Hari Om! Parents
Week 25 Bala Vihar class started with children writing 11 times likhita japa, 'Om Gam Ganapataye Namah'. Please do submit your child's likhita japa to BV Houses, the link is shared in the Parents WA Group. We had a sevika from the CA kendra Chinmaya Mission come to observe our class today.
Shlokas
Om chanting, Sahana vavatu (pg 8, My Prayers Book). We chanted the entire Guru Stotram next (Bala Vihar Handbook). 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 WhatsApp 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). Gita Chanting Yagna is done, however, we will continue to chant Verse 39 - 63 every class.(pg 22&23, Bala Vihar Handbook). Your child must use this YouTube Gita Playlist to practice pronunciation of the Gita correctly.
Mahabharata
We started with a review of all the characters from the Mahabharata story using the Kuru dynasty family tree. Next the children took turns to narrate some important prasangas of Adi Parva, Sabha Parva, Vana Parva and Virata Parva. We watched a short video on the birth of Arjuna's son, Abhimanyu. He was initiated in the use of weapons and warfare by his father, even when he was in his mother's womb. He grows up to be a great warrior. Here is the YouTube link for those children who were absent.
King Virata gives his daughter, Uttara, in marriage to Abhimanyu. Yudhistira invites all his well wishers to the grand wedding, which was to be held in the city of Upaplavya. The Vrishnis are first to arrive, and the Pandavas receive Lord Krishna and Balarama with joy. The Lord promises them that their days of suffering will soon be over. He reminds them of His oath taken in the Kamyaka forest during their exile. Lord Krishna had sworn to avenge all the unfair treatment of the Pandavas. He tells Draupadi that the Kauravas will soon get what they deserve. King Drupada, Drishtadyumna, Shikandi and Draupadi's five sons arrive. After the wedding the couple seek everyone's blessings. Finally after many years of sorrow, the Pandavas get to be happy. All the kings supporting the Pandavas bring their armies with them. Along with their supporters, the Pandavas start to plan and strategize for the great war with the Kauravas.
This brings us to the end of the Virata Parva, and of this year's syllabus. The children will continue the second half of the Mahabharata story in grade 6.
India, the Sacred Land
Shree presented a story on Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. Chinmay did a detailed presentation on Pujya Gurudev and even prepared a Blooket quiz. Chinmay said that the transformation of Balakrishna Menon from a non-believer to a sanyasi was the most interesting thing about the story of Pujya Gurudev. We discussed the values that we could learn from these great saints.
Class ended with aarti, chanting of the shanti mantra and pledge recitation.
- 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.