical person. That was the ghost Brahman who claimed his house and his family as his own. The ghost informed the Brahman that the villagers also knew that the owner of the house and the family was he himself. The Brahman was driven away from his own house and he was at a loss to find that the strange fellow had taken possession of his house and his wife. To resolve his case he decided to approach the king who repeatedly postponed his case and every day the king told him to ‘come tomorrow’. Therefore falling in such an awkward position, losing the ownership of his house and family and getting not any justice from the king’s end, the Brahman out of frustration and despair said these words. He found this world wicked for not providing him any equity and justice.
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