Hari Om Parents,
Below is what we covered this week.
Shlokas:
Opening prayers, Sahanavavatu,
Nama Ramayanam -Yuddhakhandam (Page 138 - last set of 10 lines)
Geeta Chanting
Verses 26 & 27
Lessons and activities
Ramayana Continued.
Indrajit, fights in the battlefield equipped with divine arrows. He kills many vanara leaders and with his Brahmastra makes Rama and Lakshmana unconscious ( Other versions mention only about Lakshmana). With Jambavan's advice Hanuman sets to go to the Himalayas and get Sanjeevani herb to revive Rama and Lakshmana. We also talked about Kalanemi asura, who tries to trick Hanuman but eventually gets killed by him. Unable to locate the herb, Hanuman brings the entire hill back to Lanka. With the smell of the herbs Rama and Lakshmana get back their senses and energy.
Indrajit starts to perform aasuric sacrifice to gain the victory. This was disrupted by Hanuman and Lakshmana. Lakshmana sends indraastra invoking Rama's virtues and kills Indrajit.
Vibheeshana Gita
Ravana gets furious and goes for a final showdown with Rama. Ravana arrives on the battlefield well protected with armor and a special chariot equipped with all kinds of sophisticated weapons. Seeing Lord Rama standing on the ground without armor and no shoes and with only bow and arrow, Vibhishana gets very concerned for the safety of Lord Rama. In response to this doubt, a beautiful spiritual discourse is given by Lord Rama which is named as Vibheeshana Gita.
In Sanskrit Gita means song. But the word Gita means spiritual teachings. There are many Gitas and most of them have been written In Sanskrit. Vibheeshana Gita is written in Avadhi language. Like Bhagavad Gita, Vibheeshana Gita was taught on the battlefield.
Parents get very anxious when their child is participating in a selection test for the first time. This can be more than the child. The anxiety which Vibheeshana faces is born out of his love for Lord.
Rama is the eternal bliss within whereas Ravana is the embodiment of delusion which gives rise to all the six vices. There is a constant battle of Rama and Ravana within everyone. One has to strive to live up to higher values to see the victory and enjoy the eternal bliss within.
The dharma chariot in fact is just not an ordinary one. Its components consist of Courage, patience, truthfulness, good character, strength, discrimination, control of senses, caring for others, forgiveness, compassion, equanimity, devotion to God, dispassion..etc.
We will be taking each of these components in future classes for discussion and see how useful they are in shaping one's personality.
We talked about Gandhiji as an example. Gandhiji who is the father of the Nation of India had only two powerful weapons with him - Truth and non-violence. With these he was able to motivate the entire nation and win over British rule.
Play Practice:
Class practiced Part 4 and Part 5 of the play. Grade 7 will be performing on the stage on May 7th. Kids should continue to practice and memorize their lines.
Link for the shared play document:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PBcrwSoOgkjWjtVetGAY3XRDwaVbaU1OvAkO1RUOLgI/edit?usp=sharing
Pranams
Sirisha & Prarthana
