Hari Om!
Bala Vihar session on the 18th of December:
Attendance for this session was again very sparse.
Shlokas:
As always, the session started with the class chanting Om. Then the kids recited Sahana vavatu, and other prayers from the "My Prayers" book. They also recited shlokas from "Mahalakshmi Ashtakam".
Mahabharata:
During this session, we completed the Drona parva, the 7th book of Mahabharata.
Dronabhisheka upa-parva:
- Karna meets Bheeshma and gets his permission to join the war.
- On the advice of Karna, Douryodhan appoints Drona as the commander-in-chief of the Kaurava forces.
- On the 11th day Drona deploys his army in the Sakata (vehicle) formation.
Samsaptaka-badha upa-parva:
- On the 12the day of the war Duryodhan deploys the Narayani Sena (the Yadava army).
- Samsaptakas, the powerful warriors from the Trigarta kingdom led by Susharma, attack Arjuna and Arjuna uses the celestial weapons to counter them.
- Bhagadatta, who has a boon from lord Shiva that ensures his immortality while mounted on his elephant, attacks Arjuna.
- On the advice of Krishna, Arjuna dismounts Bhagadatta from the elephant by killing it and then kills him.
Abhimanyu-vadha upa-Parva:
- On the 13th day of the war Drona deploys the Kaurava forces in the Chakravyuha formation.
- Samsaptakas divert Arjuna away from the formation.
- Arjuna and Krishna were the only ones on the Pandavas' side that know how to enter and destroy Chakravyuha
- Abhimanyu learns how to break the vyuha while he was in his mother's (Subhadra's) womb, as Arjuna was describing that to her. However, he never learns how to destroy the formation, as Arjuna stops the narration upon noticing that Subhadra fell asleep.
- Abhimanyu enters Chakravyuha hoping that his Pandavas would follow him in support to destroy it.
- However, Jayadratha with his army blocks the Pandavas from entering the formation.
- Abhimanyu, left alone, fights valiantly, kills scores of Kauravas, but eventually ends up defenseless and gets killed by Dushasana's son.
Pratijna upa-parva:
- Arjuna, after defeating the Samsaptakas, returns to learn about the demise of his dear son Abhimanyu.
- Arjuna swears to kill Jayadratha by next evening or kill himself, if he fails in that endeavour.
Jayadratha-vadha upa-parva:
- On the 14th day, Drona allocates 21,000 soldiers to protect Jayadratha.
- Kauravas make every effort to thwart Arjuna from killing Jaydratha, with the hope that the failure will lead to Arjuna killing himself.
- By the evening Arjuna fights his way to Jayadratha's vicinity.
- Krishna senses that time is of essence and blocks the sun with his chakra
- The kauravas, thinking that the sun has set, relaxe briefly.
- Krishna urges Arjuna to take that opportunity to slay Jayadratha and Arjuna fulfills his vow.
Ghatothkacha-badha upa-parva:
- On the 14th day, the fight continues past sunset in violation of the agreed upon rules of engagement.
- Ghatothkacha deploys maya (illusionary) tactics to cause tremendous destruction to the Kaurava army.
- Duryodhana urges Karna to engage Ghatothkacha.
- Karna, finding it difficult to face Ghatothkacha, deploys the Indra Shakti astra and kills him.
- Krishna gets solace from the knowledge that Karna, who had the Indra Shakti weapon set aside for Arjuna, can no longer use it.
Drona-vadha upa-parva:
- On the 15th day of war, Drona, stung by the Duroyodhana's accusation that he is soft on the Pandavas, fights ferociously
- Drona focuses mainly on the Kings fighting in support of Pandavas and vanquishes the Chedis, the Kaikeyas, the Srinjayas and the Matsyas.
- Bhima kills an elephant named Ashwathama and makes an ambiguous announcement that he 'killed Ashwathama'.
- Drona hears that and approaches Yudhisthira for confirmation knowing fully well that Yudhisthira doesn't lie.
- Krishna knows that Drona is vulnerable in grief, advises Yudhisthira that a small falsehood that saves lives is better than the truth.
- Yudhishthira confirms the half-truth that Ashwathama is dead.
- Drona, in grief, lays down his weapons and sits down in meditation.
- Dhristadumna takes the opportunity to avenge the death of his father and sons at the hands of Drona, kills him.
India, the Sacred Land:
We devoted the time that is usually allocated for India, the Sacred Land, to discuss various ideas for the upcoming cultural event. From the various options, it appeared that the kids gravitated towards enacting a scene from Mahabharata. However the final decision has not been taken.
Gita chanting:
The class chanted verses from Bhagavad Gita, following along Swamiji on the TV.
As always, the session ended in the prayer hall, with the recital of the Pledge and Aarti.
Regards,
- Venu Sadda
- Rashmi Kuroodi
