Hari Om,
We started our class with 3 Om chantings, followed by our regular shlokas.
Then, we continued with our Saints presentation. This week was Narsinh Mehta, who was born in 1414 to a Nagar family. His parents died when he was only five years old and he was brought up by his grandmother after that. He married Manekhbai in 1429. His wife kept taunting him for his devotion to God, and eventually, he became tired of the treatment and left his house to go to the forest. He fasted and meditated for seven days near a Shiv Lingam. Shiva appeared in front of him and on his request took him to Vrindavan. Narsinh Mehta saw the raas leela of Krishna and the Gopis. This experience changed him forever. He became a poet and wrote 22000 kirtans.
Mahabharata continues- We start with the third Parva, Vana Parva.
The Pandavas, along with Draupadi leave for the forest. Several of the Brahmins accompany them. The whole group reaches the banks of Ganga and decides to take a break there for the night. The next morning, Yudhishthira addresses the Brahmins and ask them to go back to their families. He tells them that he is not in a position to feed all of them, but they refuse to go back. Sage Dhaumya asks Yudhishthira to pray to Surya, the Sun God, for a solution. Surya, pleased with his fervent prayers, blessed him with a copper vessel named Akshayapatra. The uniqueness of this vessel is that food cooked in that will feed everyone until Draupadi eats at last. Yudhishthira extremely thrilled as he now knows his whole entourage can be fed. All of them continue their journey towards Kamyaka forest.
In Hastinapur, Dhritarashtra is miserable and turns to Vidura for consolation. Vidura again advises him to bring back the Pandavas. Dhritarashtra is angry with Vidura as this was not the consolation he was seeking. He suggests to Vidura to leave him and join the Pandavas if he desires. Vidura decides to leave Hastinapur and proceeds to the Kamyaka forest to meet the Pandavas. The Pandavas, on reaching the destination, are surprised to see Vidura and ask him the reason for the visit. Vidura narrates the whole story. Yudhishthira is happy to see him but is aware of the fact that Dhritarashtra cannot function for long without Vidura's advices. As predicted, Sanjaya comes there with a message for Vidura from Dhritarashtra asking him to return back. Vidura is also happy to go back to his elder brother.
Duryodhana, on hearing about Vidura's return, is not very happy. Radheya again suggests wiping out the Pandavas in a fight. As discussions are going on, Vyaasa comes there, and hearing the different plans, becomes furious with them for entertaining such evil thoughts. He tells them to make peace with the Pandavas or leave them alone during their vanavas. Sage Vyaasa departs. Sage Maitreya now comes there and advises Duryodhana. Duryodhana insults him and shows him his left thigh. This angers the Rishi and he curses him that when Bheema breaks Duryodhana's thigh, he will die because of that. He tells the Kauravas not to underestimate the strength of Bheema as he has successfully killed Hidimba, Baka and Kirmeera. Dhritarashtra is upset, and Rishi Maitreyi says he cannot withdraw the curse but says that it will nullify if the Pandavas are called back. Duryodhana flatly disagrees, while Dhritarashtra wants to know who Kirmeera is. Kirmeera was Baka's brother and Hidimba's friend. On the way to Kamyaka forest, the Pandavas met Kirmeera who was enraged on seeing Bheema as he knows Bheema was responsible for the death of his brother and close friend. Kirmeera challenged Bheema to a fight. Bheema willingly fought with him and alas, Kirmeera met with death after a deadly battle.
Krishna along with Dhristadyumna comes to meet the Pandavas. He is saddened to see the plight of the Pandavas and their queen. He is ready to fight the Kauravas to avenge the injustice. Yudhishthira calms Krishna and accepts he has to suffer because of his foolish desire to gamble. Krishna gets extremely agitated and vows to destroy the Kauravas. Draupadi, on seeing Krishna and her brother, breaks down and narrates the whole saga. She blames her husbands for not fighting for her rights and questions their strength if they cannot even save her from her disgrace. She thanks Krishna for saving her dignity. Krishna wipes her tears and promises her that her tears will not be in vain. Krishna further apologizes for not being with the Pandavas when all this was happening as he was fighting with Salva and Saubha in a war. Krishna then leaves the Pandavas.
