Hari Om Dear Families,
We had an other awesome Sunday morning with energetic, curious kids.
Please find below the summary of our class on Sunday, Sep 25 2022
- We chanted 3 OMs followed by 4 opening Prayers:
- Sahanavavatu (to Pray to Lord to keep both Guru and Disciple on the path of study)
- Vakratunda mahaakaavya(for Lord Ganesha)
- Saraswathi namastubhyam (for Devi)
- Guru Brahma (for Guru)
Most of the kids can chant these shlokas well, except for few. We will try to send the recording on WhatsApp group asap.
- We learned and chanted Dhyana Shloka of Sri Hanuman
Buddhir Balam Yashodhairyam nirbhayatvam arogataa
ajaaDyam vaakpaTutvam cha hanumat smaraNaat bhavet
Through workshop of Sri Hanuman, one will be blessed with Buddhi (intelligence), Balam (strength), Yashas(fame), dhairyam (courage), nirbhayatvam (fearlessness), arogata (free from diseases), ajaaDyam (alertness) cha (and) vaakpaTutvam (eloquence). These are the eight virtues that make our invisible back bone strong.
3. We discussed about Buddhi and Balam in this class.
Buddhi is intellect in Sanskrit. Buddhi helps us to discriminate between what is right and wrong. Intellect is a gift from God, given only to Human beings.
Story: Akbar and Birbal
In India, there was a king named Akbar. He had a very intelligent advisor named Birbal. One day, the king decided to test the intelligence of his ministers. He ordered all the ministers to find out how many crows there were in his kingdom. None of the ministers, except Birbal, had an answer for the king. Birbal said, we have 27,001,042 crows in our kingdom. The king said, if the answer is incorrect, the punishment will be severe. Birbal said, "Sir, if the number of crows are less than my count, it means that some crows have gone outside the kingdom to visit their relatives. If there are more, then their relatives have come here to visit them. King admired the intelligence of Birbal.
Discussion: We have to use our intellect in making right and wise decisions.
Balam is Strength in Sanskrit. Balam is both physical and mental strength.
Story: Hanuman and Bheema's incidence in Mahabharatha. (Bheema's Arrogance)
Once, Draupadi asked Bheema for a rare sweet-smelling flower. Bheema is known for his Strength. While searching for the flower, he came across an old monkey, blocking the path with his long tail. Monkey was none other than Hanumanji in disguise. Bheema in his arrogance, demanded the monkey to move his tail. Hanuman ji said, "I am an old monkey, I am tired, could you please move my tail aside and go on". Annoyed Bheema, tried to quickly move the tail, but to his surprise, it was quite heavy! He was exhausted with numerous efforts, and realized that it is none other than Hanumanji and prostrated to this old monkey.
Discussion: Though Bheema was physically strong, why couldn't he move the tail of an old monkey? He was temporarily blinded by the arrogance of his physical strength and hence became mentally weak.
We also talked about a very healthy smoothie for physical strength. We will share the recipe on WhatsApp group soon.
4. Game time!!
Hanumanji's favorite God is Rama.
We played a game "Rama says", similar to Simon says. Kids enjoyed playing the game even when Rama says 'become frog'! Everybody started jumping with legs and hands!
5. Activity: Japa mala
With beads and string, we did a japa mala. Few kids who have done this at home earlier were giving us some tips as well!!
6. Geeta Chanting: This is the first day we started learning Bhagavat Geeta 3rd chapter. We learned about Sanskrit letters, pronunciation, few words from the chapter.
Here is a video for practice at home.
7. Bhajan: As everyone is getting ready for Navarathri Festival, we learned a Devi bhajan.
Few Announcements:
- Next Balavihar class is on Oct 9th. ( No class on Oct 2nd)
- Though you get class updates through email, you can read them on the parent portal as well https://cmnjparentportal22-23.blogspot.com/
- WhatsApp group if you haven't joined yet https://chat.whatsapp.com/E2laESIszyQDFEIIT3oai3
- Class starts at 9:15 am sharp with opening prayers. Please make sure kids are inside the classroom 5 mins before the class starts.
- Please make sure kids use the restroom before entering the class.
Few videos for parents
- Bhagavath Geetha 3rd chapter lecture by Swami Chinmayananda ji
- Swami Swaroopananda ji's small lecture on Hanuman Chalisa
Happy Navarathri
Hari Om
Best Regards,
Meena Rajan and Ramya Belavadi
