Hari OM Everyone,
We asked them to write it all down in their notebooks so they can remember it :-) Please talk to them about it and ask them to tell you the stories so they will remember! Some of them are already reading the Bala Bhagavatam book at home - please ask them to read it to you as well. We will continue with the 9 modes of devotion next class as well.
Last two weeks have been very eventful! We had a surprise guest in our class the previous week - our own Swami ji came for a short visit and stayed with the class for more than 30 mins patiently answering the barrage of questions from the kids. Initially the kids had memorized and recited one Shloka from the Daily Prayers or 1 stanza from Madhurashtakam! Even though we had only asked them to memorize the English version, Siddharth and Neel memorized the Sanskrit version and sang! Great job by all the kids! Now the kids all want to do only the Sanskrit version of the song which we practiced this week!
They all asked Swami ji so many questions - here's a sample - unfortunately we could not record the session!
1. How was Lord Shiva born and if he had no parents who fed him and raised Him?
2. How can Hiranyaksha hide the earth under the ocean when Earth is already covered by the Oceans?
3. Why was Lord Rama there when Jatayu died but not when Dasaratha died?
4. Why did Lord Rama kill Ravana - is He not a God?
5. Are there people born now in Kali Yuga who might have seen Lord Rama and Lord Krishna in Treta Yuga and Dwapara Yuga?
6. Why did Lord Krishna give the Bhagavad Gita only to Arjuna? And if it happened in the battlefield how did someone write about it?
7. Why did Lord Krishna have to die by a hunter's arrow? Was He not a God? Could He have not anticipated it?
Swami ji asked them why they all liked Dhruva and also what was it that Prahlada told his father Hiranyakashipu when he asked him what he had learned in the Gurukula. Children did not recall clearly the nine modes of devotion that we had covered a few classes earlier. So we have decided to review it again in class. So in the last class we started talking about what is Bhakti, it is nothing but Love for God. We love only someone we know - so that's where Shravanam comes in - only when we listen to stories of Bhagavan we develop love for Bhagavan. King Parikshit is the example of a great listener. We talked about the difference between merely hearing and listening with a funny story of a school boy who is distracted in class by a mouse climbing up the wall into the cracks and when the Math teacher asks him when you take 2 away from 4 what remains he answers 'the tail'! :-)
Then we talked about how when we love someone we cannot stop talking about them - we asked them about their favorite Sports teams! Constantly talking or singing about Bhagavan is Kirtanam. That is another step in the nine modes of devotion. We also told them about Saint Mira Bai and how she was always singing about Krishna. We discussed how Narada ji who is a familiar character to them is constantly chanting Narayana Narayana. When we do our prayers and sing Bhajans we are doing Kirtanam.
Then we talked about why even when we had heard all the stories before, but when Swamiji asked we could not recall immediately - that is because we are not constantly remembering it. Smaranam is making a constant effort to remember the Lord. Bhakta Prahlada is a great example of someone who constantly remembered the Lord even when his father's army tried to kill him in so many ways.
We asked them to write it all down in their notebooks so they can remember it :-) Please talk to them about it and ask them to tell you the stories so they will remember! Some of them are already reading the Bala Bhagavatam book at home - please ask them to read it to you as well. We will continue with the 9 modes of devotion next class as well.
We then played a game to review the names etc learned in the previous classes. It was then Geeta time - we quickly reviewed the first 7 and we spent a lot of time learning to chant Verse 8! We will record it next class.
For the next class we have assigned everyone one Daily prayer and one Madhurashtakam stanza to memorize. Since this week we don't have class it would be great if they can memorize two! All the kids are very eager to participate in the Shlokathon on March 20th. Please register them here.
Our next class will be on 19th Feb and we will be having House Spirit Day activities! Please ask them to dress up in Green! Go Arjuna's Arrows!
Thanks & Regards
Jayashree & Suja
Jayashree & Suja
