June 4, 2021 - Grade 5 (Friday)

Hari Om! Parents,

Week 27, our last Balavihar class, began with deep breathing, Rama Nama japa, followed by Om chanting and "Sahana vavatu". The children took turns to chant "Sri Ganesha Stavah" and "Sri Ganesha Pancharatnam" (My Prayers book pg. 28 & 30 ).

Saints of India

After hearing about so many inspiring stories of the many Saints of India, the class had written down core values they had learnt in their introspection journal. Today the children did a "sticky note activity" on values they will try to practice in the future. Here is what they shared with us: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1x_H-ahmP6x0imrM1MmNlAvlLj2Gcgk9oDLgsn0ERw5Q/edit?usp=sharing . Please remind your child to keep updating their introspection journal over summer. 

Mahabharata  

The class was split into boys vs girls, then they played a fun game of  "Who am I?". One child was assigned a Mahabharata character, had to give clues and his team had to guess the name. The teams did really well, but the boys were the fastest and won! Next the children went over the main events that took place in each of the four Parva - Adi, Sabha, Vana and Virata, of the Mahabharata story. After this refresher of the story, the class took a Mahabharata Review quiz on Wordwall.  The children played a Spymaster game for some time. Our last class for the year ended with Aarti, Shanti mantra and Pledge (Balavihar Handbook pg. 26-30)

We would like to thank all the parents for your support throughout this year. We will miss seeing the children! Enjoy a safe summer!

Pranaam,  

-Rashmi Kuroodi and Shanthi Chidambaram

May 21, 2021 - Grade 5 (Friday)

Hari Om! Parents,

Week 26 Balavihar class began with deep breathing, Rama Nama japa, followed by Om chanting and "Sahana vavatu". The children took turns to chant "Sri Ganesha Stavah", "Sri Ganesha Pancharatnam" (pg 28, 30 My Prayers book) and also the verses 1-30 from chapter 2 Bhagavad Gita (pg 18, Balavihar Handbook). 

Saints of India

Krishiv did a saint presentation on Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He shared the life and teachings of this great devotee of Lord Krishna. The children learnt about his 'kirtans' praising Lord Krishna. Next we discussed one of his famous quotes, "Be more tolerant than a tree, be more humble than a blade of grass". Please remind your child to keep the introspection journal. They can continue to write down how they used the values learned through the saints.

Mahabharata  

After a recap of the battle between Arjuna and the Kaurava army, we continued with the Virata Parva of our Mahabharata story. King Virata returns to the palace after defeating the Trigartas, only to find about the Kauravas' attack on the south border. He immediately decides to go with his army to help prince Uttarakumara. Yudhistira calms him down and tells him that Brihannala would make sure that no harm would come to the prince. He asks the king to wait a bit longer, and soon the cowherds bring news of the prince's victory. The king is overcome with joy and orders the palace to make preparations for the prince's return. As they wait for the prince, king Virata suggests a game of dice. Yudhistira tries to convince him not to play, but the king is adamant. When they sit down to play, the king begins to boast about his son's achievement and bravery. Not able to stay quiet, Yudhistira says that Brihannala was also equally brave and had an equal hand in the victory of the prince. This angered the king, who threw the dice at Yudhistira. The wound on the forehead was deep and blood started to flow from it. Yudhistira cupped his hand and caught it, and Draupadi rushed to stop the blood with her garment. She explained to the king that if even one drop of Yudhistira's blood fell on the ground the entire kingdom would face drought and famine for a year. We spoke about how Yudhistira was such a righteous and principled person, that hurting him would bring death and destruction to his enemies. Soon the prince Uttarakumara arrives and narrates all that had happened. He tells his father that a divine being had come to his aid and had defeated the enemy. He does not reveal Arjuna's name to the king. Later Arjuna and Bhimasena see the wound on Yudhistira's forehead and are furious. They want to punish king Virata, but Yudhistira asks them not to be rash. The next day at an auspicious time, the Pandavas come out of their Ajnatavasa. They have a sacred bath, dress in silk clothes and jewellery. Then Yudhistira sits on king Virata's throne. The king is confused by this behaviour and Yudhistira reveals their true identities. When the king realises the significance, he immediately apologises to the Pandavas. He swears his allegiance, promises the support of his army and Yudhistira forgives him. King Virata gives his daughter Uttara in marriage to Arjuna's son, Abhimanyu. Duryodhana sends a messenger telling the Pandavas that Arjuna's identity was revealed before the end of the thirteenth year. He asks the Pandavas to return to twelve more years of exile. Yudhistira ignores this and sends a message to their grandfather Bhishma to pass the verdict on the matter, saying he will only accept that decision. The Pandavas move to Upaplavya and begin preparations for Abhimanyu's wedding to princess Uttara. All of the kings who support the Pandavas gather for the celebration. Drupada, Drishtadyumna, Shikandin, Balarama and Lord Krishna also attend the grand wedding. Abhimanyu and Uttara are a match made in heaven.  After going through those difficult years, the Pandavas finally get to celebrate a happy occasion. Lord Krishna promises Draupadi that better days are to come. Several kings have brought their armies with them in preparation for the inevitable war with the Kauravas. This is the end of Virata Parva and also the Grade 5 portion. The rest of Mahabharata story will be covered next year.

We ended class early to join the assembly and watched the Grade 2 program. No Balavihar class next week for Memorial Day, enjoy a safe long weekend!

