Hari Om! Parents
Reminder: Shlokathon registration closes on March 4, 2022. CNJ Gita Chanting Regionals registration is now open, it will be held on April 2, 2022. Please register your child for both events.
Week 16 Bala Vihar class started with children writing 11 times likhita japa, 'Om Gam Ganapataye Namah'. Please submit your child's Likhita Japa for Bala Vihar House Points.
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) and the Sri Ganesha Pancharatnam (pg 30, My Prayers book). Both these MP3 audios were shared with you in the Parents WhatApp Group. Please use it so your child can practice correct pronunciation of the shlokas.
Bhagavad Gita
We are learning part two of the Gita Chapter 2 this year from our Swamiji. Grade 5 is the Partha Group and the assigned verses are 39-63 (Bala Vihar Handbook). We have now covered all of Verse 39 - 63 (pg 22&23, Bala Vihar Handbook). The children are taking turns to review the Gita chanting in every class. Your child must use this YouTube Gita Playlist to practice pronunciation of the Gita correctly.
Mahabharata
After a quick recap of prasangas, we continued with the Vana Parva. Lord Krishna was in Salva dealing with Sauba, who had been harassing the people of Dwaraka. When he returns, he learns about the Pandavas' misfortune and immediately goes to Kamyaka forest to meet them. Many leaders of the Vrishnis and Drishtadyumna accompany him. When Draupadi sees the Lord she tells him about the terrible deeds of the Kauravas and the humiliation she had to suffer. Lord Krishna is very angry and takes an oath. He vows to destroy the Kauravas and promises Draupadi that she will be avenged. Lord Krishna tells Yudhistira to leave the forest, take the Vrishni army and fight the Kauravas for the injustice committed. Yudhistira refuses, says he has to keep his word and cannot break it.
After Lord Krishna leaves, Arjuna suggests moving to the calm Dwaitavana for the rest of their exile. One day they are visited by a young rishi, Markhandeya, who is a great devotee of Lord Shiva. The rishi tells Yudhistira the story of Lord Rama and talks about the similarities between them. The rishi says just like Lord Rama, Yudhistira will get back his kingdom and Yudhistira receives his blessings. Yudhistira enjoys the saintly life in the peaceful Dwaitavana and talks with the rishis. The others, especially Bhimasena and Draupadi are miserable. Yudhistira's inaction was making them angry. Yudhistira consoles them, tells them that the time is not right to act out of anger and asks them to be patient. We discussed how anger blinds us, blurs wisdom and often makes us do wrong things. No one could make Yudhistira swerve from the path of Dharma!
During their sixth year of exile, Vyasa visits them. He talks to the Pandavas about all the powerful people supporting Duryodhana. Vyasa reminds Arjuna about Indra's boon. He asks Arjuna to go north and perform penance to win Lord Shankara's Pasupata astra. Arjuna leaves on his journey and all of the Pandavas' hopes are on Arjuna. Then Vyasa asks the Pandavas to return to Kamyaka and prepare for war.
Activity
Today was the Jchyk teaching seva by the 10 th graders, Maitreyi and Samhita. They narrated the story of Arjuna meeting Lord Shiva and getting the Pasupata weapon. Arjuna is in the Himalayas performing severe penance to please Lord Shiva. One day Lord Shankara decides to test Arjuna disguised as a hunter. When Arjuna is attacked by a wild boar, he shoots an arrow and kills it. However, the hunter claims that the arrow is his. As they battle each other Arjuna soon realises that the hunter is actually Lord Shiva. He asks for forgiveness, receives blessings and is given the Pasupata. Indra also appears soon after and gives Arjuna his divine weapons.
The class had a lively discussion on which character each student liked or did not like in Mahabharata. The children also spoke about how they would change the story if they were Veda Vyasa.
India, the Sacred Land
Going forward we are asking the students to share stories of saints with their classmates. They can narrate, dress up, make a slide or find creative ways to share interesting stories of saints they know.
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 early, and we left to watch the Grade 7 class program.
- 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.