Hari OM Everyone,
We started the class off requesting the children to write Likhita Japa! There was a lot of enthusiasm and many kids wanted to know how many points they will get - we will check and let them know soon :-)
We afterwards did the Opening Prayers (3 OMs, Sahana Vavatu and Vakratunda) and then the Daily Prayers (Pg 11 in My Prayers book - for those that don't have the book these are the shlokas we do - Karaagre Vasate Lakshmi, Samudra Vasane Devi, Gange cha Yamune chaiva, Saraswati Namastubhyam, Brahmaarpanam, Shubham Karoti kalyanam and Karacharana krutam). We also explained to them when we do it during the day and why we do it.
We then reviewed the Bhajan Vinayaka Vinayaka. Suja Aunty sang it once to remind them and then they all sang it individually picking up the pace and singing very fast! We were very impressed that they have got it by the 3rd week itself. We will share some of the recordings in the Whatsapp group.
Next it was time for the Activity that we couldn't get to last week - Drawing Bhagavan Veda Vyasa. Some of them also colored it beautifully in the given time and Kashyap actually cut it out nicely as well. Everyone seemed to have enjoyed this activity. Please make sure they have extra papers or a notebook for activities and they don't use their Likhita Japa notebook for this. Crayons and colored pencils will also be useful.
We then did a pictorial review of last week's story - we showed them the setting of the Naimisharanya forest, and the Yagna, and how Suta ji visited Shaunaka Rishi and his disciples, and the story of Bhagavan Veda Vyasa and Narada and Narada Muni's backstory etc and asked them to retell the story. Even though they remembered the events in the story they were not able to recall all the names!
From next week, we will be using the Index cards that we had handed out in the Activity pack to get them to create Character cards for important characters we encounter throughout our curriculum. If you didn't get a chance to pick up the Activity pack please do or at least ensure they have a pack of index cards to use in class.
We then moved on to the story of King Parikshit meets Kali. We explained how Parikshit was Arjuna's grandson and Abhimanyu's grandson (We are the Arjuna's Arrows :-). We talked a bit about the 4 Yugas and then explained the scene of Parikshit encountering a bull standing on one leg and a cow standing nearby and a mean spirited man with a sword in his hand standing nearby. King Parikshit asks the bull who has done this to you and the bull says it is all because of my own past actions and doesn't blame the man standing nearby. King Parikshit understands that the bull is none other than Dharma and the cow is Mother Earth. He then tries to punish Kali but Kali seeks refuge and begs him - so Parikshit gives him 4 places to live - wherever the name of the Lord is forgotten - places where people gamble, drink, hoard wealth and are cruel.
We also discussed about the 4 legs of the Bull Dharma and what it stands for - Austerity, Purity, Kindness and Truthfulness. In Satya Yuga, the Bull had all 4 legs, but now in Kali Yuga only Truthfulness remains. We explained how purity meant not only a clean body but also a clean body and then we discussed how sometimes our mind can look pure from outside but not actually be pure because even if we do certain actions that are good if our motive is not good, then our mind is not pure. We illustrated with a simple experiment - 3 glasses of water - we added sugar to one, salt to one and dirt to another. The glasses with sugar and salt looked pure but we knew they were not while in the case of dirt it was obvious. Similarly when we help someone having an ulterior motive in mind, it is like the Sugar water. We will discuss more about the 4 legs of the bull in the following classes.
We then learned the first two verses from Geeta with Swamiji's video. We encouraged them to repeat along with it and then asked a few people to chant on their own. If they keep practicing from now they will be able to memorize and be ready for the Geeta chanting Yajna in April next year. Here is the recording for you to help them practice - https://youtu.be/-d4EIe2V-Vc
We again had a couple of kids lead the pledge this week - Samyukthalakshmi and Aditya did a great job! It would be really helpful if you have the handbook for them for the Arti and pledge. If it is possible, please pick up from the bookstore - they are open Fridays and Sundays 5.30-6.30pm.
We have the Virtual Navaratri Gala event coming up. Please participate enthusiastically as a family. You can share pics and videos of any creative ways you celebrate this year on our private Facebook Group - www.facebook.com/groups/ChinmayaVrindavanBalavihar. All entries will receive 40 House Points. Our class is very enthusiastic about winning the House Trophy and they have assured us that they are the lucky group - Jayashree Aunty and Suja Aunty have been trying for 3 years now ! - they have won every year except last year it seems so we have a lot of hope :-)
It would be helpful if everyone is in class on time. We had kids joining as late as 7.20. We look forward to seeing all of them next Friday. Have a great week!
Thanks & Regards
Jayashree & Suja
Jayashree & Suja
