Parents,
Hari Om! For this 3rd session of the year children trickled in slowly and quite a few were tardy. This was a condensed session because of the Saraswati pooja at the temple.
Shlokas
We started the session, as always, with the changing of Om, led by one of the children. We also chanted Sahana Vavatu. We then followed up with Likhita Japa,
Mahabharata:
We started and completed most of Sabha Parva - the Book of the Assembly Hall.
- Sabhakriya upa-parva
- Krishna asks Maya, the architect of asuras, to construct a sabha for the Pandavas at Indraprastha.
- Maya constructs the magnificent Maya Sabha
- Sages and kings from the world over are invited to celebrate the opening of Maya Sabha
- Lokapala Sabhakhayana upa-parva
- The sage Narada visits Indraprastha and teaches Yudhishthira and his brothers the nuances of statecraft; from the rules of espionage to the rules of war.
- Narada conveys to Yudhishthira the desire of his father Pandu and grandfather Shantanu, to perform Rajasuya.
- Narada explains how performing Rajasuya would not only help Pandu and Shantanu to reach Swargaloka, but also enhance the reputation of the house of Indraprastha.
- Rajasuyarambha upa-parva
- The peace-loving Yudhisthira seeks the advice of Krishna on appropriateness of performing Rajasuya.
- Krishan explains the process and cautions Yudhishthira about the difficulty of defeating Jarasandha, the powerful yet evil king of Magadha.
- Yudhishthira requests Krishna to tell him the story of Jarasandha.
- Krishna tells the story of the birth of Jarasandha and why he was named after the demoness Jara.
- He also tells how Jarasandha imprisons all the kings he conquers and performs human sacrifice with them
- Jarasandha-vadha upa-parva
- Yudhisthira reluctantly agrees with the plan of Krishna, Arjuna and Bhima to entice Jarasandha into a duel instead of engaging in a war with his armies.
- Krishna, Arjuna and Bhima arrive at Magadha and visit Jarasandha. Jarasandha demands to know why they consider him as an enemy.
- Krishna explains to Jarasandha that human sacrifice is cruel and is a crime against humanity.
- Krishna asks Jarasandha to choose between giving up human sacrifice or engaging in a duel until death.
- Jarasandha chooses to duel with Bhima.
- Bhima kills Jarasandha following the clues of Krishna.
- Digvijaya Parva upa-parva
- The Pandavas expand their empire.
- Arjuna conquers the north, Bhima the east, Nakula the west and Sahadeva wins the South.
- Rajasuyika upa-parva
- Krishna visits Indraprastha with presents and the Pandavas start the preparation for Rajasuya.
- Arghyaharana upa-parva
- From all over the world, Kings, sages and others descend on Indraprastha for the Rajasuya. The Kauravas arrive too.
- Draupadi laughs at the sight of Duryodhana falling into water at Maya Sabha. Durodhana takes offence to that.
- Shishupala-vadha upa-parva
- Sahadeva honors Krishna with Arghya and Sisupala opposes that.
- Hostilities erupt as kings take sides
- Krishna tolerates the insults of Sisupala trying to keep a promise made to his aunt (and Sisupala's mother), but eventually kills him and leaves for Dwaraka.
- Dyuta upa-parva
- Shakuni, the maternal uncle of the Kauravas, tells them that it is impossible to defeat the Pandavas at war and advises them to exploit the weakness of Yudhishthira for gambling
- Together, they hatch a scheme to entice Yudhisthira for a game of dice.
- They use the occasion of the opening of Jayanti Sabha, to invite the Pandavas to Hastinapur.
- Yudhishthira succumbs to the temptation, engages in the game of dice, bets his kingdom, his brothers one by one and loses them all.
- Yudhishthira then bets Draupadi and loses her too.
- Duryodhana summons Draupadi to the hall and humiliates her by commanding Dussasana to disrobe her.
- Draupadi questions the propriety of the game of dice and tells everyone that she is not a property of Yudhishthira.
- Dhritarashtra agrees with Draupadi and tries to pacify her by returning all that the Pandavas lost.
There was no time today to delve into India, the Sacred Land today because of Saraswathi Pooja.
Geetha Chanting
Geetha chanting was not offered today on account of Saraswati Pooja.
The class ended with a procession to the temple for Saraswati Pooja, pledge and aarti.
