Week 6
Hari Om Parents,
Welcome to week 6 of Balvihar.
Shlokas:
"Om Saha navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book)
"Vakratunda mahakaya" (page 27 in My Prayers book) .
"Gurur Brahma" (page 60-61 in My Prayers book)
"Karagre Vasate Laxmi" ( page 11 in My Prayers book)
"Samudravasane Devi" (page 11 in My Prayers book)
Sarasvati Namastubhyam ( page 12)
Shubham Karoti ( page no. 12)
All kids led the prayers.
Every week we will repeat the Shlokas we did last week and introduce one new Shloka. Please practice the Shlokas everyday at home.
Story:
We begin with reviewing where we were located in our story. We reminded children that Rama had snapped the bow and now Rama and Sita were to be married. We started with a question that can someone get married without both parents present. So Janaka sent messengers to Ayodhya for King Dashratha and the queens to come as fast as they could for the marriage. King Dasartha came as fast as he could hearing this joyful news. The date of the marriage was decided and all the preparations started for the wedding. As Rama and Sita were married , the heavens showered flowers and the people smiled and had tears of joy. King Janaka's brothers daughters were married too at the same time. Urmila was married to Lakshmana , Mandavi to Bharata and Srutakirti to Satrughna. King Janaka had no sons. He was very happy and at the same time very sad that Sita will go away after the marriage and who will look after him. But he convinced himself that he will have to remain strong-hearted as she is going to her husband's house and starting a new life. Time comes in each daughter's life that she has to leave her fathers house and go to a new place. We talked about how the teachers are away from our parents who are in India.
Sita wept and she clung to her father and wept, remembering her fathers love and generosity. She has to leave all that is familiar to her from her childhood and leave to a new place. Mithila was empty now . With all four sisters wed to the princes. It was the time for the departure. King Dasharatha proceeded to Ayodhya with everyone. Sage Vishwamitra handed over charges to King Dasharatha and blessed the brothers and their new wives and went to Himalayas to continue his penance.
Ayodhya was a very happy place. People of Ayodhya welcomed all the princes with their wives and they celebrated for many days. Sita among all became everyone's favorite. Rama and his brothers were helping their father in the matters of the State. Among all Rama always had a sense of justice and fairness and love for the people. People also loved him more and more. Bharatha was loyal and faithful. He loved Rama very much. Everyone in the kingdom was happy. Twelve such years passed.
One day Dasharatha thought of crowning Rama to the throne. As he was getting old he thought of retiring and going to the forest, leaving the worldly things , just like his forefathers had done before. So he called in everyone in his court and announced the his thoughts to all. Everyone was very delighted to hear the news as they all loved Rama. But they were also sad as they had loved King Dasharatha as their king for so long. Sage Vashishtha told the King that the following day was an auspicious day for crowning Rama as the king. King Dasharatha was delighted to hear that and he gave permission to start the preparations for the grand ceremony. Bharatha and Satrughna were away on vacation to Kekeya , but Dasharatha didn't want to postpone this any further.
Rama was called upon to the court. Dashartha told him that you are a good prince and you will be crowned king next morning. Rama was calm as he received the news. He accepted the decision and said I will do as you would like me to. I am duty bound and I will fulfill my duties to my best possible efforts. Rama after taking blessings of everyone in the court went to his mother Kaushalya. She embraced him and gave him her blessings and gave special garments for the ceremony for both Rama and Sita.
Rama and Sita went to sage Vasistha for the ceremony instructions.
The city of Ayodhya was getting ready for a grand ceremony. People were filled joy as their beloved prince Rama was going to become their new King. There wore beautiful clothes and put sandalwood paste on their foreheads. The streets were sprinkled with water and the halls were decorated with flowers and flower garlands. All hands were working to make the next day the best. People also decorated their homes and hoisted flags from the rooftops. Special ingredients ghee, Durva grass, honey, rice and sacred water in golden pots. The people of Ayodhya were getting impatient to see their beloved Rama to be crowned King.
Geeta Chanting:
We did chanting as a part of Geeta Chanting. We play a Geeta Chanting video that kids listen to and follow along. Chapter 2: Verses 5-6 is the instruction video for this week's Balavihar. These 2 verses are set in triShTup meter. Very melodious to chant, however challenging to teach as they are longer.
Activities:
We did marble mediation. We closed our eyes , then chanted Om three times and kids counted the marbles as I dropped it in a container. Total of 17 marbles were dropped. Then kids opened their eyes and we guessed the number of marbles. This time all kids said 17. Then we counted the marbles together. We recognized our excellent efforts on getting it all correct.
We all became trees one more time and swayed in the wind. We also tried balancing on one leg as a tree. Some kids wanted to be butterflies and they showed us that.
We continued with the next line of Bhajan - Khate bhi Ram kaho(My Prayers Book ,Page:144-145 ).
We colored in our coloring books. We page number 9 and 10. If kids have not colored any pages , pls finish coloring till page 10. DO NOT color beyond page 10.
We did likhita japa. Kids wrote Rama in English. We showed them in Hindi too. Also we showed them that they can write likhita japa in any art form. They can draw a flower or a butterfly or a tree , and write the lord's name in that art.
We sang the Janmadeen song for Chirag as it was his birthday.
We ended with Aarti and Pledge. We played the recording to Aarti and we all sang with it. Chirag led the pledge for us. If kids can, we will be led by different kids for our Pledge every week.
Pls check the link below to see pics taken during the class:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/9UdwTrFcBKAYqGEg8
Zoom Link:
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75507967979?pwd=Mk8vK0NxQmpkY29VZm1ORDVkVWorQT09
Books we will use:
My Prayers Book
Bala Ramayana Coloring book
Handbook
See you all next Sunday. Class starts promptly at 9:15 A.M. We will start Aarti and Pledge at 10:40.
Regards,
Dipti Chauhan and Nancy Thakkar
