Hari OM Dear Families,
Here is this week's update.
Week 6:
6th November 2022 / 9:15 AM
Opening prayers and Shlokas
Slokas: Class began with 3 OMs followed by
"Om Saha Navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book)
Om shrI Ganeśaya Namaha, shrI Saraswatyai Namaha, shrI Sat Gurubhyo Namaha.
"Vakratunda Mahakaya" (page 27 in My Prayers book)
"Gurur Brahma" (page 60 in My Prayers book)
"Krishnaya Vasudevaya" (page 105 in My Prayers book)
Krishnashtakam - we continued learning with the fifth shloka.
Today's lesson - 24 Teachers
We started the lesson with a riddle -
I am everywhere
I have no boundaries
I am quite popular with the astronauts
Who am I ?
Yes, the answer is "Space". Many kids got it right. The third clue was quite helpful.
Space is all pervasive, ever pure and ever free.The air, the stars, the clouds, rainbows, are all contained within the SKY, but the sky does not come in contact with any of them. Just as space remains untouched by clouds driven by the wind, we should remain unaffected by the constant changes in the world around us.
Go Bananas- a short story - Once a teacher gave a banana each to all the students with the condition that they can only eat when no one is looking. The kids go to different places, make sure no one is watching them and then eat the banana. Only one kid does not eat it as he knows someone up there is always watching, no matter where he goes.
We touched upon and chanted the first verse of the Guru sthotram (kids would have learnt in Grade 3). It explains the omni presence of Bhagavan. "My prostration to the teacher who has shown me his abode. He pervades the entire universe". God is everywhere.
Rama everywhere - During the war between Ram and Ravana, the monkey army suddenly gets scared and restless. Lord Rama decides to do something. He changes the form of all the monkeys to look like him. Seeing Rama everywhere, the monkeys rejoice and lose their fear. Similarly, if we see God everywhere, fear will vanish from us.
Omnipresence - Meaning "Everywhere". God is everywhere.
We then briefly discussed the story of Prahlada. When questioned by his father Hiranyakashipu, Prahlada showed him that the Lord is everywhere, as Narasimha emerged from a pillar.
Today's lesson - Krishna Everywhere - Gokula
Gokula wakes up to the cries of the newborn baby at Nanda and Yashoda's house. Everyone is rejoicing in the birth of little Krishna. People are decorating their houses with flower garlands and flags. All the Gopas(cowherd men) wear new clothes. The gopis wear their best and brightest dresses and they all go to Nanda's house with many many gifts, including milk, butter and curd. They are all eager to see the baby and hold him. Everyone is singing, dancing and rejoicing.
While this is going on, Kamsa, finds out from his spies that a baby is born in Gokula and he is determined to kill the baby. He sends a rakshasi, Putana for the job. Putana disguises herself as a beautiful gopi and mixes with the crowd. She takes baby Krishna into her hands, and starts playing with him and when no one is looking, sneaks away from there. Her plan is to feed the baby poison and kill him. She starts feeding him poisonous milk. She feels slightly guilty doing this wrong act of trying to kill a baby, but continues as it's the King's order. Soon, Putana is choking and getting suffocated, and falls down dead. Yashoda ma, who comes out looking for Krishna, is stunned to find him playing next to the dead rakshasi. She runs to him, picks him up and hugs him. The villagers burn the dead rakshasi, and surprisingly, the fumes that came out have a fragrance in them. The Kind Lord had forgiven her and liberated her.
Kamsa, who heard this news, sends Trinavarta, another rakshasa, to kill the baby. Trinavarta comes to Gokul as a sand storm or a tornado, that can sweep away the heaviest of objects. Ma Yashoda is sitting with Krishna in her lap. Suddenly she realizes that the baby is growing heavier and heavier, until she could not hold him any longer. She puts him down and frightened, runs to call the villagers. In the meantime, Trinavarta attacks with all his might as a swirling tornado. He lifts Krishna high up into the air. Krishna catches Trinavarta by his throat. Trinavarta is choking and in pain and falls to the ground dead. The dust settles and the air clears. Yashoda runs to Krishna and holds him hard. She takes him home and when she is cleaning him of all the dust, she sees the entire universe in his open mouth. She is overwhelmed at this, but her divine son is yet to show her many more wonderful things.
Here is this week's update.
Week 6:
6th November 2022 / 9:15 AM
Opening prayers and Shlokas
Slokas: Class began with 3 OMs followed by
"Om Saha Navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book)
Om shrI Ganeśaya Namaha, shrI Saraswatyai Namaha, shrI Sat Gurubhyo Namaha.
