Hari OM Parents,
Please find the summary of the class.
Prayer time:
We started the class by chanting OM 3 times followed by morning prayers - "Sahanaavathu". We continued practicing Guru Stotram. Children took turns to chant verses 1 through 11. We practiced new slokas #12 through #14.
Recap of previous class
We did a quick recap of last week's topics – Prahlada's qualities and 9 modes of devotion.
Bhagavatham Story Time – Gajendra Moksha
An elephant king Gajendra lived in a forest on the beautiful Mount Trikuta. On one hot day, the elephant king entered a cool lake to refresh himself. He and his entire family quenched their thirst in those cool waters. A powerful crocodile caught the elephant's foot, and started dragging him to the water. The other elephants tried to pull their King out of the water, but they all failed miserably. Gajendra fought with the crocodile for a long time and was exhausted. He felt he was going to die soon. Gajendra turned his thoughts to the Lord and ardently prayed to him for help. Lord Vishnu heard the desperate prayers of Gajendra.
He mounted Garuda and went to rescue Gajendra. The Lord killed the crocodile with his Sudarshan chakra and freed Gajendra from his sufferings. Gajendra offered a lotus to the Lord and prayed to him with a pure heart.
The Crocodile was actually a Gandharva called Huhu. One day he tried to play tricks on Rishi Devala. Rishi Devala cursed him that he would turn into a crocodile and will be released from the curse by the touch of the Lord Vishnu's chakra, then will regain his gandharva form.
Gajendra in his previous birth, was a King by name Indradyumna. He was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. He took a vow of silence, sat in the mountains, deep in meditation. One day, Rishi Agastya and his disciples came to King Indradyumna's ashram. The King who was deep in meditation, did not get up to receive them. Agastya cursed him to be born as an elephant. So, Indradyumna was born as Gajendra, the elephant king. Even though born as an elephant, he retained his devotion to the Lord, and remembered it when there was no other way to escape from the crocodile.
As we sow, So shall we reap. We discussed how wrong actions cause bad results and right actions cause good results.
We also discussed the importance of Lotus. Lotus is a perfect symbol of purity and perfection. It is the National Flower of India. We also want our minds and hearts to always be clean and never ever get dirty, like the lotus.
We practiced for the 26th March class performance. Kids enjoyed reciting their dialogs and enacting their roles.
We concluded the class with Aarthi, prayer and the Pledge.
Guru Stotram: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IcTvswcTFs
Geeta chapter 3: https://bit.ly/BGChapter3Playlist
Thanks and warm regards,
Aruna and Subbu
