Hari Om,
Following is summary of Balavihar session on "Mar 14, 2021 - Grade 5 (Sunday PM)"
We started the session with 2 minute silence followed by Guru Stotram, Ganesha Pancharatnam, Mahabharat story and Saints of India, Bhagavat Gita Chanting, Aarti and Pledge.
v Kids started their presentations on Saints. Today’s presentation was on Ramana Maharshi. More on that below.
v Practiced with Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 - Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d4EIe2V-Vc&list=PLwv-WSJSokEORu2iEsVanXQhQHOoiiQIy
Mahabharat
Rajasuya Yagnam and Story of Jarasandha
· Yudhishtra became the King of Indhraprastha.
· One day, Sage Narada visited Indhraprastha and suggested to Yudhishtra that he should perform the Rajasuya Yagna.
· Rajasuya Yagna was a sacrifice performed by ancient kings to be declared the King of Kings. Other kings attend it to coronate the king.
· Yudhistra begged Krishna for advise and Krishna gave him a huge ‘Yes’.
· Yudhishtra decided to undertake the yagna. The yagna required him to win all the other kingdoms either by friendship or war, including that of Jarasandha’s.
· Who was Jarasandha?
Jarasandha was the son of Brihadratha, the King of Magadha. Brihadratha had two wives but he had no children. The king went to a Rishi who blessed him with a mango and asked him to give it to his wife so that a child will be born. Since the king had two wives, he cut the mango into two and gave them to his wives. As each wife ate only half the fruit, they gave birth to only half a child. The wives and the king were frightened seeing the lifeless piece of child and threw the pieces away. A Rakshashi named Jara, was hunting for food and saw the abandoned pieces. She lifted the pieces in her hand and put them together. At once the two pieces joined together and came to life. Jara took the child to the king. The King was very happy and accepted the child as his son and named him Jarasandha.
By birth, the child had the power to join together if he was torn to two pieces. Jarasandha grew up into a valiant warrior. Once he ascended the throne, he wanted to expand his kingdom. He captured many kings and jailed them, but could never win Kamsa. So, he married off his daughter to Kamsa and made him his son-in-law. After Krishna slayed Kamsa, Jarasandha vowed to avenge Kamsa’s death. Jarasandha attacked Mathura 17 times but lost all 17 times. When he came to attack Krishna the 18th time, Krishna was tired of these continuous battles, and decided to shift his Kingdom from Mathura to Dwaraka which was quite far from Magadha.
Yudhishtra sent Krishna, Arjuna and Bheema to defeat Jarasandha. Krishna and team reached Magadha, challenged Jarasandha and asked him to choose his opponent for the duel. Jarasandha chose Bheema who he considered his equal. First they fought with maces. They fought so fiercely that the maces could bear it no more and blasted to pieces. They fought with bare hands. Bheema tore his opponent’s body into two but it kept joining back. Then Krishna had an idea. He took a stick, broke it into two and threw the stick topsy-turvy instead of keeping straight. Bheema understood Krishna and did as he signaled. He tore Jarasandha’s body and threw one straight and another upside down and the bodies never joined.
India Sacred Land - Saints – Ramana Maharshi
v Birth Date : December 30th, 1879
v Birth Place : Tiruchuzhi, Tamilnadu
v Parents : Sundaram Iyer and Alagammal
v Birth Name : Venkataraman and was later known as Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
v Early Childhood :
· Venkataraman’s early childhood was quite normal. He joined others of his age in fun and frolic. When Venkataraman was about six years old he made boats out of old legal papers belonging to his father and floated them in water. When his father reprimanded him, the boy left home. After a long search the priest of the temple found the boy hiding behind the statue of the Divine Mother. Even as a child he sought solace in the Divine Presence when troubled by the world
· Venkataraman completed elementary school in Tiruchuzhi and moved to Dindigul for further schooling.
· In February 1892, his father died and the family was broken up. Venkataraman and his elder brother went to live with their paternal uncle Subbier in Madurai, while the two younger children remained with the mother. Initially Venkataraman attended Scott’s Middle School and later joined American Mission High school
v Transformation Movement
· The turning point in Venkataraman’s life came spontaneously in mid-July 1896. One afternoon, for no apparent reason he was overwhelmed by a sudden, violent fear of death – he visualize as if was dead in his mind and question occurred to him – “If I could see my own death & rituals / ceremony, then who died?” Then pondered “Am I body or consiousness /life”
· After that, he lost interest in academics, his teachers started to give him impositions and he found imposition is ridiculous. He droped the books, closed his eyes and sat for meditation.
· He left home in search of truth – he left Madurai (his uncle’s place) and reached Arunachalam – Lord of Fire, one of the five Element s.
· He surrendered himself to Lord Arunachala (in Thiruvannamalai)
· He went underground cellar within the temple complex for his meditation, where he was absorbed in trance for 60 days, covered with ants and termites.
· He was silent for upto 11 years, he spoke for the first time after 11 years in Virupaksha cave to initiate an earnest seeker Ganapati Muni in the inquiry of “Who am I”.
v He passed away on April 24th, 1950
v Key Messages of Ramana Maharshi’s life
· Be Quiet
· Keep silence as it is a source of great strength
· Be thoughtful
· Be Meditative
Hari Om
CMTC - Sunday PM Balavihar - Grade 5 - Sevak and Sevika.
Harish and Priya
