May 1, 2022 - Grade 7 (Sunday AM)

Hari Om

As a respite from story telling, we decided to make today's class an interactive discussion, based on the values from the Vibhīshana Gīta.

The worry that plagued Vibhīshana about Ravana's armory versus Rama's simple presence at the war front, devoid of any weapons bar his bow and quiver of arrows. Rāma brought to Vibhīshana's attention the importance of Dharma; where Ravana's chariot could be grand and armored with weapons, Rama's metaphorical chariot contained values that encompass the Dharmic way of life.

The wheels of a chariot symbolize Sauraja (Courage) and Dhīraja(Patience). Discussion: Courage is not the absence of fear, and also understanding that a daring action could not necessarily be called courageous. 

Patience, an important virtue, is typically practiced only when the situation is convenient. It is the ability to keep that fortitude of mind that will help us develop Patience. 

The flag of the chariot symbolizes Satya (Truthfulness) and Shila (good character)

Discussion: Truthfulness - how important it is to be as truthful as possible in our lives. If the truth were to hurt others or if the truth were bent to conveniently avoid trouble

Good character comes from Satsangha which brings about good thoughts, actions and habits. 

The horses symbolize Balam(Strength of mind), Viveka(discrimination between right and wrong), Dama (control over senses) and Parahita(compassion)

Discussion: The mental strength determines many an action - to avoid desires and weaknesses to flood the mind, to keep the moral compass unwavering at all times)

Viveka is an important tool, to analyze actions and situations, to have clarity on how our actions will define ourselves and using our values system as a compass.

The mastery over our senses versus suppressing the senses - how mastery is a tougher choice but the best choice for long term benefits. Suppressing is like taking a quick fix, it helps for the short-term but resurfaces when you least expect it.

The Compassion of putting others first - the Prathama Purusha where we put the third person, or others as a priority. 

With examples, and stories interspersed with these values, we had a productive class. Look forward to a few more such discussions as we bring the year to a close.

Our next class in on May 8. It will be at the Ashram as we celebrate Gurudev on his 106th Jayanthi. Details will be shared on the class WhatsApp group.

Pranāms,

Prarthana and Nivedita

Apr 10, 2022 - Grade 7 (Sunday AM)

In today's class, the kids began by doing a simple puja to Lord Rama using the puja page available on Chinmaya kids. 

The kids reviewed Yuddha Kanda and watched small snippets of the Yuddha from a Ramayana movie. 

They then had a discussion on their takeaways from the story and characters of Ramayana. 

Mar 27, 2022 - Grade 7 (Sunday AM)

Today's class began with opening prayers. We began Yuddha Kanda today. Rama consulted with Sugreeva and other monkeys on reaching Lanka. He accepted the humble submission of Vibhishana and coronated him King of Lanka. After Sagara told Rama to take the help of Nala the architect to build the bridge, the bridge was built using stones that floated on the water when the name of Rama was written on them. A little squirrel also helped. On reaching Lanka, Rama sets up camp. 

We watched a video on the science behind the bridge and saw the NASA images of the same. 

Mar 6, 2022 - Grade 7 (Sunday AM)

This week we resumed a regular class. We began with opening prayers. We then resumed the narration of the Ramayana. We started with Hanuman realizing his true potential and strength when Jambuvan reminded him of his prowess in his childhood. As a child he had leapt up into the air thinking of the sun to be a mango. Upon being reminded of his true strength, Hanuman grew in size and began his journey flying over the ocean to reach Lanka. On the way he was accosted by different creatures over the ocean. Upon reaching Lanka he begins to look for Sita. He first defeats the demoness who is guarding the gates of Lanka,  and then enters the inner chambers of the palace. He sees many beautiful women  and Ravina fast asleep but is sure that Sita could not be one amongst them. As he is close to giving up hope he notices a beautiful garden and enters that in the hope of finding Sita. He sees a beautiful Sita in a deep state of grief and despair surrounded by the demonesses.  Ravana comes to the garden to speak to her and tries to convince her to marry him. Sita forcefully rejects his talk as immoral and warns him of imminent death and destuction for his evil deeds. Angry with her, Ravanan  orders his demonesses to convince her to marry him and walks away. As Sita sits forlone under the tree, Hanuman begins to sing praises of Lord Rama and recites the story of Rama. Sita is filled with hope listening to the story. Hanuman then presents himself to her and gives her hope that Rama is indeed looking for her and will come to save her. He offers to carry her back to Rama immediately but she refuses saying that Ravana and his evil has to be destroyed only by the coming of Rama to Lanka.

