Dec 17, 2021 - Grade 7 (Friday)

Hari Om Dear Parents,

Here is the update from todays' class.

 

Week 11. Dec 17th 2021

We started our class with Likhita Japa  and opening prayers.  We chanted Dhyana slokas led by a youth. As in the last class we used Naama Ramayanam chanting and the meaning of the same to recap  Aranya kandam portion we covered in the last Class.  

We continued with the Ramayana Story.

Ramayana Story – Kishkindha Khanda

After a long walk, Rama and Lakshmana reached the Rishyamukha mountain to meet Sugriva. Sugriva had a brother Vali, the king of Kishkindha. They were once good friends. This changed when they went to fight with a giant. The giant ran into a cave and Vali followed him, asking Sugriva to wait outside. Sugriva waited for a long time and then returned to the palace in grief, thinking that Vali was killed.  He had closed the mouth of the cave with a large rock to prevent the giant from escaping. He then became the king upon the request of the minister. After sometime, Vali suddenly appeared. He was mad with Sugriva and blamed him to be a cheater. Vali was strong. He drove Sugriva out of his kingdom and took away his wife. Ever since, Sugriva had been living in the Rishyamukha mountain, which was out of bounds for Vali because of a Rishi's curse.

 

On seeing Rama and Lakshmana from a distance, and not knowing the purpose of their visit, Sugriva sent his close friend Hanuman to find out their identity. Hanuman, disguised as an ascetic, came to Rama and Lakshmana. The brothers told Hanuman of their intention to meet Sugriva because they wanted his help to find Sita. Hanuman was impressed by their courteous behavior and removed his garb. Then he carried the princes on his shoulder to Sugriva. There Hanuman introduced the brothers and narrated their story. He then told Sugriva of their intention to come to him.

 

In return, Sugriva told his story and sought help from Rama to kill Vali, otherwise, he could not help even if he wanted to. Rama agreed. Hanuman then kindled a fire to bear witness to the alliance made.

 

In due course, Vali was killed and Sugriva became the king of Kishkindha. Vali while dying declared that he could have helped Rama defeat Ravana but Rama stated that he would not seek the help of the unrighteous even for a just cause.  Soon after Sugriva took over the kingdom of Vali, he ordered his army to proceed in the search of Sita.

 

Rama specially called Hanuman and gave his ring saying, "If any one finds Sita, it will be you Hanuman. Keep this ring to prove your identity as my messenger. Give it to Sita when you meet her." Hanuman most respectfully tied up the ring to his waist and joined the search party.

 

We further discussed our monthly program with kids to get some ideas on the subject for the play.  We collected some ideas and plan to consolidate it to initiate the practice starting Jan 2022

 

We concluded the class with Geeta Chanting, Closing Prayers. We dispersed early to watch the Ninth Grade Monthly program / Play.

 

Wishing you all a very happy Holidays and wonderful new year.

 

Our Next class: Jan 7^th 2022.

 

Thanks and Hari Om
Purnima and Shankar

Dec 10, 2021 - Grade 7 (Friday)

Hari Om Dear Parents,

Here is the update from todays' class.

 

Week 10. Dec 10th 2021

We started our class with Likhita Japa  "Om Namah Shivaya" and opening prayers.  We chanted Dhyana slokas led by a youth. As in the last class we used Naama Ramayanam chanting and the meaning of the same  to recap  Aranya kandam portion we covered in the last Class.  

 

Ramayana Story – Aranya Khanda Continued:

 

Rama felt distressed when he saw Lakshmana. "Why did you leave Sita alone? The golden deer was Maricha in disguise. "

 

Lakshman tried to explain the situation when both the brothers suspected foul play and ran towards the cottage. The cottage was empty, as they feared. They searched, and called out her name but all in vain. Finally they were exhausted. Lakshmana tried to console Rama as best as he could. Suddenly they heard a cry. They ran towards the source and found a wounded eagle lying on the ground. It was Jatayu, the king of eagles and a friend of Dasharatha.