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 

May 14, 2021 - Grade 5 (Friday)

Hari Om! Parents,

Balavihar class began with the class doing a deep breathing exercise and Shree Ram Jayaram chanting. After opening prayers, children volunteered to do  Ganeshastavaha and Ganesha  Pancharatnam.

Mahabharata 

We covered the below episodes in today's class:

We continued with Virataparva today.

1.  Prince Uttara Kumara to defend the South - After the Prince was convinced by Princess Uthara that, Brihannala could be his charioteer, he is excited and is in a hurry to go and fight with the Kauravas who were marching towards South of the Kingdom. As they near the battle ground, Arjuna is able to recognize each of them. He shows and introduces each one of them to the Prince - Bheeshmacharya, the uncrowned King of Hastinapur, Dhronacharya, his son Ashwattama, Kripacharya and Radheya.

2. Prince retreats - The Prince feels nervous seeing the strong army of Kauravas and tells Arjuna that they should withdraw. When Arjuna tries to convince, he just runs away from the chariot instead, not even caring about the loss of cattle or wealth or the Kingdom. Arjuna pursues him back, gives him the confidence and suggests that the Prince can ride the chariot and he will fight.

3. Kripacharya identifies Arjuna - Kripacharya who sees the Prince and the woman is able to clearly identify that the lady is none other than Arjuna. Though he regrets having told that loudly, he and Bheeshma discuss in code language and are relieved that there is no harm for the Pandavas now. According to some astrological calculations, the 13 years were already complete by this time. They feel Arjuna must have known this and this is why he must have come out in the open and have wanted  to help the King too.

4. Ashwattama and Radheya get into an argument - When Kripacharya suggests not to fight against Arjuna as it would result in a big loss. A war should be fought only if is essential and in this situation it was not. Radheya taunts Kripacharya that brahmins are only good to give advise on charity and not war. Ashwattama retorts saying it was all by cheating that the Kauravas banished the Pandavas to the forest and took over the Kingdom. Bheeshma interferes and helps both reconcile and to confront the situation with unity since, Arjuna was already proceeding. The army divides into four, one to go back with Duryodana and defend the Kingdom, another to defend the cattle and take them safe to Hastinapur and the rest 2 led by the acharyas and Radheya and others to fight Arjuna.

5. The battle begins - Arjuna asks the Prince to steer the chariot towards the Sami tree to get his weapon, Gandiva. The prince is extremely amazed seeing the weapons. At this time Arjuna reveals his identity and the Prince feels extremely humbled and blessed that he is the first one to see Arjuna after his ajgnatha vaasa. Arjuna changes the banner to ape banner, blows the Devadutta conch, shoots two arrows at the feet of Dhrona and Bheeshmacharya as though to get their blessing. Arjuna tells the Prince that the special army formation must be as instructed by Bheeshma but he is able to fight through it with ease. 

6. Arjuna chases Duryodana - Arjuna's only goal was  to defeat Duryodana and avenge all the miseries that he had subjected the Pandavas to. After releasing all the cows, defeating Radheya and others, Arjuna followed Duryodana's chariot, the serpent banner. He mocks and warns Arjuna not to go back like a cowaard but to come and fight. They fight fiercely and Duryodana is beaten very badly. 

7. Arjuna puts every body in a trance - Instead of killing the Kaurava army and his gurus and relatives, he puts everybody in a trance and asks Uttaram Kumara to bring their robes and jewellery. Symbolically, the Kauravas had their honor stripped off and the Prince rejoice the victory.

 

Saints of India 

Today, Raghav and Karthik made excellent presentations on Saints. Raghav shared a presentation on Saint Surdas and Kathik presented on Bharatiya Teertha Swamiji.

 

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. Please encourage the kids to practise chapter 2 , shlokas 1-30 with Swamiji's recording.

 

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

May 07, 2021 - Grade 5 (Friday)

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 

Apr 30, 2021 - Grade 5 (Friday)

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

Apr 23, 2021 - Grade 5 (Friday)

Hari Om! Parents,

Week 22 Balavihar began with deep breathing followed by Om chanting, and "Sahana vavatu". The children took turns to chant all the verses of "Sri Ganesha Stavah'' and "Sri Ganesha Pancharatnam" (pg 28, 30 My Prayers book). We listened to a Rama Bhajan and did 'Rama' likhita japa for Sri Rama Navami festival.

 Mahabharata

The story continues with Duryodana performing the Rajasuya yagna on a grand scale. After the yagna, Radheya promises Duryodana that he will kill Arjuna. Eleven years of exile are up and the Pandavas are back in Kamyaka forest. One day as they are out hunting, the king of Sindhu, Jayadrata, happens to pass by the ashram. He sees Draupadi alone and proposes marriage. Darupadi refuses, but he kidnaps her against her will. The Pandavas pursue Jayadrata and defeat him along with his army. Bhimasena shaves off half of Jaydrata's hair and the ashamed king runs away. With revenge in his heart, Jayadrata does intense tapas and Lord Shiva appears before him. Jayadrata asks the boon to defeat all the Pandavas. Lord Shiva tells Jayadrata he can only defeat the Pandavas when they do not have Lord Krishna on their side. Meanwhile, the Pandavas spend the last few months of exile in Dwaitavana. One day a brahmana comes asking for their help. A deer had run away with the arani sticks used to start his yagna fire. The Pandavas pursue the deer into the forest, but cannot catch it. They are thirsty and very exhausted. One by one they set off in search of water, but do not return. The worried Yudhistira goes in search of his brothers, only to find them all dead on the banks of a lake. A yaksha appears and warns Yudhistira not to drink the water until he answers the yaksha's questions. Yudhistira respectfully agrees and thus begins the "yaksha - prashna". One after another Yudhistira correctly answers questions on ethics, dharma and the right path. In the end the yaksha is so pleased with Yudhistira, that he grants him the life of his brothers back. The yaksha is none other than Yama, father of Yudhistira. Yama blesses all the Pandavas with the boon that they will not be found during Ajnaatavasa, when they are incognito. Yudhistira is granted the boon to win over six enemies - lust, anger, avarice, possessiveness, arrogance and envy. Next the children did an activity. They took turns and tried to answer a few of the "yaksha-prashna". There were several interesting answers! 