Feb 27, 2022 - Grade 7 (Sunday AM)

During this class, we had high school students come in to teach the kids and share their experiences growing up as  BalaVihar students. They had a presentation about the important characters from the Ramayana. They also presented some interesting historical facts about the Ramayana. After the presentation we entered the general assembly where our 7th grade l class skit was presented for the entire Sunday a.m. batch to watch. It was well received by other teachers and classes.

Feb 6, 2022 - Grade 7 (Sunday AM)

We began with opening prayers.

We spent most of the session on skit practice. Kids are preparing for a zoom presentation on Bhakti. 

We will be recording the final skit next weekend.

Jan 30, 2022 - Grade 7 (Sunday AM)

We began with opening prayers. We began practice for the class skit to be presented on Feb 27. Roles were allotted and costumes were decided. Scripts were shared with all the kids and further practice times were discussed. 

Jan 23, 2022 - Grade 7 (Sunday AM)

We began preparing for our class play today. Our class play will be presented on Feb 27th and will be a zoom recording like last year. We did a couple of run-throughs of the script in class today and the kids were assigned their parts. We also discussed their costumes and other props that they need. We will complete some final edits of the script and email it to them. Please help them prepare for their roles. We will do another practice next Sunday followed by a final recording in the first week of February.

Jan 9, 2022- Grade 7 (Sunday AM)

The class continued with the Ramayana narration. Rama encourages Sugriva to challenge Vali for a fight. During the fight, he is unable to kill Vali as the brothers look so similar. He encourges Sugriva to challenge him again and this time gives him a garland to wear to distinguish between the two. Vali is killed by an arrow of Rama and Sugriva ascends the throne. He promises to help with the search of Sita after the monsoon season and forgets his promise. Rama sends Laxmana to Sugriva's palace and after being reminded of his duty, sends his monkey army out in all four directions to find Sita. 

The group that goes to the south meets an old vulture who is the brother of Jatayu and tells them that he saw Ravana carry Sita to Lanka. As they sit on the shore of the ocean wondering who has the strength to jump across, Jambavan reminds Hanuman about his valour as a child and his ability to perform the task. Hanuman then grows in size and takes a leap to cross the ocean.

We discussed Gita chapter 5, verse 6 that emphasized the need of self belief and confidence 

We discussed the upcoming play and scripts.

We ended class with closing prayers.

Dec 18, 2021 - Grade 7 (Sunday AM)

The last class was started with opening prayers and we continued with Aranya Kanda. Rama continues his journey to look for Sita. He proceeds to Rishyavana where he meets Sabari and eventually Hanuman who is initially disguised as a brahmin. When Hanuman realises who Rama really is he shows his real form and carries Rama and Laxmana to Sugriva and the others. Sugriva and Rama made a pact to help each other. Rama hears the story of Vali and Sugriva's fight and promises to kill Vali and restore Sugriva to the kingdom. 

We then continued with skit related activites. 

Dec 12, 2021 - Grade 7 (Sunday AM)

 We continued with Ramayana from the point where Maricha disguised a golden deer approaches the ashram of Rama, Laxmana and Sita. Sita is overcome with desire for it and asks Rama to get it for her. Laxmana warns both of them that it cannot possibly be a real deer and is a rakhasa and so they should kill it. Rama is in eagerness to make Sita happy decides to try and get it for her. As the deer leads him far away, Rama kills it and Maricha screams out the names of Sita and Laxmana as he dies. In the ashram a panic stricken Sita admonishes and sends Laxmana is search of Rama. He leaves reluctantly drawing the rekha on the floor and telling her to stay inside. Meanwhile Ravana disguised as a sanyasi comes to Ashram and as Sita crosses the line to give him alms kidnaps her and begins to fly back to Lanka on his chariot. He is stopped by Jatayu who he manages to kill and proceeds to Lanka. While in the air, Sita drops her jewelry hoping Rama will find her. In Lanka, he threatens to kill her in a year if she does not agree to be his Queen. Rama desperately begins his search for Sita. He finds out that Ravana has taken her when he sees Jatayu and Kabandha. We also separated the kids into groups for the script writing for the play.

