Jun 3, 2022 - Grade 5 (Friday)

Hari Om! Parents 

Week 26, the last Bala Vihar class for this year, started with children writing 11 times likhita japa, 'Om Gam Ganapataye Namah'. Your child will greatly benefit if they make a habit of doing japa daily.

Shlokas

Om chanting, Sahana vavatu (pg 8, My Prayers Book), all the verses of Sri Ganesha Stavah (pg 28, My Prayers book) and the Sri Ganesha Pancharatnam (pg 30, My Prayers book). The MP3 audios were shared with you in the Parents WhatsApp Group. Your child can practice correct pronunciation of the shlokas over summer break. 

Bhagavad Gita

We have learnt part two of the Gita Chapter 2 this year from our Swamiji. Grade 5 was  assigned verses 39-63 (Bala Vihar Handbook).  They will learn Chapter 3 next year. Your child can use this YouTube Gita Playlist to practice pronunciation of the Gita correctly over summer break. 

Mahabharata

We have stopped the story till the end of the Virata Parva, it is this year's syllabus. The children will continue the second half of the Mahabharata story in grade 6.

India, the Sacred Land

Today, Saarangan shared the story of Sage Valmiki, the author of Ramayana. Aadya presented the story of Saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who was famous for the Bhakti movement. Haran shared the story of Saint Ramanandacharya. The class played Blookets made by Chinmay and Haran.  We discussed the values that we could learn from these great saints. 

Here is the link for all the class saint presentations for this year

Next we watched the first half of the movie "On A Quest". It is  the biopic on the life of Pujya Gurudev, Swami Chinmayananda. The DVD is available at our Ashram bookstore if your child is interested in watching His inspirational story. 

Class ended with aarti, chanting of the shanti mantra and pledge recitation. 

We would like to thank you all for your support this year. May Gurudev's Grace and our Swamiji's Blessings be with your children as they start their next Middle School years!

Have a safe summer break,

-  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.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Rg07C-KJ3Lml7Qmt3ZdLc_cADv8VZb8X?usp=sharing

May 20 , 2022 - Grade 5 (Friday)

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.

May 20 , 2022 - Grade 5 (Friday)

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.

Shloka
To 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

Apr 29, 2022 - Grade 5 (Friday)

Hari Om! Parents 

Week 23 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.

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 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

After a quick recap, our Mahabharata story continued with Virata Parva. Susarma, king of Trigartas, steals Viratas cows. The helpless cowherds rush to tell the king and king Virata readies his mighty army to fight the Trigartas. Yudhistira, Bhimasena, Nakula and Sahadeva offer to fight for the king and he agrees. Faced with the mighty Trigartas army, they fight ferociously. When king Virata is captured by Susarma, they rush to his aid and rescue him. Then Bhimasena captures Susarma, but Yudhistira pardons him and he goes away humiliated. King Virata is very pleased with the Pandavas and thanks them for their help. They camp at the battlefield for the night.

The following day the Kaurava army attacked Matsya kingdom from the north and stole the cattle. The cowherds rushed to the palace and found only king Virata's young son, Uttara Kumara. The prince has no experience in the battlefield, but does not want to show his cowardice. He says that since his charioteer is dead, he cannot go to battle the Kaurava army. Draupadi hears this, tells Arjuna about it and they both decide to convince princess Uttara to suggest Arjuna as the charioteer. Draupadi tells Uttara that Brihannala was Arjuna's charioteer in many wars. The princess tells her brother that he could take Brihannala as his charioteer and the prince reluctantly agrees. Arjuna is summoned and the prince dresses him in armour for battle. Arjuna promises to bring silks of the defeated Kauravas as a gift to princess Uttara. Prince Uttara Kumara sets off to battle the Kauravas and Arjuna as Brihannala drives his chariot.