Saints of India

Amrita did a presentation on Maharishi Vasishtar and the children immediately connected with the Ramayana story from first grade! We also discussed how they are finding real life situations to use the values taught by the saints so far. Please remind your child to keep up with their journal writing on the values learnt from saints, and how they have applied it in their everyday life. We would like to save and archive all the amazing saint presentations made by the children. Please share your child's presentation by email with us.

Class ended early so we could join the third grade program in the assembly.

Geeta Chanting

Grade 5 children completed learning 30 verses with our Swamiji. Going forward children will do turn by turn review in each class. Please use the link on the Parents WhatsApp group for your child to practice Geeta chanting at home. 

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 

Apr 16, 2021 - Grade 5 (Friday)

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 continued with Vanaparva today.

1.  Arjuna's return - The Pandavas were then living in the mountains of Gandhamadhana, which was the most picturesque of all the places through their exile. And this had been the one place where their stay was pleasant to all and Draupati had actually smiled. But they had been missing Arjuna very badly and impatiently waiting for his arrival, as predicted by Kubera. A bright, heavenly light had appeared atop the mountain and Arjuna landed in a chariot rode by Matali. The brothers and Draupati were so relieved and joyed to see Arjuna. Arjuan related all his experiences with excitement, how he had spent time with Indira, his father, guru Chitrasena and how he had helped Indhra defeat the Nivatakavachas to regain Amaravati and the kalakeyas to regain Hiranyapuri.

2. Nahusha , the cursed King - Bheema, when he went hunting was caught by a huge python, who was actually a King from heaven who was cursed by the Sage Agastya. He was cursed to be relieved by the one who answered his questions on Dharma correctly. The situation had been created then when he was clasped by Bhhema and Yudhishtira had come in search of Bheema. Yudhishtira answered all questions correctly and with utmost humility. The King got his majestic form back and returned to the heavens.

3. Duryodana's evil plan - The Kauravas had come to know about the life of Pandavas in the forest and Arjuna's chivalrous activities through their spies and had got jealous again. They hatched an evil plan to visit the forest under the excuse of inspecting their cattle station and thus irritate and insult the Pandava with their flamboyance.

4. The war with the Gandharva - Duryodana went to the Lake near which the Pandavas were living. But in the lake, there was a Gandharva. Duryodaana ordered his men to inform the Gandharva to make way for Durodana. This made the Gandharva furious and the armies of the Gandharva and Duryodana fought with each other. But the Gandharva was too powerful and took Duryodhana captive and tied up Dusshasana. Duryodana's men approached Yudhishtira seeking help to release Duryodana. Yudhistira, the epitome of Dharma that he was, could not deny helping and saw the enemy of his cousins as his own enemy even though they had wronged so much to the Pandavas. Though Arjuna and Bheema were upset they obeyed their brother and fought the Gandharva. Soon Arjuna realized  that Gandharva was none other than Chitrasena from Indraloka, his guru. 

5. Duryodana's repentance - Chitrasena revealed the wicked plan of the Kauravas and told that it was Indra who had advised Chitrasena to go and help the Pandavas escape the insult by Kauravas. Yudhistira was mature enough to forgive Duryodana and let him go. Duryodana felt very ashamed of his act and also felt very insulted that he had to be helped by his enemy. He felt so guilty and bad for himself that he wanted to starve himself to death in the forest.However, after spending the night alone in the forest, he had his inner calling not to give up. His evil thoughts were back urging him that he could kill the Pandavas with the help of Dusshasana, Rradheya, Shakumi, Ashwattama, Dhrona and Bheeshma by his side.

Saints of India 

Today, we had presented and discussed the Life and Teachings of Mahatma Buddha. The four core values followed and taught by Mahatma Buddha were 

Give Up Greed

Harm None

Hate None

Meditate

We talked about a couple incidents in his life . The four noble truths he realized were

1. Human Life is full of sorrow and sufferings

2. Suffering and sorrow are caused by people's greedy desires for power, possession and pleasure.

3. Suffering and sorrow will come to an end when people overcome their greed.

4. People can overcome their greed by adopting the eightfold path

5. The eightfold path is right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right meditation

 

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

Apr 09, 2021 - Grade 5 (Friday)

Hari Om! Parents,

Our Chinmaya Vrindavan Geeta Chanting Yagna Regionals is on April 10th, 2021. Good luck to all our Grade 5 chanters!  

Week 20 Balavihar began with the us doing deep breathing with "Sri Rama Naama'', followed by Om chanting, and "Sahana vavatu". The children took turns to chant all the verses of "Sri Ganesha Stavah'' and "Sri Ganesha Pancharatnam" (pg 28, 30 My Prayers book).  After that, the children chanted Bhagavad Geeta Chapter 2, verses 1 - 30. 