Dec 5, 2021 - Grade 7 (Sunday AM)

In last week's class, we continued with the Ramayana story. We started with Bharata returning to Ayodhya with Rama's padukas and placing them on the throne, while he himself took on the life of an ascetic while administrating the kingdom. Then began Aranya Kanda with Rama, Laxmana and Sita making their way through Dandaka and finally build an Ashrama in panchavati. Shoorpanaka sees Rama and in the ensuing conversation, she attacks Sita. Laxmana cuts off her nose and ears as punishment and she returns to her brother Ravana. She describes Sita to him and blinded by lust, he sets off to kidnap her with the help of Maricha, his uncle. Reluctant Maricha turns into a deer and walks around near the ashram.
 We also with Rama Naama shloka and went over the meaning of the first few stanzas. The next class with be tomorrow at 9.15. We are all discussing the upcoming class play with the kids and have assigned script writers

Nov 21, 2021 - Grade 7 (Sunday AM)

We continued with the Ramayana. We began with the painful journey of Rama, Laxmana and Sita from Ayodhya, the death of Dasharatha in sorrow over the loss of his most beloved son. The return to Bharata to Ayodhya and his anger at the acts of his mother Kaikeyi, him reaching Chitrakoota and begging Rama to return and be king. He takes his army, his guru Vashishtha and all his mothers in an attempt to convince Rama to take his place as king and let him finish the 14 years in the forest. However, Rama is not dissuaded.We continued with the symbolism topic this week. Goddess Durga symbolizes the destruction of tamoguna (laziness) and animalistic tendencies within us. As Kali, she removes the negativity from our lives. We discussed the meaning behind each of her weapons.
Goddess Saraswati , meaning Essence of One's Self(Saara+Sva) is the giver of knowledge (Self Knowledge). The Japa Māla in one hand helps in concentration and training the mind, while the Scriptures/scrolls give us the knowledge. Seated on a rock that stays firm around flowing water, or on a lotus that remains pure despite its surroundings, Saraswati embodies the the strength in Purity and Knowledge. The Hansa bird is known to separate milk from water, while her white attire is a symbol of purity.
While on the topic of Mothers(Goddesses), the question that arose was, 'Why is Nature referred to as Mother? Is it because of a mother's nurturing quality? A discussion for another class…

Nov 14, 2021 - Grade 7 (Sunday AM)

Hari Om!

It was a special class on a day celebrating Children! Our class schedule was as such:

Opening Prayers:

We start with Om chanting to quieten our minds, followed by the slokas Vakratunda mahākāya, Saraswati Namastubhyam, Buddhir Balam and Saha na vavatu, and concluded with Om Sri Ganeśāya namah, Om Saraswatyai namah and Om Sat Gurubhyo namah.

Gita Chanting: 

Allocated Verses from Chapter 2  were chanted with Swamiji guiding us on the video.

Rāmāyanam:

Today we began Ayodhya Kanda of Ramayana after completing a short quiz on Bala Kanda of Ramayana. 

Ayodhya Kanda :

Pleased with the qualities of his dearest son Rama, Dasharatha decides to coronate him the Yuvaraja. He is so happy that he decides that to complete the coronation the very next day. Arrangements are made and the entire city and people are rejoicing at the news of Rama becoming the Yuvaraja. Bharata and Shatrugna are away in Kekaya visiting Kaikeyi's father. In the meantime, Manthara, the maid who had helped raise Kaikeyi and had come with her to Ayodhya could not tolerate the news of Rama's coronation and poisoned Kaikeyi's mind. She reminded Kaikeyi that Dasharatha had given her two boons a long time ago and it was time to use them. Kaikeyi enters her Krodha griha and lays on the floor in a state of sorrow. When Dashartha comes to see her, he is distressed to see her in such a sorrowful state and pleads with her to ask for whatever she wants so she can feel better. Kaikeyi then asks for the fulfillment of her two boons. She asks for Bharata to be crowned King and for Rama to be banished to Dandaka forest for 14 years. Dasharatha is heart broken at the request and begs Kaikeyi but the queen refuses to change her mind. On the morning of the coronation, Dasharatha sends for Rama and when he arrives at Kaekeyi's chambers, he is shocked to see his distraught father and when he asks for what is wrong, Kaikeyi explains the situation and tells him about the boon that she has asked. Rama immediately rejoices at the idea of Bharata being King and taking their blessings decides to leave for the forest the very same day. He proceeds towards his mother Kausalya's chambers. 

