Hari Om! Parents,
Week 7 Bala Vihar class started with children writing 11 times likhita japa, 'Om Gam Ganapataye Namah'. Please remind your child to write the japa daily.
Shlokas
Om chanting, Sahana vavatu (pg 8, My Prayers Book). The children took turns to chant all the verses of Sri Ganesha Stavah (pg 28, My Prayers book). Next the class learnt the first verse of the Sri Ganesha Pancharatnam (pg 30, My Prayers book). The MP3 audio was shared with you in the Parents WhatApp Group. Children will take turns to lead the shloka every week. Please encourage your child to practice the shloka everyday.
Bhagavad Gita
We are learning part two of the Gita Chapter 2 this year, from our Swamiji. Grade 5 (Partha group) assigned verses are 39-63 (Bala Vihar Handbook). The children took turns to lead the Gita chanting. Today we covered Verse 39 - 46 (pg 22, Bala Vihar Handbook).
Your child must use this YouTube Gita Playlist to practice pronunciation of the Gita correctly.
The Gita Chanting Yagna CNJ Regionals is on April 2, 2022.
Mahabharata
After a quick Q&A recap, we continued with the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata story. Balarama trains Bhimasena and Duryodana in mace fighting, and takes a liking to Duryodana. Dronacharya teaches Arjuna the final skills of archery and blesses him with some words of advice. Dronacharya reminds Arjuna that with learning comes humility, so in spite of being a great warrior Arjuna must remain humble. Dronacharya asks Arjuna to befriend his cousin, Lord Krishna. He tells him that with Lord Krishna's support, Arjuna would become invincible.
A year had passed since Yudhistira became the Yuvaraja and the citizens loved him so much, they wanted him to be the next king. Duryodana's spies reported this and he flew into a jealous rage. Duryodana convinces his father to send the Pandavas away to Varanavata for a year. Duryodana says that in that time he could win over the people's support and become the next king. King Dritarashtra seeks the advice of Kanika, and the evil minister tells the king to kill the Pandavas. The king summons Yudhistira and in a nice manner asks him to go to Varanavata with his brothers and mother. Yudhistira is immediately suspicious of the king's intentions. However, being obedient to the elders, Yudhistira agrees to it. He convinces his mother and brothers to go to Varanavata. Meanwhile, Duryodana is very happy and calls his trusted minister Purochana. He instructs him to build a beautiful palace for the Pandavas to live in. The palace however would be made of wax and flammable materials. In a year's time, Purochana was told to burn the palace down and kill the Pandavas.
As they are about to leave for Varanavata, Vidura talks to Yudhistira alone. He says just swords and arrows are not the only weapons, and to protect oneself from fire, one must dig a tunnel underground like a rat. Yudhistira understands his uncle's warning and soon the Pandavas reach Varanavata. They are welcomed into a grand palace by Purochana, but immediately notice the smell of wax everywhere. When they are alone, Yudhistira tells his brothers of Vidura's warning. He trusts their uncle would protect them from harm. He proposes that if they are in danger, they could escape, lie low, and gather the support needed to defeat the Kauravas. The Pandavas agree to the plan and that they would have to be cautious and stay very alert. Vidura sends a miner to dig a tunnel from the palace courtyard, away into the forest and to the riverbank. The Pandavas distracted Purochana everyday with hunting, while the miner worked in secret and finished the tunnel. The entrance door was covered with a beautiful carpet. After about a year, Purochana decides to put the evil plan into action the next night. Anticipating the move, the previous night itself, the Pandavas set fire to the palace and escaped through the tunnel. The mighty Bhimasena carries his mother on his back, the twins on his hips and the other two in his arms. He quickly takes them through the tunnel, to the riverbank and the palace collapses into ashes. Vidura had arranged a boatman to take them across the river Ganga to safety. The Pandavas are told to go southward, to the city of Ekachakra and find refuge with a brahmin there.
Meanwhile, news of the fire reaches Hastinapura and the Pandavas are presumed to be dead by everyone. A heartbroken Bheeshma goes into depression and Vidura decides to take him into confidence. He tells Bheeshma that the Pandavas have escaped and are safe. They promise to keep this secret among themselves to protect the Pandavas. King Dritarshtra outwardly expresses sorrow, while in his heart rejoices upon hearing the news. Duryodana is delighted that his evil plan worked and there is no one to stop him from becoming the king.
We paused the story here for a break and did body stretching exercises.
India, the Sacred Land
Saint Mira Bai was born in Rajasthan to a royal family. A sadhu gifted her an idol of Lord Krishna as a young girl, and so began her devotion towards Bhagwan. She was married but considered Lord Krishna her true husband and this angered her in-laws. They fed her poison, but her devotion to Bhagawan protected her. She composed "Mira Bhajans", which were so famous that the Mughal emperor Akbar came to listen to her and even gifted a valuable necklace to Lord Krishna. On hearing this the in-laws told her to drown in the river for bringing shame to the family. She was rescued from the waters by Bhagawan Himself and told to go to Vrindavan, Mathura and Dwarka. She then became the disciple of Guru Ravidasa. The princess left her luxurious life and followed her devotion to Lord Krishna till her last breath. We discussed how Mira Bai disregarded criticism and grasped only to the true consciousness of Lord Krishna. She did not get fooled by false comforts in life and easily gave them all up. She taught us that the only true reality is Bhagawan. The children listened to a Mira Bhajan by the famous singer, Lata Mageshkar - "Payoji maine Ram ratan dhan". Some important values that we learn from the life of saint Mira Bai are:- Be contemplative, Be firm, Be pious, Have faith.
The children were asked to keep a journal about how they used the saint's values in their everyday life. It will be our weekly discussion topic going forward.
Class ended with aarti, shanthi mantra and pledge recitation (pg 29-33, Bala Vihar Handbook).
Please remind your child to stay back for aarti and pledge, even though it is a virtual one.
- Rashmi Kuroodi and Shanthi Chidambaram
Materials needed for every class: notebook & pen for the likhita japa, My Prayers book for the shlokas, Bala Vihar Handbook for the Gita Chanting, aarti and pledge recitation.