Saints of India

We spoke about Narsinh Mehta. He was the famous Gujarati poet saint, whose "Vaishnava janato" composition inspired the likes of Mahatma Gandhiji. Few important values that his life taught us are: Speak ill of none. Help the needy. Be straightforward. Have no anger. The children listened to this composition, sung by the famous Lata Mangeshkar:- https://youtu.be/kIvCtJEispY. Next, Diya did a very informative presentation on the saint Muktabai. Muktabai was a Varkari saint and she wrote over forty abhangas. Remind your child to keep up with their journal writing on the values learnt from saints, and how they have applied it in their everyday life. We would like to save and archive all the amazing saint presentations made by the children. Please share your child's presentation by email with us.

Mahabharata

Our Vana Parva in Mahabharata story continues with Indra welcoming his son, Arjuna to Amaravathi. Indra sabha is magnificent and several celestial beings or apsaras entertain the guest of honour. The most beautiful of them all is Urvashi. She falls in love with Arjuna, but he ignores her advances. Angry at the rejection, Urvashi cursed Arjuna to lose his masculinity. However, Indra steps in and reduces the curse to one year. Indra advises Arjuna to use this curse wisely during the thirteenth year of incognito exile. Indra sent sage Lomasa to Yudhistira with a message of Arjuna's safe arrival at Amaravathi. Back in the forest, the other Pandavas and Draupadi are very worried. Sage Brihadaswa visits them, and consoles Yudhistira with the story of King Nala of Nishadha.The sage teaches Yudhistira, AkshaHridaya, the skill to never lose in a game of dice. After receiving news from Sage Lomasa, Yudhistira is relieved. Next Sage Narada visits them and advises them to go on tirth yatra or pilgrimage to all the sacred places in Bharatavarsha. Accompanied by sages Dhaumya and Lomasa, the Pandavas and Draupadi set off on a pilgrimage. They visit several important rishis' ashramas and get blessings. They are given a warm welcome by the Vrishnis and Lord Krishna in Dwaraka. They then travel north towards Mandara mountain, where they face harsh weather. Climbing the steep mountain is too strenuous and Draupadi faints of exhaustion. Bheemasena summons his son,Gatotkacha, who carries her the rest of the way. They finally arrive at the Badarikashrama, a safe place to rest. One day, a breeze brings a beautiful scented flower to Draupadi. She asks Bheemasena to bring her more of those flowers. Bheemasena's search leads him to the place where Lord Rama's greatest devotee, Hanumanji rested. Bheemasena mistakes Hanuman to be a monkey. He tries to move the monkey tail aside, but cannot even lift it. Defeated, Bheemasena realises his mistake and apologises. The two sons of Vayu recognise each other. Hanuman embraces and blesses Bheemasena. Bheemasena goes on to find the "saugandhika" flower and collects them for Draupadi.

Geeta Chanting

Grade 5 is the Partha group and will be learning verse 1- 30 of Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Geeta (pg 18, Balavihar Handbook). Last week we completed learning all verses with our Swamiji. Going forward children will do turn by turn review in each class. Please use the link on the Parents WhatsApp group for your child to practice Geeta chanting at home. 

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  

 

Mar 19, 2021 - Grade 5 (Friday)

Hari Om! Parents,

Balavihar class began with the class doing a deep breathing exercise and Shree Ram Jayaram chanting. After opening prayers, children too 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.

Mahabharata 

We covered the below episodes in today's class:

We started with Vanaparva today.

1.  Kamyaka Forest - The Pandavas travel to teh forest and along with them the brahmins also followed. Yudhistira was worried that he did not have any means to provide food for them and told them to leave but, they insted to stay. Then, their guru Daumya suggested to him to pray to Sun God. Yudhishtira does extreme penance and Sun God blessed him with a copper bowl that would always be full. Draupati could serve food to all with it. Meanwhile, Vidura advised Dhritarashtra to call the Pandavas back But when he did not agreed, Vidura also left  for the forest. He met the Pandavas but eventually Dhritarashtra called him back to the Kingdom. 

2. Curse of Maitreya - The great sage Maitreya had visitetd the Kauravas and advised them not to subject Pandavas to such severe cruelty and trachery and call them back to save themselves from the wrath of Pandavas. But Duryodana smote his thigh as a gesture to show his disinterest. Maitreya hence cursed Duryodana that his thigh will be broken by Bheema and he would lose his life. 

3. Krishna's visit to the Pnadavas - Krishna mentioned that he could have prevented the mishap had he not been away from Dwaraka to fight Salva. Then he pacified Draupathi that she will be avenged soon and Kauravas will be punished for their wrong doing. He even suggested to Yudhishtira that he could fight the Kauravas right away if he wished.

4. Move to Dwaitavana - The Pandavas killed many Rakshasas including Kirmeera, brother of Bhaka and then moved to a more peaceful forest called Dwaitavana. Yudhistira was enjoying the peace of the forest and was very calm and composed. Markandeya visited the Pandavas and stayed with them for a while and he observed the same composure and strength in Yudhishtira as in Lord Rama. He assured Yudhistira that he would also rule the world like Rama did.