Discussion:

Our discussion today was on questions asked in previous classes. Discussing the topic 'Is Hinduism a polytheistic religion' was a good way to dispel some of the misinformation propagated by the global community.  All deities are forms of that Pure Consciousness or Brahman - One Lord Many Forms.,

The next topic was about the meeting of Rāma and Parasurama, both being Avatars of Vishnu. This brought about a discussion on Purna and Ardha Avatārās, which led us to the topic of Chiranjeevis. 

Closing Prayers: 

Every week we chose a few students to lead us in the closing prayers and pledge. 

Look forward to many more such productive classes and interactive sessions…

Pranām

Prarthana and Nivedita

Oct 31, 2021 - Grade 7 (Sunday AM)

We began with opening prayers. Today's class also included house inauguration activites. The class did an online quiz based on finding places of historical significance in the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The kids were encouraged to do this as a team and enjoyed finding places on the India map. We then completed Bala Kanda of the Ramayana. Today we continued from the point of Rama breaking the Shiva bow and the marriage of Rama to Sita and the other brothers as well. On their journey back home, they are accousted by Parashurama who challenges Rama and wants to know if he indeed has the strength to pick up the bow of Narayana that he has brought with him. Rama accepts the challenge and lifts the Narayana bow and strings it and draws an arrow and asks Parashurama where he would like him to release the arrow towards. At this point Parashurama accepts that Rama is none other than another form of Vishnu and gives him all the fruits of his penance and returns to the mountain Mahadeva for penance. Rama and his retinue of his brothers, father and the brides return to Ayodhya. Thus ends the Balakaanda. 

The kids then entered the main house inagural zoom meeting. Our class belongs to Bajrangi bolts and our colour is yellow. Throughout the year, there will be several activites that we will share with you which will add to our house points. We would encourage you to have the kids participate as these events happen. 

Oct 24, 2021 - Grade 7 (Sunday AM)

After we concluded our opening prayers, our class was divided into two part - narration of the Ramayana and a discussion on symbolism in Hinduism,

1. Ramayana narration:

After the deliverance of Ahalya of her curse, Rama proceeds to Mithila with Laxmana under the guidance of Sage Vishwamitra. They are greeted with reverance by Rajarishi Janaka himself at his ashrama in the outskirts of the city and a discussion on the history of Sage Vishwamitra begins. The young princes learn how Sage Vishwamitra was a King by name Kaushika who visited sage Vashishta and was overcome with greed for the divine cow Kamadhenu. After his entire army was vanquished by the divine cow, Kaushika meditated on Lord Shiva and was given divine Astras to use. Sage Vashishta destoyed them all with his divine staff and seeing his power, Kaushika decided that he wanted to become like him. After intense penance to Lord Brahma he was given the title of Rajarishi. He then helped Trishanku, a King who wanted to enter heaven in his physical form ascend to heaven. However Indra and the other Gods push Trishanku back down and in anger, Vishwamitra creates a new heaven for Trishanku between Indraloka and earth. He begins to create the stars, Rishis and devas. Indra and the other Gods beg him for fogiveness and he stops at that point. He also realizes that he has depleted all his divine energy in this process and returns to penance again. These were the couple of stories on Vishwamitra that we shared. Rama finally sees the divine bow of Shiva and is able to pick it up and he breaks it as he tries to string it. As Janaka has promised to marry his daughter to anyone who manages to lift and string the bow, the talks on Sita and Rama's marriage begin. 

We then proceeded to discuss symbolish in Hinduism. Below is a summay on that discussion:

2.Symbolism discussion:

This week our topic in the discussion thread was symbolism. We had previously discussed Rāma as the 'Ideal Purusha', effectively defining Rāma's actions and values as  an ideal. To further the topic, we spoke of how doing Japa on the Lord, or saying Dhyāna slokas like 'Buddhir Balam…' could give us the qualities embodied by Hanuman.

