KSEEB Class 9 · English (2nd language) · KTBS Revised 2024-25
Upagupta
Chapter summary, hard words and model exam answers for Karnataka Board Class 9 English.
Free online summary and notes (Karnataka Board Class 9 English). Read it here, no PDF download needed.
About the author
Rabindranath Tagore (poem). Tagore reimagines the Buddhist monk Upagupta from tradition - a saint who shows compassion without social prejudice in ancient Mathura.
Summary
It is night in Mathura. The city is bright with lamps and music for a spring festival. People rejoice in streets decked with flowers.
It is night in Mathura. The city is bright with lamps and music for a spring festival. People rejoice in streets decked with flowers.
Upagupta, a follower of Buddha, sleeps on the roadside outside the city. He has renounced comfort and walks the path of compassion.
Upagupta, a follower of Buddha, sleeps on the roadside outside the city. He has renounced comfort and walks the path of compassion.
Vasavadatta, a wealthy courtesan, stumbles over him in the dark. Angry, she tells the filthy ascetic not to block her path and hurries to the festival.
Vasavadatta, a wealthy courtesan, stumbles over him in the dark. Angry, she tells the filthy ascetic not to block her path and hurries to the festival.
Upagupta gently replies that he will visit her when the time comes - words she dismisses in her pride.
Upagupta gently replies that he will visit her when the time comes - words she dismisses in her pride.
Months later plague strikes. Vasavadatta, stricken with smallpox, is driven out of the city. She lies forsaken on the outskirts in rain and darkness.
Months later plague strikes. Vasavadatta, stricken with smallpox, is driven out of the city. She lies forsaken on the outskirts in rain and darkness.
Upagupta finds her, places her head on his lap, soothes her with water, and nurses the outcast - fulfilling his promise with wordless mercy.
Upagupta finds her, places her head on his lap, soothes her with water, and nurses the outcast - fulfilling his promise with wordless mercy.
Hard words & meanings
| ascetic | one who renounces luxury for spiritual life |
| courtesan | a woman of the pleasure quarters in ancient India |
| renounce | to abandon worldly pleasures deliberately |
| outcast | one expelled from society |
| smallpox | a deadly contagious illness marked by fever and sores |
| compassion | suffering with others and wanting to help |
| forsaken | left alone without help |
| festival | a joyous communal holiday |
| prejudice | judging people by status rather than humanity |
Model exam answers, grammar & audio
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