Hari OM Dear Families,
Here is this week's update.
Once the yagna was completed at Siddashrama, Vishwamitra took Rama and Lakshmana to Mithila, where King Janaka was performing a special yagna and had a divine bow from Lord Shiva which he wanted Rama and Lakshmana to see. On the way to Mithila, Vishwamitra told the princes the tale of one of their ancestors, Bhagiratha and his untiring effort which was the reason for Ganga's descent to Earth. They also saw a neglected ashram. Vishwamitra told them that it was the ashram of Sage Gautama, who had cursed his wife Ahalya to be invisible, subsisting on air, till she was released from her curse when Rama visited. In the presence of Rama, Ahalya regained her human form.
Once they reached Mithila, they were received with great honour by King Janaka. His minister Satananda, was the son of Sage Gautama and was very happy to hear that his mother Ahalya was restored to her human self. He also narrated the story of Sage Vishwamitra - Sage Viswamitra was by birth a Kshatriya (warrior). Once he had a confrontation with Sage Vasishtha and was surprised that the might of the Brahmarishi (Vasishtha) was far greater than even that of the Brahmastra, the deadliest of all weapons. Determined to be a brahmarishi himself, he undertook severe penance. He accumulated so much spiritual power that he was even able to create a parallel universe so that King Trishanku could ascend to heaven with his human body. However, every entanglement in the affairs of the world caused him to lose spiritual energy. He finally let go of all his outer activity, performed severe penance and attained the title of Brahmarshi.
King Janaka and others were enthralled to hear this. Sage Vishvamitra then asked if Rama and Lakshmana could worship the divine bow of Shiva . Five thousand men brought in the bow set on a giant table. Rama, taking Vishwamitra's blessings, was able to lift the bow and string it, as if it were a mere toy. Delighted at this, King Janaka said that he had wanted to give his daughter Sita, who he had found many years ago as he was preparing the ground for a yagna, in marriage to the person who could lift and string the bow. With this good news, messengers were sent to Ayodhya. Once King Dasaratha reached, it was decided to marry other princesses to the princes of Ayodhya. Lakshmana married Urmila, Bharata married Mandavi and Shatrughna married Shrutakirti. After the joyous celebrations, as Rama and his entourage were en route to Ayodhya, Sage Parasurama came up to Rama and challenged him to lift and string Vishnu's divine bow. Seeing the ease with which Rama took the bow, the Sage realized he was Vishnu himself and surrendered his desire for heavenly pleasures to the arrow that Rama strung up and shot and humbly bowed to Rama.
We played a kahoot game based on today's story from Ramayana.
Gita Chanting
Our next class is on October 11th. Please note the following important information:
Class Rules:
*Class starts at 9:15am. We will not admit anyone during opening prayers.
*Children should log in with their name and have their videos on and be present in the frame. .
*No eating or drinking beverages during the class time.
Required Materials:
My Prayers book,Balavihar Handbook- http://chinmayavrindavan.org/announcement_files/CNJBVHandbook.pdf and Notebook/loose leaf sheets and folder, pencil/pen.
Class blog:
https://cmnjparentportal20-21.blogspot.com
Please feel free to reach out in case you have any questions.Abhirami Shrinivas and Vidhya Aiyer
Grade 7 Sunday AM
