Hari Om,
Hope all are rejuvenated from being reminded of Devi's Grace, celebrating navaratri with friends and family!
Here is the update from the last class:
Stotram: We learnt the first two verses of the Mahalakshmi Ashtakam (script in My Prayers book).
India, the Sacred Land: We discussed the roots of Indian culture, the fundamental beliefs of the tradition. We learnt about the scriptures - the Vedas, Upanishads, Itihasas, Puranas and the Bhagavad Gita. The Vedas, which have been compiled into Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharvana veda by Veda Vyasa, have been handed down through the guru-shishya parampara over thousands of years. The Vedas (from the sanskrit root "vid", meaning "to be known") are the basis of all knowledge - social and spiritual -in our lives. Pujya Gurudev has said that the Vedas hold the science of living. The Upanishads which are the end part of the Vedas expound on the philosophy of life- the ways to release ourselves from the circle of life and death. Ramayana and Mahabharata are the itishasas. Bhagavad Gita is a part of Mahabharata. The Bhagavad Gita (Song of God) is part of the Mahabharata and has 700 verses. The Gita teaches us how to live life and attain Self-Knowledge. There was a very interesting discussion with the children on the what traditions they will hold on to as independent adults- the number one spot went to "Food", then came "Worship, with prayers and a mandir in the house", then "History- remembering the morals, culture", followed by "Gifts", "Clothes" and "Unique customs" -like not touching paper with your feet, no shoes in the house, washing hands before eating.
Mahabharata: We continued the recap of the story - the story of Amba and the reasons for her deep-rooted hatred for Bhishma, the birth of Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidura, the wedding of Dhritashtra with Gandhari, Pandu with Kunti and Madri, and finally the birth of the Pandavas.
Bhagavad Gita: We will be learning Chapter 3 (Karma Yoga) this year. We started last week with a primer video to help learn the proper pronunciation - https://youtu.be/ZzPDhhn5sQo
Please note that shloka class registrations are open - Bit.ly/Shlokas22
Next class is on October 9th, please make sure the children are in class by 9:15am.
Regards
Keerthi Kobla
Abhirami Shrinivas