 Soon they reach the edge of the battlefield and Arjuna shows prince Uttara Kumara all the fierce warriors leading the Kaurava army. Frightened at the sight of this mighty army, the prince begs Brihannala to turn back and return to the palace. When Arjuna tries to convince Uttara Kumara to do his kshatriya duty and fight, the prince jumps from the chariot and runs away. Arjuna immediately pursues and catches him. Putting him into the chariot, Brihannala commands the prince to drive the chariot to the Sami tree that had the Pandavas' weapons. Upon reaching the tree, Brihannala asks the prince to bring down the corpse hanging from it. Uttara Kumara does not want to touch a corpse, but Brihannala explains that all the mighty weapons of the Pandavas were hidden in it. The prince brings the corpse down and is amazed at the sight of Pandavas' weapons. Next Brihannala reveals himself as Arjuna to the surprise of Uttara Kumara. As proof Arjuna tells the prince his ten names and how he got them. The prince, convinced that Brihannala is none other than the great Arjuna, falls at his feet. He apologises for any ways he may have offended the Pandavas and asks Arjuna to protect his father's kingdom from the Kauravas. Arjuna raises Uttara Kumara's confidence and asks him to drive the chariot back to the battlefield so he may defeat the Kauravas. Arjuna takes up his mighty Gandiva bow and prepares to battle the Kaurava army. We paused the story here.

India, the Sacred Land

Since Ashrith was absent for his presentation , we discussed some values that we could learn from some of the  great saints. Going forward all the children will get a chance to share saint stories.The children will keep a journal about how they used saint's values in their everyday life, and share it in class.

Class ended early and we attended assembly to watch the BV Grade program. 

Reminder - May 6th is Guru Paduka Puja in-person at the Ashram. We hope to see all the children there. We will also perform our Grade 5 presentation on the stage!

-  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.

ReplyForward

Apr 22, 2022 - Grade 5 (Friday)

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).

Shloka
We 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.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/1hYoYzSYfX3OCGZphWxbvb4JC_2m4ugWzGH6tl9FjmfM/edit?usp=drivesdk

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

Apr 8, 2022 - Grade 5 (Friday)

Hari Om! Parents 

Week 21 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.

Reminder: to submit Rama Nama likhita japa tomorrow at the Ashram for Rama Navami celebration.

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 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

After a recap, our Mahabharata story continued with Virata Parva. During Pandavas' exile, Indra had sent sage Lomasa to Yudhistira with a message. Radheya was a threat to Arjuna's life, since he was the most powerful warrior. Yudhistira feared that Radheya would kill Arjun in the war. Indra assured Yudhistira that he would take care of the problem. Radheya had taken a vow that during the midday prayers to Surya, his "ishtadeva", he will grant any wish to anyone who asks. One night, Surya deva disguised as a brahmana appears in Radheya's dream. He tells Ragheya that Indra would take advantage of the vow and ask for his kundalas and kavacha. The brahmana asks him not to give them away. He warns Radheya that his life will be shortened, he will be defeated and killed in war.  In his dream, Radheya is touched by the brahmana's concern and Surya deva reveals himself. Radheya is overjoyed and seeks his ishtadeva's blessing. Radheya tells Suya deva that his vow is his fame, he will not move away from his path of duty and giving away something dear gave him great happiness. Surya deva blesses him and tells him to ask for Indra's "Sakti" weapon in return for the kundalas and kavacha.

The next day as Radheya finished his puja, a brahmana appears. Radheya recieves him with respect and asks him what he wanted. The brahmana says he wants Radheya's kundalas and kavacha. Radheya explains that he cannot remove them from his body and can give the brahmana his entire kingdom instead. The brahmana insists and Radheya explains that he needed them for protection in the war. Radheya had promised his friend, Duryodhana,  victory in the war and for that he needed his special kundalas and kavacha. The brahmana says that if Radheya is righteous he must give him what he asks. Radheya tells the brahmana that he knows that he is actually Indra - the greatest of givers. Indra deva was synonymous with giving, as was Radheya. Radheya says he has to abide by his vow. He cuts off both his kundalas, kavacha and lays them at Indra's feet. He proclaims that if Fate was on his side, he would defeat Arjuna without these protections. He would however never move away from his duty. Radheya says, "It is an honor to give to the great Indra himself and I am proud to give my life to you.". The heavens showered flowers on Radheya as a blessing. Indra, pleased with his sacrifice, names him "Karna" and "Vaikartana". He grants a boon and Radheya asks for the "Sakti" weapon. Indra gives him the weapon and warns that it can be used only once and after it is used it will return back to Indra. Karna needed to use this weapon only once to kill Arjuna. We discussed how with this deed, Karna has become famous for giving, and he even surpassed Yudhistira in following Dharma! We paused the story here to discuss our upcoming class program. Practices will start on Saturday, April 9th for those children who have signed up.

