Hari Om! Parents,
Reminder: Bala Vihar Houses Shlokathon and Bhajanotsav contest registrations are now open. Please encourage your child to participate!
Week 14 Class
Children did this Likhita Japa at the start of the class - " Om Namah Shivaya ''. The children's likhita japa book was collected and counted for Bala Vihar House points today.
Shlokas
We chanted Om 3 times, Sahana vavatu, Om Tryambakam yajamahe (ref. My Prayers book pg 78) and the Lingashtakam (ref. My Prayers book pg. 80). 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.
Activity: Creative Likhita Japa - Since Mahashivaratri festival is coming up, the children drew bilva leaves and wrote the 'Om Namah Shivaya' japa inside them. The class also learned the "Shivaaya Parameshwaraaya" bhajan (ref. My Prayers book pg 83) in praise of Lord Shiva.
Mahabharata*
After a recap of the previous week's story, we moved on to Stri Parva. This is the description of events after the terrible Kurukshetra war has ended. The womenfolk were left to mourn the death of their fathers, brothers, husbands and sons. Sage Vyaasa visits king Dhritarashtra and reminds him of the task of collecting the dead and performing the funerals. The Pandavas along with Lord Krishna visit the king and queen to pay their respects. Even though king Dhritarashtra has immense hatred towards the Pandavas, he receives them civilly. He asks to embrace Bhimasena, but Lord Krishna places an iron doll in front of the blind king instead. The king hugs the doll with so much hatred that it breaks into pieces. Dhritarashtra immediately bursts into tears, regretting his action and thinks that he has killed Bhimasena. Lord Krishna reveals the truth and advises Dhritarashtra to let go of this hatred, and accept the Pandavas as they are his brother's sons.
Queen Gandhari is also inconsolable and angry at Bhimasena for killing her sons. Bhimasena falls at her feet, addressing her as mother. He reminds her about the oath he had taken when Draupadi was humiliated by the Kuravas, saying he had to fulfill it and asks her forgiveness. The queen is pacified by the humility and love of Bhimasena. Soon the sad procession reaches the battlefield and queen Gandhari sees the terrible scene with her divine sight. She cannot control her anguish and blames Lord Krishna for everything. Gandhari's curse is that after 36 years the entire Vrishni clan would fight each other and be completely destroyed. Lord Krishna reminds Gandhari that the Kauravas had brought this fate on themselves through their own evil deeds. He tells her that by ignoring their bad behaviour and in fact by not correcting it, she was responsible for the consequences. Lord Krishna says that He has sworn to protect Dharma and Pandavas were on the side of Dharma. So He will always protect the Pandavas and kill those who harm them. The Lord accepts Gandhari's curse and says that it shall come true. He advises the queen to let go of the hatred and accept Fate.
The funeral rites are completed and the ashes submerged in river Ganga. Kunti Devi is very sad that there was no one to perform the water ablutions for Karna. She reveals the truth about Karna's birth to the Pandavas and tells them that he is a Kaunteya. Yudhistira is shocked by the revelation, and Arjuna is distraught that he had killed his own brother. Since Kunti's secret led to such terrible consequences, Yudhistira cursed the entire womankind to not be able to hide a secret for long. After completing the funeral rituals, the Pandavas return to Hastinapura, where Yudhistira would be crowned the king. We paused the story here.
India, the Sacred Land
Topic : Festivals of India - Mahashivaratri
Several stories are narrated about the holy festival of Mahashivaratri. During the churning of the milky ocean by devas and asuras, there arose a deadly poison, the 'haala hala'. It was on Mahashivaratri that Lord Shiva drank up the poison, saved all the living beings and got the name 'Nilakantha'. Lord Shiva wed Goddess Parvathi on the auspicious Mahashivaratri day. Lord Shiva is most compassionate, and we discussed how we can please him with simple 'nama japa'. We shared what are the rituals performed during Mahashivaratri - fasting, keeping awake throughout the night, special puja with bilva leaves, special abhishekam with water and milk, singing Lord Shiva's bhajan, chanting shlokas and the 'Rudram'. The children discussed if it was beneficial to stay awake during Mahashivaratri just by playing video games or more beneficial doing japa and bhajans. The class was equally divided on this topic. Wishing all Grade 6 families a blessed Mahashivaratri festival!
Geeta Chanting
We learnt Verses 19 and 20 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 and it was our class turn to lead the aarti and pledge recitation. The children did a great job!
- 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
