Hari Om! Parents,
Week 17 Class
Children did this Likhita Japa 18 times at the start of class - " Sri Krishnaya Namaha ''. Please remind them to do likhita japa regularly.
Shlokas
Om chanting 3 times, Sahana vavatu, Vakratunda mahakaya, Saraswati namastubhyam, Guru Brahma, Sarva Mangala Mangalye (ref. My Prayers book pg 39).
We chanted the 1-10 verses of Mahishasura Mardini Stotram (ref. My Prayers book pg. 47). Each child will be designated one verse of this shloka and will lead the class chanting.
Mahabharata*
After a recap, we continued onto the Mausala Parva. This is the 16th chapter of the Mahabharata. Yudhistira ruled for thirty five years in peace and tranquility. In the thirty sixth year, bad omens were seen everywhere in Dwaraka. Lord Krishna realised that the curse of Gandhari was going to come true. There was an incident with the Vrishnis that happened when great sages visited Dwaraka. A group of Vrishnis dressed up one person as a pregnant lady. Approaching the sages, they asked for a prediction if a boy or girl would be born. The sages grew angry at this prank and cursed that an iron rod be born. The sages said the iron rod would be the reason for the death of the entire Vrishni clan. An iron rod is born, Balarama orders the iron rod to be crushed and thrown into the ocean. The pieces were washed ashore and beach grass grew from them. One day the clan went on a picnic to the seashore. After a bout of heavy drinking a fight breaks out. With no weapons on hand, the clansmen pick the reeds of beach grass and hit each other with it. Lord Krishna watches as all the clansmen fall dead, leaving only Balarama, Daruka and Himself. Balarama goes into a yogic trance, leaves his worldly body and, resuming the original form of Adisesha, enters the ocean. Lord Krishna realises that it was time for Him to leave the earth. He sends Daruka to fetch Arjuna to save the womenfolk in Dwaraka. Lord Krishna then goes to the forest and lies down in a meditative trance. A fish had swallowed a piece of the cursed rod, was caught by a fisherman and was gutted. The fisherman had made an arrowhead from the iron piece and used it for hunting. When he sees Lord Krishna's yellow clothes, he mistakes it to be a bird and shoots the arrow. The arrow enters Lord Krishna's foot and He leaves the worldly body to ascend to Vaikunta. Arjuna arrives to see the sad scene and his heart breaks to see that Lord Krishna is gone. He watches as Dwaraka is flooded with seawater and disappears from sight. He takes the womenfolk back to Hastinapura. On the way they are attacked by robbers and Arjuna runs out of arrows while trying to fight them. Arjuna returns to Hastinapura and narrates the sad tale to Yudhistira.
The 17th chapter is the Mahaprasthanika Parva. Vyaasa advises the Pandavas and Draupadi to leave the world. Parikshit is made king, with Yuyutsu as advisor. The Pandavas with Draupadi begin the long journey to the Himalayas. On the way they stop in Dwaraka, where Agnideva appears and takes back Arjuna's weapons. They begin their journey to Mount Meru, everyone dies except for Yudhistira. He notices that a dog has been following him throughout the journey. At the top, Indradeva meets Yudhistira and asks him to ride in his chariot to Amaravati. Yudhistira insists that the dog accompany him, and refuses to go to Indraloka without it. It turns out that the dog is none other than Yama Dharmaraja, who was testing Yudhistira. By passing the test Yudhistira is allowed to enter Amaravati in his wordly body.
The 18th and final chapter is the Svargarohana Parva. Yudhistira is taken to the grand sabha by Indra and sees several great souls there. He does not see his brothers or Draupadi in Indraloka, but sees Duryodhana instead. Yudhistira insists that Yama Dharmaraja take him to his wife and brothers. He is led to hell and sees that they are all suffering there. He refuses to leave and tells Yama Dharmaraja to leave him there with his brothers. This was another test and Yudhistira passed it again. Indradeva takes all the Pandavas and Draupadi back to Amaravati. Yudhistira wants to know the reason for why a sinner like Duryodhana was in Amaravati, while his brothers were not. We discussed how the rules of heaven are different from those on earth. With more "punyam" and less "paapam", the Pandavas endured hell first and then spent eternity in heaven. Duryodana enjoyed a short time in heaven for the small amount of "punyam" he had collected. Then he had to endure hell for the immense number of sinful acts he had committed. The conclusion of the Mahbharata, all the Pandavas and Draupadi get the divine darshan of Lord Krishna as Lord Narayana in Vaikunta. This concludes our Mahabharata story. Sri Krishnarpanam Astu!
Activity: The class enjoyed a special music session with Swamini Radhikananda ji today and learnt a song on Lord Hanuman - 'The Ring Song'
Thank you, Swamini Amma!
Geeta Chanting
We learnt Verses 23, 24 and 25 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 on April 22, 2023. Grade 6 is in the Partha group, and is assigned verses 1-30 this year.
We assembled in the Prayer Hall for aarti and the pledge recitation.
- 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