 

Jatayu narrated with great pain, "I saw Ravana abducting Sita. I attacked him when Ravana cut my wing and made me helpless. Then he flew towards the south." After saying this, Jatayu died on the lap of Rama. Rama and Lakshmana buried Jatayu and then moved towards the south.

 

On their way, Rama and Lakshmana met a ferocious demon, called Kabandha. Kabandha attacked Rama and Lakshmana. When he was about to devour them, Rama struck Kabandha with a fatal arrow. Before his death, Kabandh disclosed his identity. He had a beautiful form which was changed by a curse to the form of a monster. Kabandha requested Rama and Lakshmana to burn him into ashes and that will bring him back to the old form. He also advised Rama to go to the monkey king Sugriva, who lived in the Rishyamukha mountain, to get help in regaining Sita.

 

On his way to meet Sugriva, Rama visited the hermitage of an old pious woman, Shabari. She was waiting for Rama for a long time before she could give up her body. When Rama and Lakshmana made their appearance, Shabari's dream was fulfilled. She washed their feet, offered them the best nuts and fruits that she collected for years. Then she took Rama's blessings and departed for heaven.

 

We discussed lessons learned from King Dasharatha  Character using the interactive Sticky note template.

We concluded the class with Geeta Chanting, Closing Prayers and Pledge

Next Class : Dec 17th.

Thanks and Hari Om
Purnima and Shankar

Dec 3, 2021 - Grade 7 (Friday)

Hari Om Dear Parents,

Here is an update of : Dec 3th 2021

We started our class with Likhita Japa and Opening Prayers.
Slokas :
Dhyana Slokas : Sri Rama Rama Rameti and Nilambhuja Shyamala Komalangam.
Nama Ramayana : Revised Ayodhyakandam

Ramayana
Lakshmana cut off Soorpanaka's ears and nose. With bloodies ears and nose, Soorpanaka ran to Khara and Dooshana stationed in Jaanasthana. Khara and Dooshana sent 14 rakshashas. After hearing from Soorpanaka that Rama single-handedly killed them, Khara and Dooshana leave with an army of 14000 rakshashas.
Rama sent Lakshmana to take of Sita in a cave. Devas witnessed this war and were cherised to see that Rama again killed them all. Akampana, a spy of Ravana, fleed the scene and reported the same to Ravana. But he said that the easiest way to win over Rama was to take his wife Sita. He described nothing could match Sitaji's beauty and Ravana slowly got intrigued. He thought of this as an easy approach and consulted with Mareecha. Mareecha, having known Rama's valor, explained to Ravana that it would be a disgrace to abduct Sitaji that way. He told Ravana to leave that thought and told him about Rama's strength; asked him to not to take this any further. Ravana thought better of it. When Soorpanaka learnt this, she described Sitaji's beauty as divine and told Ravana that her right place would be his wife and not Rama's. She told Ravana that she was trying to get Sitaji for his sake and lost her ears and nose. Ravana went back to Mareecha and ordered him to go with his plan to abduct Sita. They left in a chariot towards Panchavati.
Mareecha disguised himself as golden spotted deer that no one would have seen and started hopping around in front of Rama, Lakshmana and Sita. Sita was mesmerised by the animal and wanted to play with the deer. Though Rama and Lakshmana doubted that the deer could be a Rakshasha in disguise, since Sita
insisted, Rama went behind the deer to catch it. Rama thought that if the deer was a rakshasha, it would be good to kill it anyways. The deer took Rama farther from their kutia and atlast Rama killed it. Mareecha came out of disguise and shouted Lakshmana and Sitaji's names.
Sita heard this and started panicking. She asked Lakshmana to go and help his brother. When Lakshmana refused, she blamed Lakshmana that he intended for his brother to die, so that he could take the kingdom once they went back to Ayodhya. Lakshmana was heartbroken and he left to help Rama.
Ravana was watching all this and waiting for the right time to approach Sita. He had disguised himself as a sage. He approached Sita and asked for food. Sita offered fruits and nuts. Ravana praised her beauty; talked about his strength and slowly started coming out of his disguise. He told Sita to become his wife and he would keep her very  happy. When Sita refused, he grabbed her by her hair and took her in his chariot. Sita started throwing her jewelery out as a trace for Rama. Jatayu who was watching fought with Ravana. Ravana cut Jatayu's wings and Jatayu fell off. Sita took Jatayu on her lap and asked him to inform Rama when they come searching for her. Ravana took Sita in the chariot towards Lanka.