5. Yudhistira's patience - While Arjuna, Draupathi and Arjuna were in anguish all the time and urged Yudhishtira to fight back, right away. But Yudhistira, the righteous person that he was did not at any cost want to break the promise of staying in exile for 13 years. He convinced them that all the anger that he had suppressed for the cause of Dharma would help him fight back with all the vigor if the Kauravas did not keep their word. 

Saints of India 

We continued with the group discussion we had started earlier that is  keeping a journal of a value picked by each and writing down their experience following it.

The values could be any one of the values of any of the Saints we have seen so far. A few children volunteered and shared the value they chose and an experience.

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. Going forward it will be revision.

 

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.

 

We joined the Main Assebly zoom at 8:20 PM to watch the monthly program performed by the 4th grade students.

Next Balavihar class will be on Apr 9, 2021. Wishing all the children and parents a wonderful spring break!

Pranam

Shanthi and Rashmi

Mar 12, 2021 - Grade 5 (Friday)

Hari Om! Parents,

Reminders: 

* Our Grade 5 Annadanam is on Saturday, March 20th. The sign up sheet is posted on Parents WhatsApp group. Please donate generously to those in need.

*Geeta Chanting Yagna Regionals registration is now open online at chinmayavrindavan.org.  and closes on April 4th, 2021.

Week 17 Balavihar began with the class doing deep breathing with "Sri Rama Naama'', Om chanting, "Sahana vavatu". The children took turns to chant all the verses of "Sri Ganesha Stavah'' and "Sri Ganesha Pancharatnam" (pg 28, 30 My Prayers book). 

Mahabharata

The Sabha Parva of our Mahabharata story continues with the Pandavas, Kuntidevi and Draupadi being welcomed cordially by Kauravas. At an opportune moment, Shakuni suggests a game of dice. Reluctantly and not to insult the host, Yudhistira agrees to it. Duryodana appoints shakuni as proxy and says that he will match any wager that Yudhistira places in the game. Yudhistira begins by putting small things like precious stones, gold coins and all his jewels. The skilled Shakuni manipulates the dice, leading Duryodana to win at every wager. Yudhistira then goes on to place his treasury, granary and army as wagers, only to lose them all to the skilled Shakuni. Duryodana is overjoyed, but Vidura tries to interrupt the game. He advises King Dhritarashtra to stop it, but the king ignores him. Not willing to give up and hoping to win back his losses, Yudhistra wagers all his brothers and loses them to Duryodana. Finally he wagers himself and Shakuni claims the win. Not satisfied, the cunning Shakuni proposes Yudhistira wager Draupadi in return for all that he had lost till then. In hopes of turning his fortune, Yudhistira agrees and loses again. Duryodana claims the Pandavas as his slaves and orders Dusshasana to bring Draupadi to the assembly. We discussed how insult upon insult is heaped on the Pandavas, but the great warriors are helpless in the situation. Upon Radheya's suggestion, Dushasana tries to disrobe Draupadi. Her devotion to Lord Krishna prevents that from happening.  King Dhritarastra allows Draupadi three boons and she gets back the Pandavas their freedom and possessions. Bheemasena takes an oath to kill Dushasana and Duryodana. Arjuna promises to kill Radheya and his allies. Sahadeva swears to kill Shakuni and Nakula swears to destroy Shakuni's progeny. After the Pandavas take their terrible vows, they leave for Indraprasta with revenge in their hearts, Duryodana is furious with his father. He convinces the king to invite the Pandavas back for a rematch of the dice game. Once again Yudhistira accepts the invitation and returns to Hastinapura. It was decided that the winner would have the entire kingdom and the loser had to be in exile for twelve years. One more year had to be spent in disguise. During which, if the identity was revealed, they had to return to twelve more years of exile. Shakuni uses his prowess with the dice to defeat Yudhistira. The Pandavas along with Draupadi begin their exile. Sage Narada visits King Dhritarashtra and shares the prophecy about the end of the Kauravas. The sage warns that they will pay for their treachery at the end of fourteen years. For the first time the king begins to worry for the safety of his sons. 

Saints of India

Meera did a great presentation on the saint Lahiri Mahasaya. The class shared their values journaling. We discussed how each of us can make a difference with simple acts of compassion. Remind your child to keep up with their journal writing on the values learnt from saints that they have applied in their everyday life.
We would like to save and archive all the amazing saint presentations made by the children. Please share your child's presentation via this email with us.

Geeta Chanting

Grade 5 is the Partha group and will be learning verse 1- 30 of Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Geeta (pg 18, Balavihar Handbook). Last week we completed learning all verses with our Swamiji. Going forward children will do turn by turn review in each class. Please use the link on the Parents WhatsApp group for your child to practice Geeta chanting at home. You can email your child's Geeta chanting recordings to cnjbalaviharhouses@gmail.com to earn Houses points for Arjuna's Arrows.

Pranaam,

-Rashmi and Shanthi

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  

Class materials needed: Journal/ notebook, pencil, Balavihar Handbook, My Prayers book.   

Mar 5, 2021 - Grade 5 (Friday)

Hari Om! Parents,

Balavihar class began with the class doing a deep breathing exercise and Shree Ram Jayaram chanting. After opening prayers, children too turns as per their assignment and chanted Ganeshastavaha,  Pancharatnam and Gita Chapter 2 - 28 shlokas. 

Mahabharata

 Activity:

To recap Mahabharata story so far, the childrean were given a game through Wordwall to play. Questions were from the story and episodes covered so far. They did really well.

