Hari Om!
Dear parents,
Below is a summary of the class (4/22/22) .
4/22/22 Class Update
We started the class with the opening prayers and likhita japa (Om Gam Ganapathaaye Namah).
ShlokaWe did a run through of the shlokas (Sahanavavatu, Ganesha Stavaha, Ganesh Pancharatnam) and the Gita shlokas assigned for this year..
Bhagavat Gita
Please note that we have completed learning the allotted number of slokas for this year from part two of the Gita Chapter 2 this, from our Swamiji. For Grade 5 (Partha group) assigned verses are 39-63 (Pg 22, Bala Vihar Handbook) .
Your child must use this YouTube Gita Playlist to practice pronunciation of the Gita correctly.
Mahabharata
We continued with Virata parva, covering the episodes below .
Virata Parva
1. Introduction of Keechaka
Keechaka, brother of the Queen Sudeshna' s brother, arrived after 10 months of his conquests and winning battles. He was baffled by the beauty of Draupati and wanted to win her love at any cost. He approached her at the garden and proposed to marry her. Draupati denied and warned him that she is the wife of five extremely powerful Gandharvas and they were capable of destroying him in not time if they found out. But Keechaka convinced his sister to send Draupati to his room.
2. Draupati complained to the King
Sudheshna sent Draupati to Keechaka's room with the excuse of getting wine. Draupati knew the plan, tried in vain to stop Keechaka's advances. When she could not, she ran from the place but Keechaaaka pulled her to the ground and hurt her physically. Draupati went directly to the King But nobody paid any heed since Keechaka was too powerful and the Nation'ss pride and security was upheld by him as the commander. Yudhistira also indicated to Bheema and her to be patient.
3. Bheema's plan
Not able to bear the embarrassment , Draupati went and complained to Bheema with the hope that he would oblige. Bheema tried to pacify her and asked her to be patient for another fortnight however, when he saw her tears, he told he would kill Keechaka the next night .
4. Keechaka's end
Draupati pretended to accept his love and told Keechaka that they could meet secretly in the night in the dancer's hall. As planned by Draupati and Bheema, Bheema waited in the hall and when Keechaka came eagerly to meet Draupati, Bheema attacked him like a tiger and killed the very strong Keechaka in no time because he was weakened by love and agony and sleeplessness.
5. Upakeechaka's also killed
When Keechaka's step brothers knew about their brother being killed by the Gandharvas, they were horrified. Realizing that it was all because of Draupati they decided that it was only fair that she should also alight Keechaaka's pyre to satisfy his desire. They tied her up to a tree. Bheema picked up Draupaati's signal and saved her from the Upakeechaka's by killing all of them.
6. News reached the Kauravas
Kauravas had been sending spies all over to know the whereabouts of Pandavas. Some believed they were dead but the acharyas believed they were very much alive since they were blessed to live long! The death of Keechaka who was one of the four most powerful men in the world aroused some doubts and they planned to investigate and attack the Virata King with the help of the Trigartas.
Saints
Today we had a Saint's Presentation by one of the students, Aarush.
He presented the Life History of Shree Madhwacharya.
Brahmachaarini Akalkaji's Visit
Brahmacharini Akalka ji joined our class today for some time. She listened to the kids chanting Gita, interacted with them about the meaning of some of their names and also told them an interesting Hanuman story which the children enjoyed a lot.
Information on the Monthly Program
Grade 5 monthly program is on May 6th. We are blessed that it coincides with the special Balavihar event for Guru paduka pooja. It would be an in-person session at the ashram that day and the children who signed up would be performing on stage..
Hari Om,
Shanthi and Rashmi