Dear Parents,
We welcome your child and you to the 8th grade Sunday a.m. Balavihar class.
We request you to make sure that your child joins the zoom session on time for their Balavihar class. Please understand that if your child is late, it is a distraction for the children and the teachers.
Required reading: Mahabharatha by C. Rajagopalachari (available at the Chinmaya Vrindavan book store and also online vendors/book sellers.)
Teacher's handbook is "Yato Dharmah Tato Jayah"
We begin class with the following prayers:
Chanting Om three times
Sahanaa vavatu…
Karaagre Vasate Lakshmi…
Vakratundaya Mahakaaya Sooryakoti Samaprabha….
Shuklaam Baradaram Vishnum…
Saraswati Namstubhyam….
Brahmarpanam Brahma Havih…
Shubham Karoti Kalyanam…
Guru stotram
On September 20th the following topics were covered:
Explained the meaning of the title of the book we are teaching: Yato Dharmah tato Jayah.
"Yatah Krishna, Tato Dharmah: Yato Dharmah tato Jayah." Wherever there is Krishna there is Dharma, where there is Dharma there is victory. How can one be victorious? One can be victorious by avoiding sins, bad deeds and focus on thinking right and performing right actions.
Dharma:
Dharma is described as righteousness, duty, religion. Origin of word Dharma is from the Samskrtam word "Dhr" meaning "to uphold". Dharma means code of conduct, doing the right thing in thought and deed. Also known as Sanaatana Dharma (eternal, all pervading). It is Dharma based on the Vedas. We explained that for example the Dharma of the sun is always eternal (i.e. Sun rises in the morning, provides us with heat and light, gives plants energy to thrive etc.). Plants and animals also follow Dharma. Just like we have expectations of people around us, if we too perform our duties properly then the results of our actions not only benefit our family members and us but it also trickles down to society. For example, as a teacher it is my duty to be prepared for class, by being prepared I will teach my students well. I will be better prepared to take any questions the students may raise. The chances of students learning through my teaching increase and therefore the likelihood of them being successful in exams increases. This then increases their chances of doing better in academically rigorous courses and be able to secure a good job. By doing this, they contribute to the improvement of society.
What is the greatest Dharma?: The greatest dharma is Non- violence or non-injury. Violence begins at the mental level as anger which stems from dislike. Violence not only at the physical level but also in thought and speech must be avoided at all costs.
What is a person's Dharma? There are two categories of Dharma one needs to follow:
a. Individual Dharma: At a physical level, Dharma is to nourish and support the health of our body. At a mental level, we all want to be peaceful. To think in a loving way is Dharma and to think negatively is Adharma.
We asked the children if they experienced negative thoughts. All of them agreed that there were many times during the day we experience thoughts of jealousy, anger, greed etc.
The mind's nature can be compared to that of a monkey which leaps from one tree to another. Similarly in our minds we experience a multitude of thoughts at any given instant of time. By leading and living a "Dhaarmic" life, we can reduce the frequency of thoughts, improve their quality and bring quietude to the mind.
b. Collective Dharma: That which integrates and brings prosperity to all is collective Dharma. For example, if as a community we collect coats for the poor and needy then we are engaged in collective Dharma. In this small way we are also ensuring that our coats, sweaters which ordinarily would have reached the landfill is providing warmth and comfort to somebody and the Earth is left a cleaner place for the future generations.
Mahabharata:
We gave a brief introduction of the epic Mahabharata written by Veda Vyaasa and contains 100,000 verses. It is the story of the Kuru dynasty consisting of cousins Kauravas and Pandavas. Kauravas were the son of Dhirtirashtra and although talented in weaponry etc. very often thought incorrectly which in turn led to wrong behavior and in turn led to their defeat. The Pandavas on the other hand were by no means perfect, but for the most part led a Dhaarmic life. We will be discussing important episodes from the Mahabharata and will be asking the children to give their thoughts and opinions about the actions of the various characters in this book and the dilemmas they faced.
Bhagavad Geeta Chapter 2: This is year we will be teaching the children verses 1-38 of Bhagavad Geeta Chapter 2. We will begin teaching them the chapter verses beginning the week of October 4th. In this week we showed a video on how to pronounce some Samskrtam words.
Thank you!
Sitaram Kuchibhotla and
Mekhala Girish (Sunday A.M. 8th grade Balavihar Sevaks)
