Hari Om! Parents,
Reminder: Bala Vihar Houses Contest registrations are now open, please encourage your child to participate!
Week 11 Class
Children did this Likhita Japa 11 times at the start of class - " Sri Krishna Sharanam Mama ''. Please remind them to do likhita japa regularly at home.
Shlokas
We chanted Om 3 times, Sahana vavatu, Vakratunda mahakaya, Saraswati namastubhyam, Sarva mangala mangalye (ref. My Prayers book pg 39) and the 3 verses of "Mahishasura Mardini Stotram" (ref. My Prayers book pg. 47). Going forward, one child will be designated to lead the class in shloka chanting. Hopefully this will be an incentive for your child to learn the shlokas.
Mahabharata*
After a quick recap of the previous week's prasangas, we continued on to Karna Parva. On the night of the fifteenth day of war the Kauravas assembled to pick a new commander for their army. Ashwathama proposed Radheya's name and Duryodhana immediately gave him the position. Atlast the time had come for Radheya to repay his friend for his affection, so he accepted the position gladly. The sixteenth day of war dawned, Radheya arranged the army in the Makara vyuha. Yudhistira noted that the immense Kaurava army had dwindled and did not look as big in size anymore. Arjuna arranged the reduced number of the Pandava army into a crescent form and the battle began. Many duels were fought, Radheya faced Nakula and defeated him easily. Radheya spoke cruelly to Nakula, asking him to fight with his equal and not someone superior to him, the ashamed and humiliated Nakula fled the battlefield. Radheya was burning like the sun and destroying the Pandava army at a rapid pace. As the sunset and the battle ended, Duryodhana was disappointed that the Pandavas were still alive. However he did not criticize Radheya, instead he pacified his friend. Radheya requested Duryodhana to ask king Salya to be his charioteer. Duryodhana used his powers of persuasion and Salya agreed.
The seventeenth day of war began with the duel between Radheya and Yudhistira. Radheya defeated him in no time, and told him not to attempt to fight those who were superior to him. Next Bhimasena attacked Radheya and they fought for a long time. Radheya fainted, but Salya stopped Bhimasena from killing him by reminding him of Arjuna's oath. Later Bhimasena fought Dussasana in a furious duel. Dussasana taunted and jeered Bhimasena, which provoked him to make Dussasana fall down from his chariot. Holding him on the ground Bhimasena cut off his arms, ripped open his chest and drank Dussasana's blood. With Dussana's death, Bhimasena had fulfilled his oath and avenged Draupadi. Duryodhana was mad with grief over the death of his beloved brother, but still wanted the war to continue.
Radheya challenged Arjuna to a fight. Lord Krishna assured Arjuna that victory would be theirs and blessed him. The duel started with ordinary arrows, but soon Arjuna sent the Agneyastra and Radheya countered with Varunastra. Arjuna's Aindra was destroyed by Radheya's Bhargavastra. Lord Krishna spoke to Arjuna as Narayana to Nara and asked him to send the Brahmastra. Surprisingly Radheya was able to come out of it. Radheya sent Nagastra at Arjuna. Lord Krishna made the chariot sink and the astra hit Arjuna's crown saving his life. Soon Fate made the curses against Radheya come true. He tried to invoke the Brahmastra against Arjuna but could not remember the incantation. The reason was his guru's curse. Suddenly his chariot's wheel got caught in the mire and it began to sink. Radheya remembered that when he had killed a brahmin's cow, he had been cursed to die when he was least prepared for an attack. Radheya asked Arjuna to stop fighting till he could be ready to fight back. Lord Krishna laughed and reminded Radheya that he had killed Abhimanyu unfairly. Radheya did not deserve to be treated fairly and Lord Krishna commanded Arjuna to kill him. Arjuna used his divine astra and finally killed Radheya.
It was still the afternoon of the seventeenth day of war, and Duryodhana was heartbroken by the death of his beloved friend and no one could pacify him.Duryodhana went to see Bhishma to find solace. Bhishma consoled Duryodhana and revealed Karna's true story. Bhishma told him that Radheya was actually a Kaunteya, eldest son of Kunti. This news shocked Duryodhana, who was moved by Radheya's story of sacrifice. Meanwhile Arjuna took the news of Karna's death to Yudhistira, who was overjoyed. The Pandava army celebrated the victory of Arjuna. The seventeenth day of war had ended. We paused our Mahabharata story here. The class discussed the downfall of the three commanders of the Kaurava army. They were all great warriors and noble men, but they were defeated by Arjuna. The children spoke about how each of their previous actions lead to serious consequences. The conclusion is that we must think before we act.
India, the Sacred Land
Topic : India Freedom Movement - National Emblems
India will celebrate its 74th Republic Day on January 26th. So our class discussion today was the story of India's Independence from British rule. We spoke about the influence of Mahatma Gandhi on the Swaraj movement, salt satyagraha and the Quit India movement. These three events were important milestones in India's freedom movement. We also discussed how Republic Day is the celebration of the day India adopted its Constitution. The children answered a quiz about India's National Emblems. A student, Ram, also sang the Indian National Anthem!
Bharat Mata ki Jai! Vande Mataram!
Geeta Chanting
We learnt Verses 13 and 14 today from our Swamiji (ref. Bala Vihar Handbook pg 17). Here is Swamiji's Geeta chanting video link for your child to practice with the correct pronunciation. Geeta Chanting Yagna will be held in April. Grade 6 is in the Partha group, and is assigned verses 1-30 this year.
We assembled in the Prayer Hall for aarti and pledge recitation. We request that all children stay back and participate, since it is an important part of Bala Vihar.
- 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
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