We discussed about our monthly program with kids and they were excited about it. Our monthly program is slated for the month of Febraury. Please make sure all your kids are available.

Closing Prayers and Pledge

Next Class : Dec 10th.

Thanks and Hari Om
Purnima and Shankar

Oct 29, 2021 - Grade 7 (Friday)

Hari Om Dear Parents,

Here is an update of : Oct 29th 2021

We started our class with Likhita Japa and Opening Prayers. 
Slokas :
Dhyana Slokas : Sri Rama Rama Rameti and Nilambhuja Shyamala Komalangam.
We went over BalaKhanda portion of Nama Ramayana. Kids repeated after us.

Ramayana
As Kaikeyi was instructing Rama to go to the forest, Dasartha looked helpless and completely shaken. Lakshmana was listening to the entire conversation from outside. Rama obliged immediately, took leave of Dasaratha and Kaikeyi and headed to Kaushalya's palace. Kaushalya was devastated upon hearing it. She cried and insisted that she would join Rama. Rama told her that it was her duty to be with Dasaratha and take good care of him. Lakshmana was furious and he vowed to take revenge upon Bharatha. He told Rama that he would stay by him and fight against everyone. Rama convinced him by saying that Bharata was their brother and that it was his Dharma to fulfill father's wishes.
Rama then went to Sitaji who was eagerly waiting for Rama to go the coronation ceremony. When Sitaji learnt about the events, she told Rama that it was her Dharma to follow Rama, take care of him; that she would live on fruits, sleep on the forest floor, walk the forest without fear. Rama gets convinced to take Sitaji and Lakshmana with him.
The three of them went to take leave of Dasaratha and Kaikeyi. Dasaratha instructed Sumantra to take them on a chariot with all the things that tehy would need in the forest. Kaikeyi heartlessly told Sumantra to not to take any comforts but just them. She handed over ascetic costume to be worn in the forest to all  three of them. Dasaratha fell down as Rama left the palace and headed towards the chariot. The people of Ayodhya came to know of this dreadful event and left with Rama crying.

Activity :
We had Houses inauguration this week. We played a game of quiz with kids. The quiz was based on Ramayana/Mahabharata and included geography of India. Kids had fun playing with us.
The rest of the class was Houses inaugural event that kids joined over common zoom.

Next Class :
Our next class is on Nov 12th.

Thanks and Hari Om
Purnima and Shankar

Oct 15, 2021 - Grade 7 (Friday)

Hari Om Dear Parents,

Here is an update of : Oct 15th 2021
We started our class with Likhita Japa and Opening Prayers. 

Slokas :

We continued learning 2 Dhyana Slokas : Sri Rama Rama Rameti... and Nilambhuja Shyamala Komalangam.

Activity :

As a fun project, we had asked kids to present on the cities that Rama lived and travelled to. One of the kids had picked Ayodhya and made a presentation on how the ancient city compared to itscurrent. It was a good presentation.

Navarathri :

We talked about the spiritual significance of Navrathri and how it coincides with Rama and Krishna avatar. We explained to kids that the first 3 days are devoted to Goddess Durga, next 3 to Goddess Lakshmi and the last 3 to Goddess Saraswati. We should seek Durga 's blessings to remove all low tendencies such as greed, anger, jealousy, ego, etc.,  followed by Goddess Lakshmi's blessings to replace them with positive tendencies such as compassion, generosity, humility, etc., and now when the mind is pure, its ready to absorb pure knowledge. We meditate on Goddess Saraswati and seek her blessings to impart spiritual knowledge. The 10th day is Vijayadasami which signifies victory over evil.

