Hari OM Dear Families,
Here is this week's update.
Week 9:
13th December 2020 / 9:15AMOpening Prayers
Class began with opening prayers -3 OMs and followed by SahanAvavatu. One of the students led the chanting of "Neelambuja shyamala komalaangam".
We continued to learn Naama Ramayanam- finished Aaranya Kandam. One student reviewed Baala kandam and ayodhya kandam.
Ramayana:
After the death of Vali, Sugriva was crowned King and Angada crown prince of Kishkinda. It was decided that search parties would start looking for Sita after the rainy season, which was imminent. Sugriva had ordered all the monkeys that could take part in the search to assemble after the rainy season ended. However close to the time, he made no efforts to start the search and instead was immersed in enjoying the benefits of being a King. Furious, Lakshmana came to the court to remind of his promise. Afraid to face Lakshmana, Sugriva asked Tara to meet him first and appraise him of the steps taken so far. Tara did so and Sugriva also met with Lakshmana and assured him that the search would start soon. He then reissued his order to get all the able-bodied monkeys to gather at Kishkinda. Once all the monkeys had assembled, he divided them into four groups to search in the four directions and gave detailed instructions on the geography to be covered and gave them one month to find Sita. The leader of the group searching the southern direction was Angada, and some of the important members were Jambavan, Nila and Hanuman. Sugriva told Rama that this was the group most likely to succeed. Rama called Hanuman and gave him his ring, as a token that Sita could recognize the messenger was from Rama himself. The group searched far and wide and were exhausted. They entered a cave and got lost in it for a while. They came across an ascetic who revealed herself to be Swayamprabha. They told her about their mission. She said they had spent most of the month there - she transported them back using her powers and they were on the south seashore. Dejected that their time for searching was almost over, but they had no good result to report back to Sugriva, Angada lamented that he should just kill himself. While they were discussing the story of Sita's abduction, the name Jatayu came up. An old eagle that was nearby spoke up- he was Sampati, Jatayu's elder brother whose wings had gotten burnt when they flew too close to the Sun. Sampati thanked them for bringing him news about his dear brother, sad as it was. He told them that he was able to see very far and could see Sita in a grove of trees in Lanka.
Energised with this news, the group discussed who could make the leap across the ocean. Jambavan reminded Hanuman of his father Vayu and his abilities to fly as fast as his father. Hanuman started his journey to Lanka from the top of Mahendra parvata.
Leaping across the ocean, he was first stopped by Mynaka, the mountain who was saved by Vayu. Promising to visit with him on his return, Hanuman moved on. His prowess was tested by Naga goddess Surasa - who asked him to travel into her mouth as that was a boon she had from Brahma. He quickly engaged in a game of increasing sizes with her and then immediately reduced himself to a tiny being and then quickly zipped in and out of her mouth. Thus beguiled, she blessed him with victory. The rakshasi Simhika tried to drag him down by grasping his shadow but he overcame her as well. Landing in Lanka, he had to battle Lankini, the protecting deity of Lanka. Hanuman defeated her and she blessed him with free entrance to the city, as she had been told by Brahma that when a monkey defeats her in battle, that is the time for Lanka's downfall and destruction.
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#endoflanka, #Hanumanmission, #whereissita, #crosscountry, #lookingeverywhere, #crossingoceans, #hanumangetpower, #searchparty, #howmuchtimedowehavetosearchforsitaanyway, #sitawhereareyou?,#assemblesearchgroupforsita, #magicalcave, #sitamissing, #goingtoLanka, #THISISSOCONFUSING, #jatayubrother, #searchingforsita, #Jatayugivedirectionbutitisstillconfusing
Gita Chanting
We started to learn the eleventh and twelfth slokas from this year's topic- Chapter 2 Saankhya Yoga. We followed Swamiji's chanting video and we repeated it. We had volunteers leading and the rest following.
We concluded with Santhi mantras and pledge.
Our next class is on December 20th.
Parents, please record the kids memorized video version of Gita chapter 2 (4 verses at a stretch) and send it to house email to gain points for our Bajrangi Bolt's house. Also if the child completes a minimum of 10 pages of likhita japa, please take pics and send as attachment/link. The email to be sent is cnjbalaviharhouses@gmail.com
Please feel free to reach out in case you have any questions.
Hari OM
Abhirami Shrinivas and Vidhya Aiyer
Grade7 Sunday AM
Abhirami Shrinivas and Vidhya Aiyer
Grade7 Sunday AM
