Hari Om!
Dear parents,
Below is a summary of the class (5/13/22) .
5/13/22 Class Update
We started the class with the opening prayers and a short discussion about what the children would like to do on the final day of Bala Vihar this year, June 3rd to make it special.
ShlokaTo continue with the Gurudev Jayanthi celebrations this month, we started with Gurustotram and did a run through of the shlokas (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 .
1. Uttara Kumara and Arjuna preparing to fight the Kauravas
Arjuna asked Uttara Kumara to ride the chariot, changed the lion's banner to his ape's banner and ascended the chariot to fight. He twanged his Gandiva and blew his conch, the unique sounds of which made his acharyas on the other side thrilled.
2. Altercation between Ashwattama and Radheya
Dronacharya and Kripacharya warned Duryodana that Arjuna was back in full vigor to be avenged and that the Kauravas will not be able to withstand the onslaught. And advised Duryodhana to act wise and return to Hastinapur and give back Indraprastha to the Pandavas. Duryodhana was disappointed and told that it was not right for the acharyas to bring down the morale of the army and as planned he wanted to bring the Pandavas out in the open before the end of the thirteenth year. Radheya also taunted the acharyas by saying they were cowards. Ashwattaama got angry at this and pointed out that the Kauravas had got the power through deceit and unfair means. Bheeshma intervened, and pacified both sides . All reconciled, realizing that the need of the moment was to fight Arjuna as one unit and to save the King, Duryodhana.
3. Vajravyuha & Sammohana astra
Bheeshma guided the army to split in groups and form the Vajravyuha. He asked Duryodhana to go back to Hastinapura with the cattle captured. Arjuna shot arrows next to his acharyas to greet them and seek their blessings. Then started a fierce fight between Karna and him. In the end Arjuna singled out Karna. Arjuna defeated everyone and chased Duryodhana and dared him to come back and fight as expected of a true kshatriya. And he was also defeated. Kaurava released all the cattle and gave the cowherds the message of victory. Then Arjuna used the Sammohana astra and made everyone go into a trance. He remembered princess Uttarra's request and asked Uttara Kumar to bring the upper garments of the Kauravas, symbolic of Kauravas being stripped of their honor. The Kauravas got their consciousness back and realized they were totally defeated and had to go back to Hastinapura.
4. Yudhishtira's blood
When the news of victory reached King Virata, the King got very excited and invited Yudhistira to play a game of dice. He also started praising his son profusely. Yudhistira intervened and started praising Brihannala. The King got angry and threw the dice at Yudhistira. When it started to bleed and was about to fall on the ground, Sairanadhri rushed with a golden bowl to catch it. When the King asked, Sairandhri explained that the blood of a great soul like Kanka if fell on the ground would result in famine for years. And she had just saved the King from that.
5. Pandavas identity revealed
Utttara Kumara entered the court and Arjuna was asked to enter a little later. Uttara Kumara was received with great honor and Brihannala was also rewarded with silk garments and jewelry. Uttaram Kumara told the King that a noble person had helped him win and he had disappeared after the war. The King said that he was ready to give his daughter's hand in marriage to him. Yudhistira was not facing Arjuna directly as he did not want Arjuna to see the blood. Arjuna prodded and found out the whole story and got so angry and was ready to kill the King. Yudhistira convinced them that the King would have acted like that without knowing their true identity. They decided to give them a chance. The next day Yudhistira and the Pandavas wore royal clothes and Yudhistira sat on the throne. The King was shocked but when the Pandavas revealed their identity he asked for their forgiveness. Uttara aKumara was delighted and relieved and he told his father that the nobleman who helped him win the battle was none other than Arjuna. He also suggested that as promised he should get Princess Uttara married to him to which the King immediately agreed. Arjuna told that he was the princess's guru and she was like a daughter to him and that he could not marry; he would happily get his son Abhimanyu married to her. The Pandavas also thanked the King for treating them all well even without knowing their true identity.
Saints
Today we had a Saint's Presentation by one of the students, Akhil.
He presented the Life History of Shree Vallabhacharya. He also did a small Quiz game on the topic through Blooket.
Congratulations to all the children who participated in the monthly program last week and did a wonderful job with the skit and recitation.
Hari Om,
Shanthi and Rashmi