Hari OM Dear Families,
Here is this week's update.
Week 7:
14th November 2021 / 9:15AM
Opening Prayers and Stotras:
Class began with opening prayers. 3 OM's and followed by Sahanavavathu,
Om shrI Ganeśaya Namaha, shrI Saraswatyai Namaha, shrI Sat Gurubhyo Namaha.
Om shrI Ganeśaya Namaha, shrI Saraswatyai Namaha, shrI Sat Gurubhyo Namaha.
We continued to learn the Mahisasura mardini stotram, verse 6. We had two volunteer students to repeat and chant the verse.
India -The Sacred Land : We had three children to talk about their personal understanding of the culture. One child talked about the music, dance forms and the instruments of India, the second one talked about kuchipudi and shared a video snippet of a tarangam presentation, showcasing the phenomenal balance. The third kid talked about festivals, food and clothing, their roots and languages. It was a very interactive and lively presentation.
Languages of India: There are 22 Indian languages that are referred to as Scheduled languages and given recognition in the Constitution of India. In addition, the Government of India has given the status of "Classical Language" to Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu. Every state in India has a language that is predominantly spoken and many dialects enrich the languages. We had kids trying to write their names in their native languages on the shared whiteboard screen.
Lunar Calendar: The lunar calendar is used for all traditional observances and dates from the vedic times. It follows the waxing and waning phases of the moon, namely the shukla pakSha and kRShNa pakSha. Each day in each phase is given its ordinal name (from Sanskrit) and the fifteenth day is either Amavasya (New Moon) or Purnima (Full Moon). We discussed some famous festivals that have their lunar calendar reference attached - like Ganesha Chaturthi, Krishna Janmashtami, Rama Navami, Vijaya Dashami, Vaikunta Ekadashi. Looking at other aspects of the calendar, the days of the week are named after the ruling planets - RavivAsaraH, somavAsaraH, Bhauma/mangalavAsaraH, budhavAsaraH, guruvAsaraH, shukravAsaraH, shanivAsaraH. The months are named after the star in which the Purnima falls - Chitra, Vaisaka, jyeshta, Asada, Sravana, Bhadra, Ashvina, Karthika, Agahana, Pausa, Magha, Phalguna. There are six seasons in India - Sisira (pre-spring), Vasantha(Spring), Grishma (Summer), Varsha(Monsoon), Sharad (Autumn), Hemantha (Winter).
Mahabharata: Disregarding Bhishma's advice to make peace with the Pandavas, Duryodhana continued the war. Days 5 through 9 of the war saw much bloodshed, with the armies exchanging victory and defeat evenly. There were many spectacular battles - between Satyaki and Drona, Shikhandi and Ashwattama, Drona and Virata, Duryodhana and Dhrishtadyumna. Abhimanyu, Iravan and Ghatotkacha left no doubt that they were as valorous as their fathers. As proud as he was of his sons' valor, Arjuna soon faced the tragedy of losing Iravan on day 8 of the battle. While Arjuna bereaved at the death of his son Iravan, he was reminded by Vidura's words that both sides would experience terrible grief. At that moment he understood why Yudhisthira was fine with just 5 villages, a graceful tactic to avoid such unbearable loss of kith and kin. Ghatotkacha, angered that Iravan had fallen, ferociously attacked the Kauravas, targeting Duryodhana. A javelin meant to grievously wound Duryodhana was intercepted, killing an elephant. Fearing for Duryodhana's safety, Drona sent warriors to his side, while Yudhisthira sent Bheema to help his son. Tortured by the fact that the Pandava army was still holding its own in spite of being smaller in size, Duryodhana, on Karna's advice, even went so far as to request Bhishma to retire so Karna could aggressively take the war to the Pandava camp. Bhishma swore to cause maximum damage to the Pandava army the very next day. As a result, the Pandava army was severely damaged on day nine. At a loss as to the tactics that would defeat Bhishma, Yudhishtra and Arjuna, at Krishna's behest, went to Bhishma and enjoined him to let them know how he could be defeated in war. Bhishma gently reminded them he would not fight a woman in war. Realizing that Shikhandi (Amba) was born a woman and turned a man due to boon, Arjuna decided to put Shikhandi in front and fight Bhishma on Day 10, rueing the fate that put him in a position to kill his dearest grandfather.
It was a phenomenal battle, but with Shikhandi facing him, Bhishma did not directly attack Shikhandi. Arjuna was able to thwart his defences, and break his weapons. Bhishma mentally prepared to leave the world. Having chosen his time of death, Arjuna's arrows were but an apparent cause of Bhishma's fall. Pierced all through his body by arrows, the great Grandsire, the very foundation of the Kuru dynasty, fell on the sacred ground of Kurukshetra. He calmly requested a pillow for his head and Arjuna fittingly gave him the support of his arrows. To quench his thirst, Arjuna shot an arrow in the ground and Mother Ganga sprang through in an instant for her beloved son. Both armies were shocked and stunned at the fall of Bhishma. Karna visited Bhishma later at night, and paid his respects. Bhishma spoke well of him and mentioned that he knew well that Karna was Kunti's son and that he should fight with the Pandavas. Karna said that he could not desert Duryodhana and he would fight for him.
Sanjaya hastened to Hastinapura to narrate the events of the war and the fall of Bhishma to Dhritarashtra.
Gita Chanting:
Today we learned, verses 47 and 48 from Chapter 2.
Our next class is on November 21st.
Please feel free to reach out in case you have any questions.
Hari OM
Abhirami Shrinivas and Vidhya Aiyer
Hari OM
Abhirami Shrinivas and Vidhya Aiyer
Grade 6 Sunday AM