Hari Om!
It was a special class on a day celebrating Children! Our class schedule was as such:
Opening Prayers:
We start with Om chanting to quieten our minds, followed by the slokas Vakratunda mahākāya, Saraswati Namastubhyam, Buddhir Balam and Saha na vavatu, and concluded with Om Sri Ganeśāya namah, Om Saraswatyai namah and Om Sat Gurubhyo namah.
Gita Chanting:
Allocated Verses from Chapter 2 were chanted with Swamiji guiding us on the video.
Rāmāyanam:
Today we began Ayodhya Kanda of Ramayana after completing a short quiz on Bala Kanda of Ramayana.
Ayodhya Kanda :
Pleased with the qualities of his dearest son Rama, Dasharatha decides to coronate him the Yuvaraja. He is so happy that he decides that to complete the coronation the very next day. Arrangements are made and the entire city and people are rejoicing at the news of Rama becoming the Yuvaraja. Bharata and Shatrugna are away in Kekaya visiting Kaikeyi's father. In the meantime, Manthara, the maid who had helped raise Kaikeyi and had come with her to Ayodhya could not tolerate the news of Rama's coronation and poisoned Kaikeyi's mind. She reminded Kaikeyi that Dasharatha had given her two boons a long time ago and it was time to use them. Kaikeyi enters her Krodha griha and lays on the floor in a state of sorrow. When Dashartha comes to see her, he is distressed to see her in such a sorrowful state and pleads with her to ask for whatever she wants so she can feel better. Kaikeyi then asks for the fulfillment of her two boons. She asks for Bharata to be crowned King and for Rama to be banished to Dandaka forest for 14 years. Dasharatha is heart broken at the request and begs Kaikeyi but the queen refuses to change her mind. On the morning of the coronation, Dasharatha sends for Rama and when he arrives at Kaekeyi's chambers, he is shocked to see his distraught father and when he asks for what is wrong, Kaikeyi explains the situation and tells him about the boon that she has asked. Rama immediately rejoices at the idea of Bharata being King and taking their blessings decides to leave for the forest the very same day. He proceeds towards his mother Kausalya's chambers.
Discussion:
Our discussion today was on questions asked in previous classes. Discussing the topic 'Is Hinduism a polytheistic religion' was a good way to dispel some of the misinformation propagated by the global community. All deities are forms of that Pure Consciousness or Brahman - One Lord Many Forms.,
The next topic was about the meeting of Rāma and Parasurama, both being Avatars of Vishnu. This brought about a discussion on Purna and Ardha Avatārās, which led us to the topic of Chiranjeevis.
Closing Prayers:
Every week we chose a few students to lead us in the closing prayers and pledge.
Pranām
Prarthana and Nivedita