"Vakratunda Mahakaya" (page 27 in My Prayers book)
"Gurur Brahma" (page 60 in My Prayers book)
"Krishnaya Vasudevaya" (page 105 in My Prayers book)
Krishnashtakam - we continued learning with the fifth shloka.
Today's lesson - 24 Teachers
We started the lesson with a riddle -
I am everywhere
I have no boundaries
I am quite popular with the astronauts
Who am I ?
Yes, the answer is "Space". Many kids got it right. The third clue was quite helpful.
Space is all pervasive, ever pure and ever free.The air, the stars, the clouds, rainbows, are all contained within the SKY, but the sky does not come in contact with any of them. Just as space remains untouched by clouds driven by the wind, we should remain unaffected by the constant changes in the world around us.
Go Bananas- a short story - Once a teacher gave a banana each to all the students with the condition that they can only eat when no one is looking. The kids go to different places, make sure no one is watching them and then eat the banana. Only one kid does not eat it as he knows someone up there is always watching, no matter where he goes.
We touched upon and chanted the first verse of the Guru sthotram (kids would have learnt in Grade 3). It explains the omni presence of Bhagavan. "My prostration to the teacher who has shown me his abode. He pervades the entire universe". God is everywhere.
Rama everywhere - During the war between Ram and Ravana, the monkey army suddenly gets scared and restless. Lord Rama decides to do something. He changes the form of all the monkeys to look like him. Seeing Rama everywhere, the monkeys rejoice and lose their fear. Similarly, if we see God everywhere, fear will vanish from us.
Omnipresence - Meaning "Everywhere". God is everywhere.
We then briefly discussed the story of Prahlada. When questioned by his father Hiranyakashipu, Prahlada showed him that the Lord is everywhere, as Narasimha emerged from a pillar.
Today's lesson - Krishna Everywhere - Gokula
Gokula wakes up to the cries of the newborn baby at Nanda and Yashoda's house. Everyone is rejoicing in the birth of little Krishna. People are decorating their houses with flower garlands and flags. All the Gopas(cowherd men) wear new clothes. The gopis wear their best and brightest dresses and they all go to Nanda's house with many many gifts, including milk, butter and curd. They are all eager to see the baby and hold him. Everyone is singing, dancing and rejoicing.
While this is going on, Kamsa, finds out from his spies that a baby is born in Gokula and he is determined to kill the baby. He sends a rakshasi, Putana for the job. Putana disguises herself as a beautiful gopi and mixes with the crowd. She takes baby Krishna into her hands, and starts playing with him and when no one is looking, sneaks away from there. Her plan is to feed the baby poison and kill him. She starts feeding him poisonous milk. She feels slightly guilty doing this wrong act of trying to kill a baby, but continues as it's the King's order. Soon, Putana is choking and getting suffocated, and falls down dead. Yashoda ma, who comes out looking for Krishna, is stunned to find him playing next to the dead rakshasi. She runs to him, picks him up and hugs him. The villagers burn the dead rakshasi, and surprisingly, the fumes that came out have a fragrance in them. The Kind Lord had forgiven her and liberated her.
Kamsa, who heard this news, sends Trinavarta, another rakshasa, to kill the baby. Trinavarta comes to Gokul as a sand storm or a tornado, that can sweep away the heaviest of objects. Ma Yashoda is sitting with Krishna in her lap. Suddenly she realizes that the baby is growing heavier and heavier, until she could not hold him any longer. She puts him down and frightened, runs to call the villagers. In the meantime, Trinavarta attacks with all his might as a swirling tornado. He lifts Krishna high up into the air. Krishna catches Trinavarta by his throat. Trinavarta is choking and in pain and falls to the ground dead. The dust settles and the air clears. Yashoda runs to Krishna and holds him hard. She takes him home and when she is cleaning him of all the dust, she sees the entire universe in his open mouth. She is overwhelmed at this, but her divine son is yet to show her many more wonderful things.
As we had a few minutes at the end of the class, we watched a seven minute video depicting the story of Krishna and Trinavarta.
Gita Chanting - We learnt verses 5 and 6 in class following Swamiji's video.
We want all the kids to actively participate and learn the chanting of the Shlokas. Please encourage them to practice. The shlokas are in the Balavihar handbook, and the link to the practice videos is as follows.
Please reach out with any questions or concerns you may have.
We do not have Balavihar next week. Our next class is on November 20th.
Thank you and Hari OM
Neelima Turaga and Vidhya Aiyer