Story:

We covered the below in today's class:

1.  Destiny of war and destruction - The Kings who visited Indhraprastha were all ready to leave for their countries. Krishna also left for Dwaraka back after his visit. Duryodana,  Dusshasana, Sakuni and Radheya stayed back to see the Hall. 

Yudhistira was very pleased and took good care of them. When Vyasa Maharshi bade his farewell, Yudhistira, being concerned about the bad omens after the Rajasuya Yagna asked what those meant. Vyasa applauds Yudhistira for the successful completion of the Rajasuya Yagna and fulfilling his father's wish. However, when Yudhistira insisted, Vyasa told him that the death of Shishupala and the bad omen did indicate the bad time that was going to prevail soon. He told that fate has planned the destruction of the Kshatriyas. The wrongdoing of Duryodana, the power of Bheema and Arjuna  and the anger of Draupathi will all be a reason for it. Yudhistira felt very sad. Vyasa convinces that it was the play of fate and it cannot be stopped. Saying so, he blessed Yudhistira and took his leave.  

2. Duryodana visiting the Hall of Maya - Duryodana visited the Hall of Maya and was totally blown away at the marvel and was filled with jealousy. The asura architect Maya had built the palace with so much complex gadgetry that if anybody looked at it with jealousy, they would be deceived. He walked carefully assuming there was water at one place. Realizing there was not, he walked further thinking it was just a floor but there was actually water. He slipped and fell, getting his clothes drenched. Draupathi and others who saw this started laughing, causing him terrible embarrassment. Similarly, he had several other accidents through the Hall of Maya. Even though Yudhistira honored him well and took good care of him well, Duryodana was totally depressed by this incident.

3. Sakuni came up with a treacherous plan - Duryodana was so sad and depressed after returning to Hastinapur. He did not speak to anyone. He told his uncle Sakuni that he  could not bear the success of the Pandavas and would not be at peace until the Pandavas were perished. Sakuni told that the Pandavas could never be defeated by any fair means because they were the most powerful. But he suggested that they should come up with a deceptive plan. Knowing that Yudhishtira had a weakness for gambling and he himself was very good at rolling the dice, he told Duryodana if they could get the Pandavas to play a game with them , he could make them lose their Kingdom and hall their honor onor to the Kauravas in the game. The difficult part was convincing King Dhritarastra to agree to this plan and invite Yudhistira to Hastinapur.

We discussed the character of Duryodana. He was a powerful warrior, a good Yuvraj of Hastinapur, a charming Prince who could attract Radheya, Ashwattama and who was generous enough to make Radheya the King of Angha. However, his jealousy was one bad trait in him that was the root cause of all destruction.

Saint of India 

We had a group discussion on the Life History and contributions of Mother Theresa. One of the students, Mahati, had earlier presented 'Mother Teresa' for Saint Presentations.

Hence, the participation was even better. We also revisited the activity we had started earlier that is  keeping a journal of a value picked by each and writing down their experience following it.

The values could be any one of the values of any of the Saints we have seen so far.

Geeta Chanting

Shlokas 29 and 30 of Chapter 2 covered today through Swamiji's Gita chanting video.

 

Class material needed: notebook, pencil, Balavihar Handbook, 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

Feb 26, 2021 - Grade 5 (Friday)

Hari Om! Parents,

With Pujya Gurudev's Grace and our Swamiji's blessings, our Grade 5 program went very well today. Thank you to Swamiji for giving us the opportunity and for his words of encouragement for the class! We would especially like to thank all the Grade 5 parents for your support. The children worked very hard and we are both so proud of them! 

Incase you missed it, here is the video link to the Grade 5 program: https://youtu.be/QPMVtm69MrI

Reminders: 

*Geeta Chanting Yagna Regionals registration is now open online at chinmayavrindavan.org/geeta-chanting/

*Shlokathon registration ends on March 12th.

Week 15 Balavihar began with the class doing deep breathing with "Sri Rama Naama", Om chanting, "Sahana vavatu" and chanted all the verses of  "Sri Ganesha Stavah" (pg 28, My Prayers book). The children reviewed a few simple shlokas like the daily prayers, Guru Stotram and Sri Rama shlokas from their My Prayers book today.  

Mahabharata

Sabha Parva of the Mahabharata story continues with all the sages, kings and other guests arriving in Indraprasta for the Rajasuya Yagna. Yudhistira had sent Nakula to invite Bheeshma and all the Kauravas to the ceremony, including Shakuni. The guests arriving at the capital are awestruck by its grandeur. Beautiful gardens, fountains, precious gem-studded walls were everywhere they looked. The palace was so massive that it had enough room to host all the hundreds of guests. Each king brought special gifts for the Pandavas and soon the kingdom's coffers were overflowing with riches. Duryodana could barely contain his jealousy and rage. He was frustrated that the Pandavas could survive his evil deeds and were now more powerful. Sage Narada was also a guest. At the auspicious time Sage Vyaasa completed the coronation of Yudhistira. Bheeshma asks Yudhistira to choose a guest of honour to complete the ceremony. Unable to decide, Yudhistira asked his grandfather whom he should choose. Bheeshma immediately says the guest of honour must be Lord Krishna. Yudhistira and Sahadeva perform puja to Lord Krishna with utmost devotion. Sisupala, king of Chedi, does not like this and makes a commotion. He accuses Yudhistira of insulting the great warriors in the sabha and then begins insulting Lord Krishna continuously. He then challenges Lord Krishna to battle. After a fierce fight, Lord Krishna releases his chakra and beheads Sisupala. Bheeshma explains why Sisupala met his end in the hands of Lord Krishna. Sisupala's mother was Vasudeva's sister and so Lord Krishna was his cousin. When Sisupala was born he had three eyes and arms. The parents were frightened by this monstrous child. A voice from the heavens announced that the extra limbs would disappear when the baby was in the lap of its killer. The worried mother would place the baby in the lap of everyone to see who it would be. Once when Lord Krishna visited, she placed the baby in his lap and the extra organs disappeared. Lord Krishna's scared aunt made him promise not to kill her son. Lord Krishna told his aunt that he would forgive a hundred wrongs by Sisupala. Sisupala grew up to be cruel and evil. He wanted to marry Rukmini, but she chose Lord Krishna instead. He befriended Jarasandha and waged war against Lord Krishna's clansmen. Sisupala had always hated Lord Krishna and was an enemy of the Vrishnis.That day at the Rajasuya Yagna, Sisupala had crossed a line. By insulting Lord Krishna, he had to pay for his past bad actions. What began as an auspicious day for the Pandavas ended with bad omens being seen everywhere. 

