Hari OM Dear Families,
Here is this week's update.
Week 10 :
8th January 2023 / 9:15 AM
Opening prayers and Shlokas
Slokas: Class began with 3 OMs followed by
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)
Krishna, The Hero - our lesson
The Fruit Seller in Gokula
We began with a short story about how little Krishna was attracted to a lady trying to sell fresh and yummy fruits. The cute and adorable little Krishna waddled out and asked for fruits and was confused when the lady asked for money. He had no clue.
The lady wanted to spend more time with this charming and mesmerizing little boy, so she told Him that she would trade some grains for fruit. Little Krishna, immediately went inside and scooped some grains into His tiny hands and ran back to the fruit lady. As he ran, grains slowly fell out of his cupped hands and when He reached the lady, only a few pieces of grain were left. The lady happily accepted the trade, just to see the smile and expression on Krishna's face!
As the fruit seller lady was getting closer to her own home, her basket got heavier and heavier. The lady was confused, as she had sold almost everything in her basket! To the lady's surprise, it was filled with jewels, gold and precious stones!
• The Lord of the Universe begged a poor
fruit seller for a handful of fruits !
• He did this so that He could bless His
devotee for her simple love and generosity.
Vrindavana
One day, the elders of Gokula gathered at Nanda's house. Upananda, the wisest and eldest of them said, "Lately Gokula has been visited by many misfortunes. By some stroke of luck, our Krishna has saved us time and again from various calamities. Only by the grace of Lord Vishnu, he has been saved each time. Gokula has now become unsafe for us and it would be foolish to stay on. Let us all migrate to Vrindavana.It is cool and undisturbed and the grass is always green. It is the best place for our cows and our people. We will enjoy the lovely surroundings and also the holy Yamuna flows nearby."
Everyone agreed and the same day, people started packing up their belongings. Women, children and old people first sat on the carts and left Gokula for good. The procession moved to beating drums and trumpeting conches. The gopis sang merrily, and the children were very excited. At last, they reached Vrindavana. Krishna and Balarama were overjoyed to see the green pastures, the sacred Govardhan mountain in the distance and River Yamuna. When the brothers were a little older, they took the calves to graze on the pastures. All day, Krishna, Balarama and their gopa friends would tend to the calves and
play in the forest. Those were some of the most memorable days of their lives!
My 24 teachers - our lesson
Riddle : - People say that I am very beautiful - My looks have inspired poets to write poetry - I am definitely not tall and slim like one of our Miss World Models - As a matter of fact, I am on the rounder side. There were several guesses...flower, nature, tree, rainbow, sun, it was a tough riddle this week, the answer was The Moon.
We learned a short story about how the Moon asked her mom to design and stitch her a nightgown. Upon that request, Moon's mom responds saying that she's unable to tailor a suitable size nightgown for her, as she is constantly changing. We went on to discuss if the moon was actually constantly changing or does it appear to be constantly changing.
One more story, to prove, the changes happen but the soul is untouched - like the growth and diminishing moon but the moon is as untouched as a soul.
"This Too Shall Pass". It was about how Oscar was a traveller and had observed in a small town a man pulling a heavy load on a cart to be delivered to a factory. When he asked the man why he was doing the job of a bull, he responded saying, "This too shall pass". On another occasion, several years later, visiting the same town, Oscar saw the same man had become the factory owner. When he approached and congratulated that man, he said, "This too shall pass". The king of that town had grown old, had no children and gave his elephant a garland to choose the next king. The elephant chose the factory owner to be king. And he told the kingdom that, "this too shall pass". Many years later, Oscar visited the same town and was stunned to see that it had been devastated by an earthquake. Saddened by the scene, he told himself, "This too shall pass"!!! We then discussed that we should accept change and not be highly elated or perturbed in any situation.
Gurudev's famous quote:
'Everyday is bursting with opportunities for us to do and to serve, to express, to love, and to live. We must make use of these lush chances and diligently make our life rich, fruitful, and useful for others at all times.
Today belongs to us
Yesterday was
Tomorrow will be
Only today belongs to us.
So, let us do our best today."
- Swami Chinmayananda
Circumstances that we face are changing like the phases of the moon, sometimes happy like the full moon and other times not so happy like the new (no) moon. Everyone goes through this cycle. Like a black colored dog can't change white colored dog. If our happiness relies on things that are changing, we are bound to be unhappy when they change. Enjoy things when they are there.
What should we do when circumstances are like the full moon? We should thank God for giving us this good time. We should thank all the people for bringing this good time in our life. What should we do when the circumstances are like the new moon? We should thank God for bad times, as we will be able to appreciate what people go through during tough times. Always Thank God for every change that happens and try to appreciate and or accept. But always remember that the soul is never changed as Dattatreya says - the soul or atman is parabrahmam.
Gita Time- today we learned verses 13 and 14, given along is the youtube link for practice.
Verses 13-14 Ch.3 BG - YouTube
Likhita Japa- we took pictures of the written japa pages and sent them for house points. We want all kids to write at least one page and come to class to gain house points.
House contests Balavihar house contests are lined up one after the other. The link to register is given in the class whatsapp group. First comes the story contest in January, Slokathon in March, bhajanotsav group bhajan singing contest at the end of April. Please register accordingly and start practicing.