We took the example of Ganesha, whose entire being is symbolic - from the gross to the subtle. For example, the elephant trunk that can pick up a log of wood with ease, can also pluck a blade of grass. The large ears which can hear sounds from afar can also listen to the smallest of sounds.

Understanding value of sravanam and mananam and the need to emulate these qualities was discussed.

An important question was asked this week, Is Hinduism a Polytheistic religion. This will be one of our discussions in the upcoming class

Oct 17, 2021 - Grade 7 (Sunday AM)

In this class we completed opening prayers and recapped the story of Ramayana upto  Demoness Tataka. We discussed a brief history of her life and her change to becoming evil. The kids presented their thoughts on the impact of people being negative or sad around us, the energy they bring to the people around them or the things that they do. We spoke about how we all can make a choice on how to react when something bad happens to us. We continued the story of Rama and Lakshmana learning several divine astras from sage Vishwamitra and killing Suketu and hitting Maricha with the Manavastra. Rama and Lakshmana embarked on a journey to Mithila under the guidance of Sage Vishwamitra and on the way, Rama was able to deliver Ahalya from her curse. 

We then watched the video of Swamiji's biography and the children then entered the Saraswati puja via zoom..

Oct 17, 2021 - Grade 7 (Sunday AM)

Hari Om,

In this class we completed opening prayers and recapped the story of Ramayana upto  Demoness Tataka. We discussed a brief history of her life and her change to becoming evil. The kids presented their thoughts on the impact of people being negative or sad around us, the energy they bring to the people around them or the things that they do. We spoke about how we all can make a choice on how to react when something bad happens to us. We continued the story of Rama and Lakshmana learning several divine astras from sage Vishwamitra and killing Suketu and hitting Maricha with the Manavastra. Rama and Lakshmana embarked on a journey to Mithila under the guidance of Sage Vishwamitra and on the way, Rama was able to deliver Ahalya from her curse. 

We then watched the video of Swamiji's biography and the children then entered the Saraswati puja via zoom..

Pranaam,

Prarthana and Nivedita

Sept 26, 2021 - Grade 7 (Sunday AM)

This week, we started class with opening prayers followed by the narration of Ramayana. We began with the story of Narada Muni meeting Valmiki and telling him about Lord Rama. Valmiki is then blessed by Lord Brahma himself to be able to see and know all the thoughts and actions of all involved in the Ramayana story and he begins to write the story of Dasharatha and Ayodhya. 

Dasharatha eager for an heir to his dynasty performs the Putrakameshti yagna and divides the divine payasam that he gets between his 3 wives. In time, he has 4 sons, Rama, Bharata, Laxmana and Shatrugna. Rama is followed by a devoted Laxmana as they grow up and Shatrugna is devoted to Bharata. As the princes grow and become well versed in archery, weapons and shastras to rule the land, Lord Vishwamitra visits Dasharatha and asks him to send Rama with him to kill the Rakshasas who are destroying his yagnas. Initially overcome with shock, Dasharatha finally agrees and Rama along with Laxmana set off with sage Vishwamitra. As they enter Tataka's forest they notice that there is no wild life etc there. Vishwamitra tells Rama that he has to kill her and Rama destroys Tataka.

At this point we had a discussion with the kids about how actions depict a person's character including mental actions. Mental actions are often a precursor to physical actions. We spoke of what mental actions someone like Lord Rama performed versus the kind of mental actions performed by Tataka. The kids then shared some examples of their own mental actions and how it lead to or changed what they finally did with their behavior.

We ended the class with Bhagwad Gita chap 2, shlokas 39-40 and pledge.

Sept 19, 2021 - Grade 7 (Sunday AM)

With Gurudev and Swamiji's blessings we have had a successful start to our first class for 2021-22. We began the class with opening prayers and Guru Stotram. The children then introduced themselves. We began with a small quiz on Ramayana followed by videos on 1. historical dating of Ramayana 2. essence of Ramayana in Gurudev's words. We also spoke about the fundamental concepts of Hinduism as it corroborates with modern science and touched upon the fundamentals of 1. Purushartha or fundamental goals of human life 2. The gunas and their role 3. the yogas and the path to Moksha.

We listened to Swamijis welcome video for the kids and also completed the Sanskrit primer in preparation for the second half of Bhagwad Gita Chapter 2.

The next class will be next Sunday Sep 26 at 9.15 am