Ramayana:

We continued with Ramayana story. Dasaratha, his queens and people of Ayodhya gathered for the marriage of Rama to Sita. Rama wed Sita, Laskmana wed Urmila, Bharata wed Mandavi, Shatrugna wed Shrutkirthi. All devas, rishis were happy to see the divine wedding of Rama and Sita and showered their blessings. 

Sage Vishwamitra blessed the newly weds and headed to Himalayas. On their way back to Ayodhya, everyone heard thunderous noise that shook the earth. Sage Vashistha told Dasaratha about the arrival of Sage Parasurama. Parasurama was a sage but was against Kshatriya race since his father was killed by a king. He appeared before Rama and challenged Rama to break Vishnu bow which was a twin of Rudra bow. Rama took the bow and strung it. The sage was humbled and he returned to the Himalayas .

Everyone reached Ayodhya. Rama and Sita lived happily for 12 years. We will continue with Ayodhya Khanda in the next class

Saraswati Puja:

We had Saraswati puja on Friday where kids took part and performed it along with all other Balavihar students online. The puja was led by the priest in the ashram. Hope you were able to participate as a family and take blessings.

Next Class :

Our next class is on Oct 22nd.

Thanks and Hari Om
Purnima and Shankar!

Oct 1, 2021 - Grade 7 (Friday)

Hariom Parents,

Hope all of you have been able to either order the Ramayana book by Shri C. Rajagopachari from Amazon or have downloaded the  PDF copy that was provided in the last email. This is key for the effective participation of the kids in the class that they have this book and if possible pre-read the topics we plan to cover. Happy to note that everyone was able to join the Zoom session without any difficulty however some of them had some challenges to keep the Video on during the session. Keeping the video on during the session is a must and helps with active participation and interaction as well. Please ensure that they have the laptop that is capable of video sharing.

We started the class with Likhitha Japa. This gave time for students to join and settle down.  We hope to do this every class and thus request you to ensure that everyone has the likhitha japa notebook and a pencil as they come into the session.   We followed this with our regular starting prayers and practiced two of Sri Rama dhyana shlokas (page 129 of "My prayers" book)  as well.  This was followed by a recap of what was covered in the last class.

The focus of this session was part 1 of Balakhanda.  We narrated the story starting from King Dasharatha kingdom and him performing Putrakameshti yagna followed by the birth of Shree Rama and his early days of growing up at Ayodhya. This was followed up by Sage Vishwamitra's request to take them to the forest where Shree Rama along with Lakshmana helps kill the demons (Tataka)  and help the sages complete their yagna's peacefully.  On their way to Mithila, Sage Vishwamitra narrated a few stories to Rama and Lakshmana. One such story described how Ganga was brought down to Earth to wash away the ashes of King Bhageeratha's ancestors.
Next day, they came across a deserted ashram and Vishwamitra narrated the story of Ahalya. Ahalya was Sage Gautama's wife, who was cursed by him to live like a rock and that she would be redeemed of her sins only when Rama visited. Rama blessed Ahalya and she returned to Sage Gautama.

We talked about King Janaka, a brave king who was also well versed in Shastras, found Sita as a baby while ploughing the land one day. He brought her up as his own daughter. King Janaka decided that a perfect match for Sita should tie the string in Rudra bow, which was given to him by Varuna Bhagavan.

When they reached Mithila, they were welcomed by King Janaka. Rama took the blessings of the sage and lifted the bow without any effort and tried to tie the string. But the bow snapped and broke into two.  We will continue with the Wedding of Sri Rama and Sita in the next class.

Along the story narration we also discussed some of the key characters and thus triggering some character analysis as well.

We followed this up with a Sanskrit pronunciation primer which would help them chant and appreciate the upcoming Geetha Chanting session.

Thus we covered chapters 1 – 9 of the book. We plan to do chapters 9 - 11 in the next session and close out on balakhanda.

 We finished the class with Aarathi and pledge followed by closing prayers. 

Please don't hesitate to email us with any questions you may have.