Saints of India

We would like to save and archive all the amazing saint presentations made by the children. Please share your child's presentation via this email with us. Remind your child to keep up with their journal writing on the values learnt from saints that they have applied in their everyday life.

Geeta Chanting

Grade 5 is the Partha group and will be learning verse 1- 30 of Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Geeta (pg 18, Balavihar Handbook). This week we completed learning verses 27 and 28 with our Swamiji. Please use the link on the Parents WhatsApp group for your child to practice Geeta chanting at home. You can email your child's Geeta chanting recordings to cnjbalaviharhouses@gmail.com to earn Houses points for Arjuna's Arrows.

Pranaam,

-Rashmi and Shanthi

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  

Class materials needed: Journal/ notebook, pencil, Balavihar Handbook, My Prayers book.   

Feb 05, 2021 - Grade 5 (Friday)

Hari Om! Parents,

Week 14 Balavihar began with the class doing deep breathing with "Rama Naama", Om chanting and "Sahana vavatu". We chanted all the verses of  "Sri Ganesha Pancharatnam" (pg 30, My Prayers book). The children practiced the lines assigned to them for our class program. Please use the shloka recording posted on the parents WhatsApp group for your child to memorise. 

*Gentle reminder for our play practice this Saturday, please ensure mic and camera on your child's device is working properly.*

Mahabharata

After a quick recap of the birth of king Jarasandha, Sabha Parva of our Mahabharata story continues. Lord Krishna, Bhimasena and Arjuna leave for Magadha disguised as snatakas. They enter King Jarasandha's palace by jumping over the wall. Jarasanda confronts them and they introduce themselves. Lord Krishna lets Jarasanda know that they wanted to free all the kings who were unjustly imprisoned. He challenges the king to a duel and Jarasandha picks Bhimasena to fight with. Equally matched in strength and skill, the two of them wrestle continuously for fourteen days and nights. Lord Krishna encouraged Bhimasena to split Jarasandha in half. Praying to his father, Vayu deva, Bhima lifts Jarasandha and tears him into two pieces. Much to everyone's surprise, the body becomes whole and Jarasandha begins to fight again. Next Lord Krishna takes a leaf, tears it in half, turns a piece around and throws them to different corners. Imitating Lord Krishna, Bhima tears Jarasandha and throws the pieces in different directions. The halves did not join up and Jarasandha died. They released the prisoners, who vowed their loyalty to Yudhistira. All of these kings were invited to the Rajasuya yagna. Jarasandha's son was crowned king and he too promised to support the Pandavas. Lord Krishna returned to Dwaraka to share the good news with the Vrishnis. We discussed how the death of Jarasandha also ensured Pandavas the support of several kingdoms. Lord Krishna was planning for a bigger war against the Kauravas that would come later. Indraprastha is bursting with the excitement that the king was going to perform the Rajasuya yagna. Next king Yudhistira sends Arjuna to the north, Bhimasena to the east, Nakula to the west and Sahadeva to the south. They leave with invitations to all kings for the Rajasuya yagna and anyone opposed would be defeated by a battle. Arjuna travelled all the way to the northernmost point of mount Meru. He battled and defeated a few kings on the way. He also met several kings and earned their support. Bhimasena successfully gathered support of many including Sisupala. Success followed Nakula and Sahadeva wherever they went, and they also  invited several kings to the yagna. Indraprasta's coffers were filled with the generous contributions by all the supporters of the Pandavas. Grand arrangements were made for the yagna and the auspicious day soon arrived. 

Saints of India

Ishan presented the interesting life story of saint Sai Baba to his classmates. The children learnt the values of tolerance towards all and humility. We would like to save and archive all the amazing saint presentations made by the children. Please share your child's presentation via this email with us. Please remind your child to keep up with their journal writing on the values learnt from saints applied in their everyday life.

Geeta Chanting

Grade 5 is the Partha group and will be learning verse 1- 30 of Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Geeta (pg 18, Balavihar Handbook). This week we completed learning verses 21 and 22 with our Swamiji. Please use the link on the Parents WhatsApp group for your child to practice Geeta chanting at home. You can email your child's Geeta chanting recordings to cnjbalaviharhouses@gmail.com to earn Houses points for Arjuna's Arrows.