The Pandavas look to move to another quiet and serene environment, as they still have 12 more years of exile. Arjuna suggests the peaceful and beautiful Dwaitavana. All agree to the proposal. Yudhishthira finds peace in the company of the Rishis of the forest. Markandeya, the great Sage, visits them. Markandeya says he is reminded of the similarity between Yudhishthira and Sri Rama, who also did not swerve from Dharma, delivering justice in the end and finally ruling the world. Markandeya spends a few days with them and leaves promising to come back later. Yudhishthira is extremely happy in the forest listening to discourses on Vedanta etc. He enjoys the peace after all the tensed situations he had to face the last few years. But Draupadi and Bheema are extremely unhappy. Both cannot forget the injustice and spend day and night reliving the horrible day in Hastinapur. Arjuna is caught in between both his brothers.
One evening, Draupadi, unable to take it any more, tells Yudhishthira about her worries seeing the Pandavas so mellow and lost. She tells Yudhishthira that he is not behaving like a true Kshatriya. Her intent is to rouse his anger. Bheema also joins Draupadi in making Yudhishthira take up arms to fight the Kauravas for the injustice meted out to them. Yudhishthira justifies his reasons to be patient and refuses to swerve from Dharma. He tells them after thirteen years when the Kauravas refuse to give back the kingdom, that will be the time to fight them and not before.
While all this is happening, Vyaasa visits them. He tells them that war is inevitable. He reminds them that the Kauravas are equally strong and are supported by very able warriors, such as Bheeshma, Drona, Radheya etc. Vyaasa reminds them about the promise Indra had given Arjuna on defeating him, in the burning of the Khandava forest. The promise was to give Arjuna all the astras Indra possesses. Vyaasa thinks this is the right time to do so. He also suggests Arjuna should proceed to the north, do penance to please Lord Shiva so that he gives Arjuna his own Pasupata astra. He also finally asks them to leave Dwaitavana and go back to Kamyaka. The Pandavas set out towards Kamyaka. It is their sixth year if exile. Arjuna gets ready for his journey north and takes a sad leave of his brothers and wife.
Arjuna crosses Himavan and goes to Indrakila. He meets a ascetic who insists that Arjuna removes his armor and weapons before sitting down to meditate. Arjuna refuses even after much persuasion from the ascetic who finally reveals himself. It is Lord Indra. Arjuna requests for the promised weapons. Arjuna also tells him the reason for coming there. Indra asks him to first see Lord Shiva and get the Pasupata astra. Once that is done, Indra promises to hand over his astras. Arjuna starts the severe penance. Shiva and Parvati come there dressed as a hunter and his wife. At that time, Mooka, a raksasha, takes the form of a wild boar and attacks Arjuna. Arjuna takes his gandiva and sends an arrow. At the same moment, Shiva asks Arjuna not to kill the boar as it is his. Arjuna does not pay attention and releases the arrow. The hunter too releases his arrow. Both the arrows pierce the boar and the raksasha dies. Arjuna is angry with the hunter for attacking the boar and asks him for a fight. Both of them have a hard duel with the hunter winning in the end. A very unhappy Arjuna prays to Lord Shiva. Finally, Arjuna realizes that the hunter is Lord Shiva. He asks for the Pasupata astra. Shiva gladly gives him the astra and reveals his true self along with Parvati. Arjuna accepts it with great humility. Shiva asks him to proceed to the heavens where Indra is waiting for his son.
Arjuna is in a state of strange exhilaration. Suddenly there is white radiance around him. All the gods have come to Indrakila, and they bless him. Yama, Varuna and Kubera give him their astras as well. Indra embraces his son and asks him to come to Indraloka to pick up his set of astras as well as do some work there. All of them disappear. Indra sends his chariot to pick up Arjuna.
We started our next topic Festivals of India. We spoke about Maha Shivrathri and Holi. We discussed about the reasons behind these festivals, the religious significance and how each of us celebrate them, what we do, what we eat etc. We spoke about what we did on Shivratri day which was two days back and how we might celebrate Holi, which is coming up this month end.
We also continued with our learning of Geeta verses 25 - 28. We have sent the link for these verses in our WhatsApp group. Please use these available resources to familiarize the kids with Geeta chanting. This month is our grade sign up for soup kitchen. Please sign up using the link sent in WhatsApp as well as by another email. See you all next week!
Pranams,
Raji and Rekha
