Hari Om! Parents,
Week 4 Class
Children did this Likhita Japa at the start of class - " Om Mahalakshmiye Namah '', especially for Diwali/ Deepavali puja.
Shlokas
We started with Om chanting, and then chanted Sahana vavatu, Vakratunda mahakaya, Saraswati namastubhyam, Sarva mangala mangalye (ref. My Prayers book pg 39) and the "Mahalakshmi Ashtakam" (ref. My Prayers book pg. 39)
Please encourage your child to practice chanting these shlokas regularly.
Mahabharata*
After a quick recap of Sabha Parva by the children taking turns, we moved on to the review of Vana Parva.
The Pandavas with Draupadi begin their exile in the Kamyaka forest and are joined by several brahmanas. In order to feed this big retinue, Yudhishtira prays to the Sun god, who gives him the Akshaya Patra. Draupadi could serve them all from this vessel which would never get empty. In Hastinapura, Duryodhana disrespects the great sage Maitreya who comes to offer advice to king Dhritarashtra. The sage cursed Duryodhana to lose his life when his thigh was broken by Bhimasena. The curse would be withdrawn if Duryodhana made peace with the Pandavas.
Vidura and later Lord Krishna visited the Pandavas. Lord Krisha is moved by the sight of the Pandavas and also angry at the behaviour of the Kauravas. He takes an oath to destroy all the enemies and crown Yudhishtira the king. After Lord Krishna's departure, the Pandavas move to Dwaitavana. Yudhishtira finds peace in meeting all the great rishis that lived in Dwaitavana. The great sage Markandeya visits and shares stories of Lord Rama, Harishchandra and Bhagiratha. Draupadi and Bhimasena were however very angry and demanded that Yudhishtira avenge the wrongdoing immediately. Yudhishtira firmly replies that he cannot go back on his promise and no one can make him swerve from Dharma. He asks them to be patient and wait till the time is right.
Sage Vyaasa visits them and tells them to start preparing for the inevitable war. He advises Arjuna to get the Pasupata from Lord Shiva. Arjuna reaches Himavan and starts his penance. An asura, taking the form of a wild boar, attacks Arjuna, but he manages to kill it with his arrow. At the same moment Lord Shiva disguised as a hunter also shoots an arrow into the boar. A fight begins between Arjuna and the hunter over who killed the boar. All of Arjuna's weapons are harmless, and do not harm the hunter. Bewildered, Arjuna prays to Lord Shiva and offers flowers to a linga. When he sees that the same flowers are on the hunter, he realises the Lord Shiva and begs forgiveness. Lord Shiva blesses him and grants him the Pasupata astra. Next Arjuna meets his father, Indra deva, who takes him to Indraloka. The devas give each of their special astras to him and Arjuna also learns skills of fine arts from Chitrasena. When he rejects her advances, Arjuna is cursed to become a eunuch by Urvasi. Indra reduces the curse to one year and tells Arjuna to use it during the incognito year. Indra sends Arjuna to defeat the asuras called Nivatakavachas and Kalakeyas. After his victory, Indra is very pleased and gives Arjuna his impregnable armour along with his divine weapon.
Meanwhile the rest of the Pandavas with Draupadi perform a teerthayatra. They stay in Badarikashrama waiting for Arjuna's return. One day a beautiful, fragrant flower falls in Draupadi's lap and she asks Bhimasena to get her some more. Following its fragrance Bhimasena sets off, and finds a huge old monkey sleeping across his path. When asked to move aside the monkey asks Bhimasena to move his tail and clear the path. Bhimasena tried again and again but failed to move the tail. Accepting defeat, Bhimasena bowed to the monkey and apologised. The old monkey revealed himself as Hanuman and embraced Bhimasena. Hanuman told him that he would help the Pandavas in war and sit on Arjuna's flagstaff. Bhimasena returns to Draupadi with the Saugandhika flowers from Kubera's garden. Arjuna returns after successfully collecting many divine weapons and shares the stories of his adventure.
With two years of exile remaining, the Pandavas with Draupadi return to Kamyaka forest to prepare for war with the Kauravas. One day Bhimasena is out hunting and an unbelievably huge python grabs him. It was the king Nahusha, cursed for insulting rishi Agastya. He was waiting for Yudhishtira to release him from the curse. When Yudhishtira comes searching, he finally finds Bhimasena, and the python asks him several questions on ethics. Satisfied with the answers Nahusha released Bhimasena and taking his original form ascended to the heavens.