India, the Sacred Land

Arnav and Varun presented the story of Vardhamana Mahavira, the 24th Jain tirthankara. He spread Jainism all over India. This presentation was very appropriate since Mahavira Jayanthi is on April 14, 2022. We discussed some values that we could learn from this great saint. Going forward all the children will get a chance to share saint stories.The children will keep a journal about how they used saint's values in their everyday life, and share it in class.

Class ended with aarti, chanting shanti mantra and pledge recitation. Please do remind your child to stay back and participate.

-  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.

Apr 1, 2022 - Grade 5 (Friday)

Hari Om!

Dear parents,

Below is a summary of the class (4/1/22) .

4/1/22 Class Update

We started the class with the opening prayers and likhita japa (Om Gam Ganapathaaye Namah).

Shloka
We did a run through of the shlokas (Sahanavavatu, Ganesha Stavaha, Ganesh Pancharatnam, Gita shloka, poornamada) or our monthly program, children reciting as per their assignment. for the upcoming monthly program.  

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 started with Virata parva, covering the episodes below .

Virata Parva

1. Year 13 of exile

The Pandavas had to spend the thirteenth year of exile in disguise. If they were identified, they had to spend another thirteen years in exile. The Pandavas chose the Matsya Kingdom as their residence for that year. The King of Matsya , Virata was a matured and noble man and hence they had the confidence that they would have a comfortable and safe stay there.

2. The Move

Pandavas carefully placed their weapons in the dense sami tree, invoked the devas and entrusted the weapons in their guard until they returned. Yudhistira also prayed to them that they should not give it unless Arjuna or he came and asked for it. He did not want Bheema to take any action in haste or anger and hence put in that precautionary check. After that, they all travelled to the city of Virata.

3. The roles

Yudhishitirra decided to pose as Kanka, a renunciate and an advisor cum aide of Yudhisthira. Arjuna made use of Urvashi's curse and went in as a transgender teacher of music and dance, by the name Brihannala. Bheema was a wrestler, Valala, who managed the King's gymnasium and also cooked as  a hobby. Nakula posed as Damagranthi and took care of the King's stable with his unique talent to control the horses. Sahadeva impressed the King saying that under his care, the cows would always be healthy and produce more milk, and thus also became in charge of the cattle. Draupati posed to be Sairandhri, the real Draupati's maid. She found a job as the Queen Sudhesna's maid for the next year during which her Gaandharva husbands were cursed to be away from her.

4. Life in Virata

Life in Virata was very happy for the Pandavas. The King treated them all very well. One day, a wrestler from another Kingdom visited and challenged if any wrestler from the Matsya KIngdom could defeat him.  Bheema hesitated since he was worried his techniques could be identified. But when Yudhistira himself suggested that Valala had proved his skills in Yudhistira's Kingdom and could defeat the visitor, Bheema happily did so in no time, with ease and made the King even happier.

Saints

Today we had a Saint's Presentation by one of the students, Anaagha.

She presented the Life story of Shri Ramanujacharya with interesting  illustrations from a book.

She also conducted a little fun Blooket game for the  class with a Quiz based on her presentation. Very well done are eager to watch the presentations by all the kids. If you have not signed up your children, please do. We encourage all the kids to do it .

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/1hYoYzSYfX3OCGZphWxbvb4JC_2m4ugWzGH6tl9FjmfM/edit?usp=drivesdk

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 would get to perform on stage live.

Hari Om,

Shanthi and Rashmi

Mar 25, 2022 - Grade 5 (Friday)

Hari Om! Parents 

Week 19 Bala Vihar class started with children writing 11 times likhita japa, 'Om Gam Ganapataye Namah'. 

