Hari Om! Parents,
Wishing all the Grade 5 families a blessed Gurudev Jayanthi! Our class participated in the Guru Paduka Puja today.
Week 24 Balavihar began with deep breathing with Rama Nama, followed by Om chanting and "Sahana vavatu". We chanted "Sadasiva samarambham" and the Guru Stotram (pg 59/ 61, My Prayers book). We also chanted "Samudra vasane devi" (pg 11, My Prayers book), asking forgiveness from Mother Earth on Mother's Day. We discussed similarities between Mother Earth and our own mothers, in that they are kind-hearted, patient and forgiving of us.
Saints of India
Today's topic of discussion was Chinmaya Mission's Guru Parampara (pg 57, My Prayers book) and our Pujya Gurudev, Swami Chinmayanandaji. We remain eternally grateful for our Pujya Gurudev, who started Chinmaya Mission/Balavihar. Thus giving us this unique opportunity to connect to our roots in Hindu Dharma. We discussed quotes by our Pujya Gurudev :- " Happiness depends on what you can give, not on what you can get". We spoke about how giving to others brings happiness.
"Success or achievement is not the final goal. It is the 'spirit' with which you act that puts the seal of beauty upon your life!" The children shared what they thought was the 'spirit' of action. Next, the children shared how they used the values learned through saints, in the past week.
Mahabharata
After a quick recap quiz, we continued the Virata Parva of the Mahabharata story with Keechaka's return. Brother to queen Sudeshna and commander-in-chief of king Virata's army, Keechaka, is a powerful warrior. He defeated an old enemy, the king of Trigartas and thus gained the favor of king Virata. During his visit to his sister, he sees and falls in love with Sairandri or Draupadi. Sairandri rejects his proposal and the angry Keechaka hits her. Sairandri runs to the king's court, complains about the abuse and asks for justice. The king refuses to take action as Keechaka is his brother-in-law and army's general. The king claimed he had not seen anything and thus could not pass judgement. Not getting any support from Yudhistira either, the angry Draupadi leaves court. She approaches Bhimasena, tells him what had happened and asks him to kill Keechaka. Bhimasena is in a predicament, any attention drawn towards the Pandavas in 'Agnatavasa' would be bad for them. He tries to explain to Draupadi that by killing Keechaka he will be recognised. He asks her to wait for a fortnight, but she refuses to be convinced. Bhimasena agrees and plans to kill Keechaka the next night in the dance hall. Draupadi asks Keechaka to meet her there and when he turns up Bhimasena kills him. The royal household is shocked when Sairandri tells them that her gandharva husband had killed Keechaka. The Upakeechakas, 105 brothers of Keechaka, are so angry that they decide to burn Draupadi in the funeral fire. Hearing her cries for help, Bhimasena battles them and kills them all. The queen feels it is too dangerous for Draupadi to stay at the palace and asks her to leave. Draupadi requests her for thirteen days, after which her gandharva husbands would be free of their curse. The queen reluctantly agrees to this. Meanwhile, back in Hastinapura, the spies bring news of Keechaka/ Upakeechakas' deaths to Duryodana. He makes the connection and recognises that Bhimasena was behind this. An overjoyed Duryodana plans to invade Matsya kingdom. He thinks that the Kauravas can not only unmask the Pandavas' in their hiding place, but also gain the cattle and wealth of Virata's kingdom. Kauravas' ally, king of Trigartas, attacks Matsya kingdom from the north and takes away the cattle. King Virata prepares his army to retrieve his wealth and defeat the enemy. Yudhistira, Bhima, Nakula and Sahadeva offer their services and the king gladly accepts. After a terrible battle, with the support of the Pandavas, the Trigarta army is defeated. However, the Kaurava army attacks Matsya from the south and the news reaches the capital. Since king Virata was away, his son, prince Uttara Kumara was left in charge of the palace. The ministers advice the prince to go immediately with his army and save the kingdom. The prince, reluctant to go to battle, claims he has no charioteer to drive him. Hearing this, Sairandri/Draupadi proposes Brihannala's name. She tells the prince that Brihannala was Arjuna's charioteer and is well qualified for the job. The prince does not agree, saying it would be beneath his dignity as a kshatriya to have a woman steer the chariot. Princess Uttara and Draupadi convince the prince that in an emergency crisis, things like this are too small to consider. Prince Uttara Kumara agrees and summons Brihannala. Brihannala/Arjuna is dressed in armor and they both leave the capital to battle the Kauravas.
We paused the story here, to join the assembly for puja. Happy Mother's Day wishes to all our Grade 5 moms!
Pranaam,
-Rashmi and Shanthi
Class materials needed: Journal/ notebook, pencil, Balavihar Handbook, My Prayers book.
Resources : If interested, your child can read Kamala Subramaniam's "Mahabharata", available on Amazon and Kindle. On the Youtube, "Epified- The Mahabharata" channel, has bite-sized videos of the stories we are covering in class. The individual episodes are available, in case your child misses class. This is the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5AjK1x6A8j5KPRft76yRbu3A5T_uxY7s
