Hari Om Parents,
Here is a brief summary of Balavihar class activities for Week 7, November 14, 2021.
1. We started our class with opening prayers.
§ Om Sahana Vavatu
- Vakratunda Mahakaya
- Saraswathi Namastubhyam
- Guru Brahma Gurur Vishnu
We asked children to raise their hand to volunteer to lead the prayer. We encourage everyone to participate.
2. We then practiced reciting the Ganesha Pancharatnam stotram and children took turns singing and repeating the stotram a couple of times. We will continue practicing the stotram and getting the pronunciation correct. Please remind children to practice reciting the Ganesh Pancharatnam at home.
3. We continued our journey of Saints. Two kids presented about the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda and Tapovanji Maharaja.
Swami Vivekananda's presentation covered the saint's early life, education, his Guru – Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, his teachings, and some quotes. We then asked the children some questions to recall what was covered, and what they learnt from his teachings. The quote that the class liked the most was 'Arise, awake, stop not till the goal is reached'.
Tapovan Maharaja's presentation included his early life, anecdotes from his life, and his spiritual journey. Our Pujya Gurudeva Swami Chinmayananda ji was one of his disciples. At the end of the presentation, we had an open discussion where kids were encouraged to ask questions, what were the key take-aways. Key messages/ values of Swami Tapovan Maharaj were to be humble, be simple, be truthful, and to keep the vows.
We asked the children if they could think about a goal they had set for themselves, how they pursued it, or if they dropped it midway, and why. We'll talk about this and learn from each other in our next Balavihar class.
4. We reminded the children to come prepared for their presentation on the Saints of India for our 11/21 Balavihar class.
5. Mahabharata:
We did a quick recap of the story covered thus far. We then continued and covered:
§ Duryodhana's growing jealousy towards the Pandavas
§ Duryodhana poisoning Bheema and throwing him into the Ganga river, how Bheema survived, and became stronger from drinking bowls of elixir, and divine food by the Nagas, and was brought to the surface
§ Bheeshma appointing Rishi Kripa to undertake the education of the Kuru princes
§ Encounter with Dronacharya – Kuru princes playing with a ball, ball fell into the well, Rishi Drona shows them how to get that ball out with archery trick
§ Bheeshma appoints Dronacharya to teach the Kuru princes
§ Story of Dronacharya - studied with Drupada, lived a life of poverty; Drupada's promise as a friend and later not keeping his promise, humiliating Drona; Dronacharya's anger and revenge
We concluded our class with aarti, and pledge led by one of the kids.
Our next Balavihar session will be on 21st November 2021.
Pranaams,
Subha and Rekha