Pranaam,

-Rashmi and Shanthi

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  

Class materials needed: Journal/ notebook, pencil, Balavihar Handbook, My Prayers book.

Jan 29, 2021 - Grade 5 (Friday)

Hari Om! Parents,

Balavihar class began with the class doing a deep breathing exercise and Shree Ram Jayaram chanting. After opening prayers, children revised Ganesha Pancharatnam. And two lines from the Pancharatnam were each assigned to the children. Those would be the lines that each kid  will be singing at the monthly program. Please remind your child to practice and memorise their lines. 

Mahabharata

  Adiparva was completed by last class. We had a quick recap of the story covered last class to recollect why Maya was indebted to Arjuna.Today we started with Sabhaparva. We covered these chapters of Sabhaparva:

1. Maya Building the beautiful Hall. Maya wanted to do something for Arjuna to express his gratitude. Even when Arjuna told he was happy with thtem beign good friends now and there was no obligation, Maya insisted he asked for soemthing. Arjuna then sugests he could do something that would make Krishna happy and Krishna in turn, being  fond of Yudhishtira suggested that Maya who was an amazing architect should build a beautiful place for Yudhistira. And that sabha must be unique. Krishna could foresee the future and all that was happening was for a reason and as destined to be. Krishna took Maya to Yudhistira and Yudhistira introduced Maya to all and showed the place to build the Assembly Hall. Maya gathers all the expensive material for the buildings, brings the rarest and shiniest of the stones and gems from his possessions which he had hid under the lake of Bindusaras near Mount Kailash. He also brings a gada for Bheema and a conch called Devadutta for Arjuna. The Hall was constructed beautifully. It had beautiful gardens of all flowers and shone from every direction. It beat even Sudharma, the Sabha of Indra in spledour. Pandavas were speechless at the marvel created. Maya took leave of them and gifted Arjuna with a special and powerful chariot with the 'monkey' emblem on the flag and told that Arjuna will hence forth be known as Kapidwaja because of that. Krisha leaves for Dwaraka. 

2. Narada's visit to Indraprasta and the Hall

   Many friends and relatives except the Kauravas visit the beautiful hall and rave about its beauty. Many students stayed with them to learn the skills fromm Arjuna. Narada also hears about the Hall and he also visits the Pandavas, enthusiastically looks around and approves the Hall as the best on earth. When asked by Yudhistira to share his knowledge of other halls in all three worlds, he tells the stories about the Assebly Halls of Varuna, Indra, Yama, Rudra and Yama. He describes the excellence of the Sabhas and the KIngs who lived there. Yudhistira notices that all the Kings including his forefathers of the Kuru dynasty, lived in the Palace of Yama. Only Harishchandra lived in Indraloka. And he asks Narada what made Harishcandra special and why not his forefatehrs. Narada explains that it was because Harichandra, the son of Trishanku, and a favorite of Viswamitra , after conquering all the Kingdoms had successfully performed the Rajasuya Yagna. And that is what had made him eligible to be in INdraloka. Narada also says that Pandu had mentioned that if the Pandavas performed the Rajasuya yagna, he also could go to Iddraloka. Saying so , Narada blesses the Pandavas that Pandavas are the only ones capable of this on the earth, blesses them and leaves.

3. Rajasuya Yagna

Ever since Narada's visit, Yudhistira is not able to think of anything else but the Rajasuya Yagna. He is very confused and immediately calls for Krishna who he knew could give him the best advice and clear his confusion. Krishna, foreseeing the inevitable and the reason for all the happening explains the possibilities and challenges to Yudhishtira. He says Yudhistira need not worry about all the other Kshatriyas. But Jarasandha was a really powerful one and is undefeated. Krishna had killed Jarasandha's son in law, Kamsa and hence Jarasandha had fought 18 times with Krishna. Yet Krishna coould not defeat Jarasandha. And that is the reason, to be away from him, Krishna and his folks had moved from Mathura to Dwaraka. And he was sure that all of Kauravas and Radheya will supporrt Jarasandha. But if they were able to kill Jarasandha, it is equivalent to defeating all the other Kings since nobody else would then dare to defy Yudhistira who has defeated Jarasandha. But Jarasandha was an ardent devotee of Sankara and was very righteous. He was also going to sacrifice the lives of the captive KIngs to Rudra. Hearing this, Yudhistira lost all hope and said it would be best to give up the idea entirely. Then Krishna, Bheema and Arjuna convince him that by attempting to fight against Jarasandha, they would also be helping the innocent Kings from being sacrificed. And God will favor those who stand up for the weak. And it is always better to die as warriors even if defeated. Yudhistira wanted to know what made Jarasandha so powerful that he could not be defeated even by Krishna whose very presence itself has the powerr to destroy the evil. The Krishna begins to tell teh story of Jarasandha.

 

Saints of India

Today, one of the students, Tanusri made an excellent presentation about Shri Gautama Buddha. The slides and the reference pictures used were very consistent and done very nicely.

We really appreciate the effort taken by the students and the parents in helping them with the research, preparing the slides and presentation.

Activity

Annual Program by Grade 5 kids Friday batch will be presented on Feb 26th. We discussed the plan for Saturday to have a rehearsal from 3:00 to 4:00 PM to assign the rroles and lines for each participants. 

Geeta Chanting

Shlokas 19 and 20 of Chapter 2 covered today through Swamiji's Gita chanting video.

 

Class material needed: notebook, pencil, Balavihar Handbook, 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

Rashmi and Shanthi