On the pretext of Ghoshayatra, the Kauravas arrive at Kamyaka forest where the Pandavas had their ashram. After a battle in the forest with a Gandharva army, Duryodhana is taken captive and the Pandavas come to his rescue. Humiliated by this experience, Duryodhana decides to perform the Rajasuya. He gathers support of several neighboring kings. At the conclusion of this grand event, Radheya takes an oath to kill Arjuna in the war. The Pandavas do not attend the celebration.
One day king Jayadrata, husband of Dussala, kidnaps Draupadi. He loses the fight with the Pandavas and instead of killing him, Bhimasena cuts off half his hair before releasing him. Seeking revenge, Jayadrata does tapas and asks Lord Shiva the boon to defeat the Pandavas in the war. Lord Shiva however grants the boon that he can do so only when he meets the Pandavas without Lord Krishna.
During the final months of exile, a brahmana came asking for help to find his Arani sticks stolen by a deer. After a long pursuit, the Pandavas are lost and thirsty. One by one the brothers looking for water all disappear, except for Yudhishtira. He finds them all dead by the side of a lake. A fearsome yaksha appears and warns him not to drink the water unless he can answer some questions. Yudhishtira answers the "Yaksha Prashna" and the pleased yaksha offers to revive one brother. Yudhishtira picks Nakula, saying one child each of mother Kunti and Madri must survive. The yaksha is pleased with the noble behaviour and grants back life to all the Pandavas. Discarding his yaksha form, Yama Dharmaraja reveals himself. Embracing his son he blesses and grants Yudhishtira a boon. Yudhishtira asks that he should always gain victory over his vices, and his mind always be led towards truth and Dharma. The twelve years of exile came to an end, and the Pandavas started to discuss plans for their Ajnaatavaasa.
This concludes the review of the Vana Parva of our Mahabharata story.
India, the Sacred Land
Topic: Festival of Diwali / Deepavali = string of lights.
The story of Naraka Chaturdashi - Narakasura was the son of Bhudevi, and was granted the boon of only being killed by his mother. This evil asura wreaked havoc and the people pleaded with Lord Krishna to save them. Lord Krishna along with his wife Sathyabhama went to battle Narakasura. Midway during the fight, Lord Krishna fainted. So Sathyabhama took up the weapons and killed Narakasura. Since Sathyabhama is actually Bhudevi incarnate, the asura was killed by his own mother. The people celebrate this victory of Lord Krishna and Sathyabhama on Naraka Chaturdashi day. Clean the house, have an oil bath, wear new clothes and perform puja, burst firecrackers.
The story of Lakshmi Puja- The devas and asuras together decide on churning the Milky Ocean to get the nectar/ Amrit. The Goddess Lakshmi emerges signifying wealth and prosperity. The amavasya/ new moon Lakshmi Puja is another special celebration during Diwali. The children shared their favourite prasadam to eat after the puja.
The story from Ramayana - Lord Rama, an avatar of Bhagwan Vishnu, kills Ravana in battle. Lord Rama returns back to Ayodhya with Sita and Lakshmana. The people of Ayodhya rejoice His return by lighting up the entire kingdom with diyas. The light of diyas symbolises goodness removing the darkness of evil, so we decorate the house with oil lamps. We also spoke about the Bhai Dooj / Bhau Beej - a celebration of brothers and sisters, that happens the day after Diwali.
Activity :- The children wrote down their favorite memory of Diwali/ Deepavali in their notebooks. They drew diyas and rangolis to decorate the page. And we all sang a Devi bhajan - "Amba Parameshwari" (ref. My Prayers book pg 52)
Geeta Chanting
We learnt Verses 1 and 2 from our Swamiji today (ref. Bala Vihar Handbook pg 17). Swamiji's Geeta chanting video link is posted in the Parents WhatsApp group, for your child to practice with the correct pronunciation. Geeta Chanting Yagna will be held in April. Grade 6 is group Partha, and is assigned verses 1-30 this year.
We concluded the session with Aarti and Pledge recitation in the Prayer Hall. No Bala Vihar session next Sunday.
Wishing all Grade 6 families a blessed Diwali/ Deepavali festival!
- Rashmi Kuroodi and Venu Sadda
Supplies needed for every class:- Bala Vihar Handbook, My Prayers book, their special red notebook and pencils for likhita japa; everything in their Bala Vihar bag
*Reference books - Mahabharata by Rajagopalachari / Mahabharata by Kamala Subramaniam
