Hari Om,
We started our class with 3 Om chantings and followed by our regular shlokas.
We had our first presentation of Saints of India by one of our students. The first saint was Adi Shankaracharya, who was born in the 14th year of the reign of Vikramaaditya in 700 AD, near Kalady, Kerala. His parents were very pious and devotees of Shiva. The divine child composed his first book at age 6, and took sanyas at the age of 8. His guru was Govindapada at Narmadesvara. Adi Shankaracharya composed original works such as Bhaja Govindam, Atma Bodha, Tattva Bodha, Daksinamurthy Stotra, Vivekachudamani, etc. He travelled across the country four times and established his mathas near Badrinaath in the north, Puri in the east, Sringeri in the south, and Dwaraka in the west. He single- handedly revived the Hindu culture and brought 75 different schools of thought under his Advaita philosophy. At age 32, he had completed his mission in life. We will continue with our presentation by the kids, next being Swami Chinmayananda.
Mahabharat continues- As planned, Dhirtarashtra tells Yudhishthira to spend a year in the beautiful city of Varanavata along with his brothers. Yudhishthira realizes that the intentions are not kind but is helpless and agrees to go. Bhishma also does not stop the Pandavas. On hearing this news, Duryodhana and his uncle Shakuni send for Purochana, who is a minister in Dhirtarashtra's court, and command him to go to Varanavata and build a palace for the Pandavas. They tell him that the house should be built with highly flammable material, like lac and wax, with pots of oil and ghee stored in several rooms. The people in the city are shocked on hearing the news and try to warn the Pandavas but the brothers and Kunti proceed on. Vidura warns Yudhishthira of a danger in a strange language. The Pandavas reach Varanavata.
The people in Varanavata welcome them. Purochana invites them to live in the newly built palace. It is a beautiful palace with all the comforts. When they are alone, Yudhishthira asks Bheema if he can smell something strange. He tells him that the house is built with a flammable material and that the plan is to set the house on fire when the Pandavas are inside. This is what Vidura was trying to warn Yudhishthira of. Bheema decides to leave the house. Yudhishthira suggests to wait and watch as he is sure his uncle Vidura will save them eventually.
Vidura as predicted, sends a miner who starts building a tunnel for the Pandavas to escape. One night, a nishada woman and her 5 sons spend the night in the palace. Bheema then sets fire to the palace with Purochana also sleeping inside, while they escape. The Pandavas reach the banks of Ganga and they are ferried across, as far as possible from Varanavata. The people of Varanavata and Hastinapur are meanwhile extremely saddened by the death of the Pandavas, having seen the bodies of the woman and her kids, and blame Dhirtarashtra for their deaths. Dhirtarashtra and Bheeshma also mourn. Vidura secretly informs Bheeshma the whole story and tells him that the Pandavas are safe but suggests that it would be better for them to live in disguise for sometime. The Pandavas are in Siddhavata now. They are extremely tired so Bheema offers to carry them to the forest Hidimbavana. Tired, all the Pandavas sleep there under the watchful eye of Bheema. The forest belongs to a Rakshasa named Hidimba. He and his sister Hidimbi live there. On seeing the Pandavas sleep, Hidimba sends Hidimbi to kill them and get him human flesh. But on seeing Bheema she falls in love with him and asks him to marry her. He refuses. Meanwhile, Hidimba comes looking for his sister and the reason for the delay. Bheema and he fight, and Hidimba is finally killed. The noise awakens the others and Hidimbi tells Kunti of her love for Bheema. Kunti asks her son to marry Hidimbi and they have a son named Ghatotkacha. After sometime, the Pandavas leave the forest and Hidimbi, and proceed to Ekachakra as suggested by Vyaasa.
At Ekachakra , they live with a Brahmin and his family. Soon, they hear about the pact the people of Ekachakra have with a Raksasha named Baka. According to the pact, every week one person from each family has to go to Baka with a cart full of food. Baka will eat both and in return, guard the city from intruders. The next turn belongs to this family. Kunti suggests Bheema go instead. Bheema kills the Raksasha and returns. The Brahmin man keeps it a secret that the killer was Bheema.
The Pandavas continue living in the Brahmin's house. One day, a traveler comes with the news of Draupadi's swayamvara. She is the daughter of Drupada, the king of Panchala. Drupada, to take revenge on Drona, conducts a yajna. Out of the fire comes out Dhristadyumna, who is destined to kill Drona. A young woman of priceless beauty also comes out. She is named Draupadi. Drupad yearns for a girl so that she can marry Arjuna, as Drupad is in awe of his skills in archery. Dhristadyumna learns archery from Drona, who teaches him very well knowing that Dhristadyumna has been born to kill him. On hearing about the swayamvara, Kunti suggests they leave Ekachakra and proceed to Kampilya, the capital city of Panchala. The swayamvara is to be a test in archery and Arjuna decides to participate in it.
We recorded Geeta Chapter 2 verses 3 and 4 and emailed it for class points. We also continued with our learning of verses 7 and 8. I have sent the link for verses 1-8 in our WhatsApp group. Please use these available resources to familiarize the kids with Geeta chanting. We also practiced Ganesh Pancharatnam. We ended our class with closing prayers and pledge.
We do not have class next Sunday. See you all on December 6th. Happy Thanksgiving to all and stay safe.
Regards,
Raji and Rekha