Next Class –  October 15^th

Happy Navratri to all

Thanks and Hari Om

Purnima Krishnamurthy &  Venkatapathy Shankar

Sept 24, 2021 - Grade 7 (Friday)

Hari Om Dear Parents,

Here is an update of : Sep 24th 2021
We started our class with Likhita Japa and Opening Prayers. We always start our class with Likhita Japa and hence request parents to make sure kids come prepared to the class with a notebook and a pen/pencil.

Slokas :

We learnt 2 slokas in the class - Sri Rama Rama Rameti... and Nilambhuja Shyamala Komalangam.

Ramayana:

We started our class with an introduction to 7 Kandas in Ramayana and how they are divided in chronological order. 
We narrated the story starting from King Dasaratha who from Solar Dynasty ruled Kosala kingdom from the capital city of Ayodhya. King Dasaratha was a just leader. Though the praja was very happy,  the King himself was sad that there was no one to pass on his Kingdom to, after him. He performed Putrakamesti yagna and was blessed with a bowl of Kheer. He shared the kheer with his 3 queens - Kaushalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra.
In Deva loka, devas were worried with Ravana's torture and pleaded with Brahma ji that Ravana be destroyed. Upon realizing that the boon given to Ravana that he was invincible by Devas, Asuras and Gandharvas, did not include human, the Devas pleaded with Lord Vishnu to take an avatar to destroy Ravana.

Kaushalya had Rama, Kaikeyi had Bharata and Sumitra had the twins, Lakshmana and Shatrugna. 
When the boys were around 14, they were visited by Sage Vishwamitra.

Sage Vishwamitra was a great King. Once when he was returning from a war, Sage Vashista with the help of his cow Sabala fed the entier army. Vishwamitra wanted to conquer Sabala and he fought with Sage Vashista, only to realize his valor was no match to the sage. Vishwamitra went to the forest and did meditation, earned the title Raja Rishi. We saw how he tried to create a separate universe for Trisanku, did thousands of year of meditation, overcame all hurdles and temptation, atlast became Brahma Rishi.

We will continue with the story next class.

Activity :

We asked kids to recollect all the names that they learnt from the day. We also learnt how to draw Lord Ganesha step-by-step. If your kids are interested in practicing, please share the following link with them : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJCT_9-jnA0&t=7s

Aarthi and Pledge :

We completed the day with 'Poornamadam..' and Pledge. 

Looking forward to having your kids next class.

Thanks and Hari Om
Purnima and Shankar!

Sept 17, 2021 - Grade 7 (Friday)

Hariom Parents,

With Gurdev and Swmiji's blessing we commenced Bala Vihar for the year 2021-2022. Welcoming the students with starting prayers  and a small icebreaker memory game,  We  did a quick round of introductions starting with introducing ourselves and then getting to know the youths. 

We then discussed the curriculum for this year and the reference book we plan to use. Our curriculum this year is Ramayana by C. Rajagopalachari and Vibhishana Gita (Keys to Success). We will be teaching one of our greatest epics, Ramayana while analyzing the main characters in detail. 'Keys to success' will teach children how to achieve success in life in a Dharmic, disciplined way.

 

Link to the PDF version of the Ramayana book

Link to the Ramayana book by C Rajagopalachari - This  can  be  purchased from Amazon

We recommend buying this book and this would help the youths learn and participate in the topics we discuss.

We spent the next 30 mins introducing Ramayana – What is it and why should we study the same ,  is it a mythology or a Ithihasa (Historic study?) etc.  Also discussed its importance in Indian literature. We discussed Dashavatara and  where Sri Rama appears there. We then introduced the 7 Khanda's of Ramayana. We also briefly discussed the author - Valmiki Ji and his life history in brief.

We will start with Balakhanda and further Stating next class.

We finished the class with closing prayers. We then joined the common  Zoom session with Swamiji and all other classes for Aarathi and pledge .

We look forward to a great year with your children. Please don't hesitate to email us with any questions.

Thanks and  Hariom

Shankar and Purnima.

Welcome to Gr 7 - Friday Session

Please look out for regular updates from 

the teachers 

soon after the session starts.