Hari Om!
Dear Parents,
Here is the summary of our class on Friday, Nov, 12, 2021.
Opening prayers:
Om Sahana Vavatu
Om Sri Ganeshaya NamaH
Om Sri Saraswatyai NamaH
Om Sri Sadgurubhyo NamaH
Vasudevasutam Devam (Krishna Shloka)
Activity: My Vaca (My words/speech)
Lessons: Mahabharata - Cause and Effect- The palace of Lac and The Game of Dice, Introduction to Yaksha Prashna
Quote of the day - As the mind, so the vision
Bhagavat Gita - Verses 41, 42 (recap)
Ending Prayers - Om PoornamadaH
Next Balavihar class: 11/19/21
Announcements: Grade 8 is participating in Annadaanam for the homeless shelter on Saturday, Nov 20th, 2021. Please check the Whatsapp group for the signup sheet and other details. Thank you in advance.
Summary: Happy Deepavali! It was really great to see the children after a bit of a break. We started the class with the opening shlokas and then moved on to our activity of the day, My Vaca. We reflected upon the words we uttered during the week and gave ourselves dots/stars based on the kind of words: lying, complaining, using harsh words, or kind words. A few of the students shared their experiences and we reflected upon how we felt about our words. We will continue with this activity every class and our goal is to replace all other words with kind words eventually.
Then, we discussed the story of Mahabharata, the part where Duryodhana built a beautiful palace made of lac, a highly flammable material for the Pandavas. Outwardly, it seems like a generous and kind gesture but the whole reason he gave them this palace was to set it on fire and have them killed! Yudhishtra was alerted by Vidura about this plan and so the Pandavas dug a tunnel leading to the forest. So when the time of danger came, they were well prepared to escape. The cause for Duryodhana to do this and other harmful things to the Pandavas is jealousy and ill intentions. Yudhishtira was alert and aware of this, as he realized that was strangely out of character for Duryodhana to be kind to the Pandavas. The lesson we learn from this episode is for the mind to be alert.
The Pandavas spent the year in the forest disguised as Brahmanas. One time, they came to know of King Drupada's Swayamvara for princess Draupadi. Arjuna won the competition, winning the hand of Draupadi. When they returned to their Kutia, Kunti assumed that they brought back alms and asked them to share equally among themselves. SO all the Pandava Princes married her. We briefly discussed the symbolism of this marriage- Draupadi represents Intellect and the Pandavas represent our Atma with the 4 Purushartas - Dharma(righteousness), Artha (material prosperity), Kaama (desire) and Moksha (liberation). In all of these pursuits the individual needs the power and the support of the intellect, be it upholding ethical values, material values, our desires and ultimately liberation.
When the Pandavas returned, they were given a barren piece of land as their share of the kingdom, which through their hard work, the divine grace of Bhagavan Krishna and the help of the heavenly architect, Viswakarma, they were able to turn it into a prosperous land with a heavenly, magical palace! Duryodhana was beside himself with jealousy and hatched an evil plan to bring the Pandavas to their downfall. Knowing Yudhishtira's weakness for gambling, Shakuni asked Duryodhana to invite the Pandavas to a 'friendly' game of dice! Yudhistira wagered everything including his kingdom, his brothers, himself and his wife! Draupadi was humiliated in the court and Bhagavan Krishna came to her rescue. A few lessons to learn here are: One small weakness can bring down even the most righteous of people! Acting out of jealousy ultimately leads to destruction. When we have complete faith and trust in Bhagavan, like Draupad, He will come to our rescue at the hour of need.
We then discussed the quote of the day, "As the mind, so the vision" - Duryodhana had a negative mindset and so everyone seemed evil to him, whereas Yudhishtira had a positive mindset and so he was only able to see the good in everyone. We gave a brief introduction to the topic of Yaksha Prashna which we will continue every class going forward. This is the conversation between a yaksha and Yudhishtira in the form of questions and answers on Dharma, Karma and other values.
Following this, we reviewed Bhagavat Gita verses 41, 42 with Swamiji's video and then concluded the class with the ending Shlokas. We look forward to meeting the children next week with more interesting topics.
Pranaam,
Mythili and Anandhi