Balavihar class began with the class doing a deep breathing exercise and chanting Sriram Jaya Ram , Jaya Jaya Ram. After the opening prayers, the children learnt the second and third verses of "Sri Ganesha Pancharatnam" (pg 29/30 My Prayers). Please remind your child to practice and memorise Sri Ganesha Stavaha and Sri Ganesha Pancharatnam.
Mahabharata
We had a quick recap of the story covered so far with an online multiple choice quiz. Children answered most of the questions correctly and had fun seeing what scores they finished with.
We covered these chapters of Mahabharata:
1. The Pandavas get sent to Vaaranaavata - Dhritarashtra and Duryodana with the cumming help of Shakuni and his friend Kanika decieve the Pandavas into going away, far from Hastimapura.
2. The building of the lac palace to trap them - Though the Kauravas pretended to send the Pandavas to enjoy the beauty of the city and to worhip Shankara , they actually planned to trap the Pandavas inside a palace made of lac (inflammable material) an dset it on fire when the situation was favourable.
3. Their escape with the help of Vidura and the men sent by him - The Pandavas sensing the conspiracy and danger stayed alert and planned for their excape. Their uncle Vidura sent his men to build a tunnel from the Palace to the banks of the river and advised them to travel South.
Saints of India
Today, we learned about Saint Kabira. Kabira lived in the 14th century and he was adopted by a muslim weaver couple . His guru was Shri Ramananda. Even when he did his chore of weaving, he was always engaged in thought about God. He composed and recited couplets in praise of God. He had both Hindu and Muslim followers. He condemned mechanically engaging in idol worship and prayers. He advised that we should seek Him in the depth of our hearts.
Also, one of the students, Ronit made an excellent presentation about Saint Tulasidas. We really appreciate the effort taken by the students and the parents in helping them with the research.
Activity
We have requested the students to pick one value from the 16 values followed by our Saints (from the ones covered so far in our lessons) and apply that in daily life. They may note down one example of how they followed the value (the one same value picked) each day, in their notebook over the week.
Geeta Chanting
First 2 shlokas of Chapter 2 covered today through Swamiji's Gita chanting video.
Next Class: Next class is 12/4/2020. No class this Friday , 11/27. Please encourage the childeren to sign up for shloka classes.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd8HGefCdC1wlQIPC7mI47F6XDx16X6KwxovuoB3O2dBmC4Ug/viewform
Link waa sent through the whatsapp group also.
Please reach out to bvhouses@chinmayavrindavan.org if you have any questions.
Class material needed: notebook, pencil, Balavihar Handbook, My Prayers book. Your child can also read from C Rajagopalachari's "Mahabharata" or Kamala Subramaniam's "Mahabharata". Both these books are available on Amazon.
