Hari Om! Parents,
Reminder for class material needed: a notebook, pencil, Balavihar Handbook, My Prayers book.
Week 4 of Balavihar class began with the class doing a deep breathing exercise and Om chanting. After "Sahana vavatu" the children chanted the three verses of "Sri Ganesha stavah" (pg 28, My Prayers book). The audio for the prayer is posted on parents WhatsApp group. Please remind your child to try and memorise the prayer.
Mahabharata
After a quick recap, the Mahabharata story continued with Adi Parva. Under the tutelage of Dronacharya, the princes learnt skills with several types of weapons. Each became a master in the use of a weapon, but Arjuna outshone all others in archery. A grand tournament was announced and everyone assembled to see the princes display their skill. Last one was Arjuna and the crowd applauded loudly for him. King Dhritarashtra felt the pangs of jealousy but did not reveal anything. Queen Kunti was very proud of her sons. Just then a thunderclap sounded and everyone saw a god-like youth enter the arena. This was Radheya with his brilliant armor and earrings. He bowed to Dronacharya and went on to show off all the same skills that Arjuna had just presented. He then challenged Arjuna to a fight. Arjuna was eager to face off with this stranger, but Kripacharya stepped in and stopped them. He demanded to know who the youth was, and what was his lineage. Since according to the law of that time only equals, princes can battle princes. Duryodana is enraged and immediately crowns Radheya king of Anga. However, Athirata the charioteer steps forward to bless his son and reveals that Radheya is a "sutaputra". Radheya is mocked as not being worthy enough to battle Arjuna. According to the gurus a battle between them was not possible.The day ends with Radheya thanking Duryodana for his generosity and vowing to always be on his side. Duryodana has a powerful new friend, which does not bode well for the Pandavas.
Dronacharya demands his guru dakshina from the princes. Their task is to capture King Drupada and the princes eagerly set out to do it. King Drupada easily defeats the hundred Kauravas and the Pandavas step in to fight the mighty warrior. The Pandavas use a strategy and soon Arjuna captures the king in his cage of arrows. When the king is presented before Dronacharya, he reminds the king of the humiliation he faced. Now Dronacharya has taken his revenge and he releases King Drupada. King Drupada vows to avenge this and performs a yagna. A son, Drishtadyumna and a daughter, Draupadi emerge from the fire. The son is groomed to kill Dronacharya, while the daughter becomes the wife of the Pandavas.
Saints of India
One of the most important saints from India is Samartha Ramdasa from Nasik. We spoke about who is a "dasa". Ramadasa was guru to Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and with his blessing Shivaji never faced shortage of anything. Next we spoke about all the values Saint Ramadasa upheld in his life - love all, annihilate lust, and be austere. The other lesson we learned is "God first, others second, I am third". It is a reminder of how to live in this world. Next story was of saint Auvaiyar who lived during the Chola dynasty. A child prodigy, her "thirukural" poetry influenced the mighty kings and even ended wars. Her words of wisdom are relevant to this modern day. For example, a good deed will yield good results just like watering the roots of a tree yields the fruit. The important values we learnt from saint Auvaiyar are - to be positive, be steadfast, and keep harmony.
Next, Adhith shared the story of Ramana Maharshi with a beautiful powerpoint presentation. He spoke about the main teachings and also shared some of Ramana Maharshi's famous quotes. The sign up sheet for the in class presentation still has few open spots for children. Please see the link on WhatsApp if they are interested. The children will continue to update the reflection journal everyday. They will write down the value, from any saint discussed, that they have practiced.
Geeta Chanting
Grade 5 is the Partha group and will be learning verse 1- 30 of Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Geeta (pg 18, Balavihar Handbook). We completed learning verses 3 and 4 with our Swamiji. Please use the link on the WhatsApp group for your child to practice Geeta chanting at home.
Resources : If interested, your child can read Kamala Subramaniam's "Mahabharata", available on Amazon and Kindle. Youtube channel, "Epified- The Mahabharata", has bite-sized videos of the stories we are covering in class. The individual episodes are available if your child misses class, and are contained in this playlist. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5AjK1x6A8j5KPRft76yRbu3A5T_uxY7s
We will begin a passport making activity from next class to create a timeline of events in the Mahabharata story. Material list will be shared with you soon.
Pranaam,
-Rashmi and Shanthi
