We started the class with the morning prayers. We then did a recap of the last section "Law of Consequence" and started the next chapter "Our Scriptures, Our Guide and the Vision".
So far we learned that Prakriti is nature and Vikriti is the aberrations that get introduced if we do not correct ourselves with Sanskriti. One of the ways Sanskriti is carried forward from one generation to the next is through our Scriptures. Vedas are the primary scriptures for the Hindu Culture. Who then is the author of Hindu Culture? Swami Chinmayananda was asked this question and in his inimitable style he retorted "Who is the author of Physics?". Hinduism has carried forward through multiple generations and many saints contributed to this. 'The Vedas' has many unnamed authors who have been able to interpret what they "heard" from their contemplations.
'The Vedas' comes from the root word 'Vid' - to know. It is also called Shruti. 'Shruti' comes from the word 'Sru' - to hear. According to Swami Chinmayanand "Veda is not the opinion of any one individual. It is not Buddhism, Christianity, or Mohammedanism - it is the science of living!"
Vedas were classified into 4 parts by Sage Ved Vyasa - Krishna Dwaipanya. These are Rg, Yajur, Atharva and Sama Veda.
Smriti is another set of scriptures that is based on the memory of some great sages. 'Smriti' is based on "Smr' - to remember. They are also called Dharma Shastras - books that describe moral and ethical conduct. There are 18 smritis - Manu Smriti is one of the most popular ones.
Ithihasa is loosely translated as history. 'Itihasa' means 'thus it was'. Two great and well known itihasas are The Ramayana and The Mahabharata. The Ramayana has 24000 verses and The Mahabharata has 100000 verses. Each verse is a couplet. The Mahabharata is about 10 times the Iliad and the Odyssey combined.
We quickly covered some bits of Purana.
We did our regular Bhagwad Geeta shlokas.We did a recap of all that we covered in the class. A short discussion about some topics.
The class is working on a skit for presenting to the chinmaya BalVihar students and parents on December 19, 2021. We stopped the class here and gave the rest of the time to the class to prepare for the play.
Regards,