Hari Om parents,
Hope you all are doing well & enjoying the wonderful fall weather. Our class was awesome with energetic & happy kids. We did a lot of fun things and here is a brief summary
1. We chanted 3 OM's and said our beginning prayers - Om sahna bhavtu then a shlok for Lord Ganesha ( Vakratunda Mahakaya), Devi Saraswati ( Saraswati Namastubhyam) and one for our Guru( Guru Bramha) respectively. The kids are so well versed with all the shlokas. 👏🏻👏🏻
2. Chanted the Dhyaan Shlok-
Buddhir balam yashodhairyam nirbhayatvam arogata
Ajadyam Vakpatutvam cha Hanumat smarnat bhavet
Through the worship of Shri Hanuman one will be blessed with Buddhi (intelligence), Balam (strength),Yasas (fame),Dhairyam (courage),Nirbhayatvam (fearlessness), Arogata (free from diseases), Ajadyam (alertness) and Vakpatutvam (eloquence). These are the eight virtues that make our invisible back bone strong.
3. Reviewed the concepts from our previous class - visible and invisible backbone.
4. Exploration : What is Buddhi? Intellect is buddhi in Sanskrit. Our intellect helps us to discriminate between what is right and wrong. Intellect is a gift from God, given only to human beings.
5. Story time : Akbar and Birbal.
In India, there was a king named Akbar, who had a very intelligent advisor named, Birbal. One day, the king decided to test the intelligence of all his ministers. He ordered, " Find out how many crows are there in our country. I need the answer within a week." At the end of the week the king demand an answer in court. None of the ministers, except Birbal, had the answer for the king. Birbal said we have 27,097 crows in our country. The king said what if you have the incorrect number? The king said the punishment is severe for the wrong answer. Birbal said Sir, if the number of crows is less than my count, then some have gone to visit the relatives out of the country. If there are more, then some of the crow's relatives must have come to visit them here. Admiring Birbal's intelligence the king gave him a big reward.
6. Think: Although, I must. Some examples are -
* although it may be boring, yet I must do all my homework.
* although I may be sleepy, I must brush my teeth at night.
These are the actions of people who use their intellect.
7. We also watched a fun video on Hanuman ji depicting his virtues and characteristics. Here is the link to the video -
8. Game time : We took a small movement break & played a familiar game Simon says but with Hanuman vadati. It was so much fun to do the action words in Sanskrit.
Stand - Uttishthathu
Sit - Upavishathu
Jump - Utpattathu
Dance - Nrityathu
Run in place - Dhaavathu
Swim - Taratu
9. Geeta chanting - Today we started with Geeta chanting, Chapter 2 - Shloka 39 onwards. We only did Shloka 39 this time. Next class we plan to do 39 &40. Here is the Swamiji's link for practice -
10.. We ended our class with aarti and shaanti mantra.
This year's parents handbook is available at the following link- ( Esp for kids out of state)
https://www.chinmayavrindavan.org/balavihar/parents-corner/handbook
This link has lyrics to Aarti, Geeta chanting & pledge.
Hope to see you all next Sunday @9:15 am. Take care!
Regards,
Chitra & Rupa.