Hari Om! Parents,
Balavihar class began with the class doing a deep breathing exercise and Shree Ram Jayaram chanting. After opening prayers, children took turns as per their assignment and chanted Ganeshastavaha, Pancharatnam and Gita Chapter 2 - 30 shlokas.
We have assigned two shlokas each to make it easier for all for the next class. Please encourage the kids to practice Gita chanting with Swamiji's recording on YouTube.
Mahabharata
We covered the below episodes in today's class:
We started with Virataparva today.
1. Planning for thirteenth year - The Pandavas had to be incognito during the thirteenth year of exile and not be found out by anyone. After considering many places, they chose the busy, big city of Virata in the Matsya Kingdom
2. The roles - Pandavas assumed different roles. They decided to pose as having worked with or for Yudhistira and now needed to find another job and place until the Pandavas needed to be incognito. Yudhistira was to be Kanka, adviser/philosopher, Bheema, as Valala, chef cum gym caretaker, Arjuna as Brrihannala (an ambidextrous woman and taught music and dance), Nakula - Damagranthi taking care of the horses and Sahadeva as Tantripala taking care of the cows and Draupathi, Sairandhri, a hairdresser, Queen's help.
3. Leaving for Virata - The Pandavas packed all their weapons and tied it up on a huge, dense tree by the Funeral place, invoked all the Gods and left in their. Yudhistira also told the Devas that the weapons be returned only when Yudhistira or Arjuna came and asked.
4. Pandavas in Virata - The Pandavas won their roles in the Matsya Kingdom just as planned and also won the King and Queen's hearts. The Pandavas had started liking their life in Virata even though they had dreaded their thirteenth year the most.
5. Wrestling Match - During the 4th month of their stay, there was a big festival held in honor of Lord Sankara. As part of that a wrestling match was held in which many wrestlers had participated and there was one wrestler from a foreign land who seemed invincible and was bragging too much. After Yudhistira nodded permission, Bheema fought that wrestler and made th eKing of Virata proud. Thus they became even closer and a favorite of the King.
6. Radheya's dream - Meanwhile in Hastinapur Radheya got a dream and in that, the Sun God warned Radheya that someone was going to come the next day and ask for Radheya's kavacha and kundala. He also told that Radheya should deny that since it could protect him against all evil, make him powerful and always protect his life. Radheya thanked the SUn God for the concern and good will but did not agree to deny anything. He was a firm believer that fame was more precious than life especially because he was treated badly because of having been born a Sutaputra. He did not want to lose the name he had earned as 'giver' at any cost.
Saints of India
Today, we had presented and discussed the Life and Teachings of Saint Surdas ji. We narrated a couple anecdotes from the Saint's Life and also played a famous bhajan composed by him. The four core values followed and taught by Surdas ji were
Sing His Glory
Speak Sweetly
Guard the senses
Be devoted
Geeta Chanting
Shlokas 1 to 30 of Chapter 2 have already been covered through Swamiji's Gita chanting videos in class since the beginning of this year. Children chanted two verses each and we revised shlokas 1-30.
Class material needed: notebook, pencil, Balavihar Handbook (Find the online version here : https://www.chinmayavrindavan.org/images/Documents/2020_CNJ_BVHandbook_Sep_04_20.pdf),
My Prayers book. Your child can also read from C Rajagopalachari's "Mahabharata" or Kamala Subramaniam's "Mahabharata". Both these books are available on Amazon.
Pranam
Shanthi and Rashmi
