Hari Om Parents,
February 5 2023 - Class Updates
- Kids wrote Likhita japa for the first five minutes.
- We started off the class with the opening prayer (Dhyana shloka - Om Saha Navavatu)
- Shloka chanting - we reviewed and practiced verses 1 - 5 of Ganesha Pancharatnam.
- Mahabharata
- Vana parva
- Abhimanyu grows up in Dwaraka
- Abhimanyu is the son of Arjuna and Subhadra, the half-sister of Lord Krishna.
- As an unborn child in his mother's womb, Abhimanyu learns the knowledge of entering the deadly and virtually impenetrable Chakravyuha from Arjuna.
- Arjuna spoke about entering Chakravyuha and later Subhadra dozed to sleep. Arjuna stopped explaining Chakravyuha's escape when he saw Subhadra sleeping while listening. As an effect, the baby Abhimanyu in the womb didn't get a chance to know what was coming out of it.
- Abhimanyu spent his childhood in Dwaraka. He was trained by Pradyumna, the son of Sri Krishna and his great warrior father Arjuna and brought up under the guidance of Lord Krishna.
- Arjuna arranged his marriage to Uttara, daughter of king Virata to seal an alliance between the Pandavas and the royal family of Virata, in lieu of the forthcoming Kurukshetra War. The Pandavas had been hiding in-cognito to live through the final year of their exile without being discovered, in Virata's kingdom of Matsya.
- Pandavas gets Akshayapatra
- When Pandavas and their wife, Draupadi, started their twelve-year exile, they were worried about how they were going to provide food for the sages that accompanied them into the forest.
- Sage Dhaumya suggested that Yudhishthira pray to Lord Surya, as he was the provider of food for all creatures. Upon the sage's advice, Yudhistira prayed to Lord Surya for several days.
- Pleased by his devotion, Lord Surya appeared before him and gave Yudhistira Akshaya Patra – a copper plate that would remain full of food until Draupadi eats. Surya also blessed Yudhishthira and declared that his kingdom would be restored to him at the end of the fourteenth year.
- Duryodhana was filled with envy when he heard about the peaceful life of Pandavas and made a plan and sent Sage Durvasa along with his 100 disciples to visit the Pandavas and asked them to visit them after Draupadi finished her meal.
- Yudhishthira welcomed the sage and his followers with due honour. Draupadi began to get worried looking at the number of guests they had. Draupadi, in her despair, prayed to Krishna, to save her from the sage's wrath.
- Krishna immediately appeared in front of her and asked her to bring him the Akshaya Patra. He noticed that a small piece of food was still there on the plate. He took the small piece, and putting it in his mouth, proclaimed that all the souls of the universe would be satiated with it. The sages felt as though they would not be able to eat even a morsel of food. They departed quietly without informing the Pandavas.
- Kids practiced the Bhagavad Gita chanting using the video - Verses 17 and 18 of Chapter 3
- Story of a Saint - Mother Teresa
- Mother Teresa was born on 26 August 1910 in Skopje, Ottoman Empire (now the capital of North Macedonia).
- She left home in 1928 at age 18 to join the Sisters of Loreto at Loreto Abbey in Rathfarnham, Ireland, to learn English with the intent of becoming a missionary.
- In 1946, during a visit to Darjeeling by train, Mother Teresa felt that she heard the call of her inner conscience to serve the poor of India.
- In 1979, Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize.
- She worked almost up until her death on September 5, 1997.
7. We practiced Mangala aarati, Om Jai Jagadish Hare, Chinmaya aarati, Shanti Mantras and pledge. Fifth graders had a chance to sing the aarti and pledge in the temple hall.Our next class is on February 12th.
8. Pledge in the Temple Hall.
Please reach out to us if you have any questions. Thanks.
Regards,
Roopa and Ramee
