Hari Om! Parents
Week 9 Bala Vihar class started with children writing 11 times likhita japa, 'Om Gam Ganapataye Namah'. Please remind your child to write the japa daily.
Here is the Google Form to submit your child's likhita japa to earn House points for Arjuna's Arrows. Here is a Sample for the Creative Likhita Japa.
Shlokas
Om chanting, Sahana vavatu (pg 8, My Prayers Book). The children took turns to chant all the verses of Sri Ganesha Stavah (pg 28, My Prayers book).The class has now learnt 1-3 verses of the Sri Ganesha Pancharatnam (pg 30, My Prayers book). Both MP3 audios were shared with you in the Parents WhatApp Group. Children will take turns to lead the shloka every week, so encourage your child to practice these shlokas everyday.
Bhagavad Gita
We are learning part two of the Gita Chapter 2 this year, from our Swamiji. Grade 5 (Partha group) assigned verses are 39-63 (Bala Vihar Handbook).
The children take turns to lead the Gita chanting. Today we covered Verse 39 - 50 (pg 22/23, Bala Vihar Handbook).
Your child must use this YouTube Gita Playlist to practice pronunciation of the Gita correctly. The Gita Chanting Yagna CNJ Regionals is on April 2, 2022.
Mahabharata
After a quick recap, we continued with the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata story. The Pandavas reach Kampilya and live in the house of a potter disguised as brahmins. The entire city is decorated for the upcoming swayamvara of princess Draupadi. People gather at the magnificently decorated wedding hall to watch the swayamvara. In the middle is the 'matsya yantra', a continuously rotating fish that is the target for the archery challenge. King Drupada has placed his Kindhura bow made of a steel string along with five arrows, in the hall. Kings from all across Bharatavarsha have gathered to participate and witness the event. Draupadi, who is dressed in silk clothes, gold ornaments and garland in hand, is led to the hall by Drishtadyumna. He announces that anyone who hits the target with the five arrows and it falls to the ground, they would win the hand of Draupadi in marriage. The kings come up one by one and fail at the challenge. Duryodana misses by the width of a little finger, Salya by a bean seed, Sisupala by a sesame seed, Jarasanda by a mustard seed and finally it is Radheya's turn. The audience thinks he will win the challenge, but surprisingly Radheya misses by the width of a hair. Suddenly, a young brahmin walks up and asks Drishtadyumna if he can also try. Lord Krishna immediately recognises the brahmin to be Arjuna. Drishtadyumna says anyone no matter which caste can take on the challenge. Arjuna easily strings the bow and twangs it loudly. He aims the five arrows and in a flash the 'matsya yantra' is struck to the ground. Flowers shower on Arjuna, the crowd cheers and musical instruments play as Draupadi garlands him. The kings in the hall are very angry at being humiliated and attack the Pandavas. However they are no match to the skilled Pandavas and are soon defeated. Lord Krishna stops the fight and says that since the brahmin had won the challenge fairly he had a right to wed Draupadi.
The Pandavas lead Draupadi to their home, where mother Kunti is unaware of what had happened. They announce that they have brought home something and thinking it is bhiksha she replies, "Share it equally among yourselves." Kunti Devi is surprised to see the beautiful bride, she blesses and welcomes Draupadi. It is decided that Draupadi would marry all five brothers.
Soon Lord Krishna and Balarama who had been following the Pandavas, enter the house and introduce themselves. Lord Krishna says he is very happy to see that the Pandavas are safe, but cautions them to not reveal their true identity to anyone. Both of them pledge their support to the Pandavas. We discussed how this alliance with Lord Krishna was a very important one for the Pandavas. As the Pandavas go about seeking alms and performing their daily routine, they are secretly watched by Drishtadyumna. Worried about the fate of his sister, Drishtadyumna sees that the brahmins behave like kshatriyas and talk of warfare. He notices that Draupadi is happy and has adjusted well to her new life. He immediately rushes back to his father and tells king Drupada about what he saw. They come to the conclusion that Draupadi has married Arjuna and send an invitation to the Pandavas. The king receives them graciously to his palace and is happy to hear that the brahmins are Pandavas in disguise. He wants to have a lavish wedding for Arjuna and Draupadi. Yudhistira tells him that Draupadi will marry all the Pandavas and at first the king does not accept it. Vyaasa then visits the palace and tells king Drupada that this marriage is acceptable. He says that Draupadi has a boon from Lord Shiva to marry five husbands and the sage sanctions it. After a grand wedding, king Drupada gives his kingdom and army to the Pandavas. We discussed how the Pandavas benefitted from this powerful ally along with gaining Lord Krishna's support.
Meanwhile news reaches Hastinapura, and the Kauravas are worried about the reemergence of the Pandavas. Vidura gives king Dhritarashtra the news, and the king pretends to be happy. Angered by the news, Duryodhana decides to attack the Pandavas on the advice of Radheya. The Kaurava army is defeated by the Pandavas and Duryodhana is forced to retreat. Frustrated by this, evil Duryodhana once again plans to get rid of his cousins. He plots to kill Bhimasena or get Draupadi to cause enemity among the Pandava brothers. As Duryodhana begins plotting these devious plans, Radheya immediately stops him. He reminds Duryodhana that as a kshatriya his duty is to fight fairly and not to demean oneself from such crooked thoughts. Now that the Pandavas are alive, a council is called by the elders of Hastinapura to decide what needs to be done. Duryodhana and Radheya decide to put forward a proposal for a war against the Pandavas.
We paused the story here for a break and did body stretching exercises along with Swami Sharanananda ji's videos.
India, the Sacred Land
Mother Teresa was born in Yugoslavia, to a religious family who were charitable and always helping others. She joined the Sisters of Loretto in Ireland at 18 years of age. In 1931 she came to India and became a nun, and named herself Mother Teresa. She was a teacher in Calcutta. She started serving the poor and sick and even started a school for street children. She then got a donated land and started Nirmal Hriday for nursing the sick and homeless. She started Missionaries of Charity as a refuge for the needy. Volunteers from the organisation even today go to many countries worldwide to help the poor. Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and died in 1997. Her message to all of us is - "Be an instrument in the hands of God."/ "The fruit of silence is prayer, Prayer leads to faith, Faith to Love, Love to Service, and Service gives us Peace."/ "Do your small part, like every drop counts in an ocean. Start with a small step to help others." Some important values that we can learn from her life are - Be caring, Be grateful, Be loving, Serve all.
The children were asked to keep a journal about how they used the saint's values in their everyday life. It will be our weekly discussion topic going forward.
Class ended with aarti, shanthi mantra and pledge recitation (pg 29-33, Bala Vihar Handbook). Please remind your child to stay back for aarti and pledge.
- Rashmi Kuroodi and Shanthi Chidambaram
Materials needed for every class: notebook & pen for the likhita japa, My Prayers book for the shlokas, Bala Vihar Handbook for the Gita Chanting, aarti and pledge recitation.