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 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).  We have now covered all of Verse 39 - 63 (pg 22&23, Bala Vihar Handbook). Your child must use this YouTube Gita Playlist to practice pronunciation of the Gita correctly. The children are taking turns to review the Gita chanting in every class and we are sending recordings to the Gita coordinator for feedback.

Reminder: CNJ Gita Chanting Regionals will be held on April 2, 2022. The time slots for registered children will be emailed next week.

Mahabharata

After a quick recap, the Mahabharata story continued with Vana Parva. The Kauravas return to Hastinapura, Duryodhana decides to perform the Rajasuya and Radheya volunteers to gather the support of the neighboring kings. All preparations for the Rajasuya are made and an invitation is sent to Yudhistira to attend. However, Yudhistira rejects it saying the Pandavas could not enter Hastinapura as they were in exile. After the Rajasuya, Radheya once again proclaims he supports Duryodhana and takes an oath to kill Arjuna in the war. Duryodhana is very happy, but when the news reaches Yudhistira, he is very worried for Arjuna's life.

Meanwhile in Dwaitavana, the Pandavas are visited by sage Markhandeya and the satsang with him gives Yudhistira some peace of mind. One day, when the Pandavas are out hunting, king of Salva, Jayadrata passes by their ashram. He sees the beautiful Draupadi alone and kidnaps her. Sage Dhaumya is helpless against Jayadrata's soldiers, but informs the Pandavas of the incident when they return. Enraged to hear this, Bhimasena and Arjuna pursue Jayadrata and defeat him in battle. After freeing Draupadi, Bhimasena catches and shaves off half of Jayadrata's hair. Yudhistira says that he will pardon Jayadrata since he is the husband of their cousin sister, Dussala, and releases the king. Humiliated and seeking revenge, Jayadrata performs severe tapas to Lord Shiva. When the Lord appears he asks a boon to kill all the Pandavas in war. Lord Shiva tells him that is not possible since the Pandavas are under the protection of Lord Krishna, who is Bhagawan Vishnu Himself. Lord Shiva says that Jayadrata can kill the Pandavas only when Lord Krishna is not with them. 

The Pandavas are in their twelfth year of exile, when a brahmin comes looking for help. A deer has stolen his 'arani' sticks, which he used for his daily yagna ritual. The Pandavas promise to find the deer and retrieve the arani. The deer eludes them deep in the forest, soon they are exhausted from the heat and get very thirsty. Yudhistira asks Nakula to find water for them. Nakula finds a lake, tries to gather water, when a voice warns him not to do so. It says only the person who answers questions on dharma will be allowed to drink from the lake. Ignoring the voice, Nakula drinks the water and immediately falls down dead. After a while Sahadeva is sent, but does not return. Arjuna goes missing, then Bhimasena also does not return. Yudhistira goes looking for his brothers, comes to the lake and sees all his brothers are dead. Heartbroken, Yudhistira calls out to whoever killed his brothers to show themselves. A terrible yaksha appears, tells Yudhistira that his brothers did not obey him and so met this fate. The yaksha says that if Yudhistira answers his questions, then he can drink from the lake. Yudhistira accepts and gives answers with great humility. The children took turns 'being Yudhistira' and tried to answer a few of the "yaksha prashna" (yaksha's questions). The class came up with several interesting answers! 

Pleased with Yudhistira's answers, the yaksha asks him to pick one brother to be brought back to life. Yudhistira chose Nakula, saying since he himself was mother Kunti's son then it is fair that even mother Madri's son also lives. The yaksha brings back all the Pandavas to life and shows his true form, that of Yama Dharmaraja. The Pandavas receive a blessing from lord Yama that no one will recognise them during their incognito year. Yudhistira is granted a boon to always win against lust, anger, avarice, possessiveness, arrogance and envy from his father, Yama Dharmaraja. 

This brings us to the end of Vana Parva and we will begin Virata Parva next time.

India, the Sacred Land

Arjun shared an informative presentation on Sant Jnaneshwar, a poet saint from Maharashtra.The children discussed values that we could learn from this saint. Going forward all the children will get a chance to share saint stories.The children will keep a journal about how they used saint's values in their everyday life, and share it in class.

Class ended early since we joined assembly to watch the Grade 2 and Amruta Vihar 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.