Hari Om Parents !
We started our class by chanting "OM" 3 times .
Shlokas:
"Om saha navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book)
"Karagre vasate Lakshmi" (page 11 in My Prayers book)
"Samudra vasane devi" (page 11 in My Prayers book)
We chanted shlokas and tried to say them with proper pronunciation .
Story of the day:
We did a quick recap of last class how King Dasharatha did "Putrakameshti Yagna " and Yagna purusha gives Payasam , king shares with three queens and they born 4 sons and Ayodhya people were very happy.
As the princes grew up they displayed remarkable qualities. Rama showed steady devotion to duty & truth. Laksmana was strict & impulsive. Shatrugna was kind & gentle. Bharata was noble & dutiful.
All 4 were trained in the arts of warfare, archery, Vedas and Upanisads . They all were brilliant but Rama was the favorite of everyone. King was proud of them. We talked parents will be very happy if kids concentrate and study well .
One day, Sage Visvamitra, the most powerful rishi, visits King Dasharatha. Sage explains the purpose of his visit. He is performing a sacrifice with his disciples and raksasas are greatly troubling them. Two of the demons, Subahu and Maricha, in particular, are very powerful. When Rishis want peace and quiet, they howl like wild animals, throw some bad stuff in the yagna fire. Rishes did not want to waste their tapas by cursing these demons. Instead they preferred the King to send his brave son, Rama. King could not agree to send his beloved son to face the heartless and ferocious raksasas. He politely offered himself and his army. But the sage said the King has gone back on his word and he will go back alone. Sage Vasistha intervened and convinced him to send Rama and lakshmana with Sage Visvamitra. King and queens watched with teary eyes these two princes going with the Sage
The two brothers were following Sage Vishwanitra and watching the nature. They stayed the night on the banks of the Sarayu River. In the morning, Rama and Lakshmana woke up, bathed, did pooja, and were on their way to Sage Vishvamitra's ashram.
They crossed the Ganges by raft and reached the Dandaka forest, filled with wild life. We described the beauty of Dandaka forest and explained that Thataka and her sons were cursed by Sage Agastya, which turned them into demons. So, Lord Rama drew his bow, making a loud sound.
Thataka heard this and was angry! She was offended that some puny men were trying to enter her forest and tried to throw boulders at Lord Rama. However, Lord Rama shot arrows at Thataka in retaliation, cutting off her limbs one by one--the final arrow lodged in her chest. She fell in agony and died.
The Devas were cheering from heaven, while Sage Visvamitra embraced Rama and blessed him . We paused the story here , We ended class early to go do Saraswati pooja in the temple Hall.
Announcements :
1. Please sign up for after school Virtual Shloka classes – bit.ly/Shlokas22
2. Please participate in our Annual Sewa Diwali food drive project – you can drop off when you come to class on Friday. The list of acceptable items has been posted in our Whatsapp group.
Thanks and regards,
Uma and Yamuna
