Hari Om Parents,
Please find the below update from our class on Friday Mar 24th, 2023.
Class began with Opening Prayers - 3 OMs, followed by the chanting of Sahana Vavatu. Then invoked the blessings of Lord Ganesha, Goddess Saraswati and all our Gurus, by chanting..
Śri Ganeshaya Namah!
Śhri Saraswathyai Namah!
Śhri Sad-Gurubhyo Namah!
Shlokas: ( My Prayers Book)
We recited the Daily Prayers ( page#11) in the order of:
• Karagre Vasate
• Samudra Vasane
• Gange cha Yamune
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam
• Brahmaarpanam
• Shubham Karoti
• Kara-charana-krtam vak
We then recited the Devi Dhyana Shloka (page #39). We also recited Mahalakshmi Ashtakam (page 40)
We then proceeded to learn to chant the MahishasuraMardini Stotram (verses 1 - 7).
Kindly encourage the kids to memorize these and recite them at appropriate times throughout the day. Thus instilling in them, not just the learning part but to put all that they learn, into practice in their daily routine.
Mahabharata Summary:The Eleventh day
As soon as Drona assumed command of the Kaurava forces, Duryodhana, Karna and Duhsasana sat in council and decided on a plan to capture Yudhishthira alive. Duryodhana went to Drona and mentioned that he should capture Yudhishthira alive and give him over to them.
Drona was very pleased when he heard this. He assumed good intent on Duryodhana's part and thought that they wanted to make peace with the Pandavas, end the war soon and give them their share of the kingdom. Drona loved the Pandavas, and he hated the idea of slaying them. So, he was overjoyed that Duryodhana felt no enmity towards Yudhishthira. He also told Duryodhana that Yudhishthira was one without an enemy and the name Ajatasatru befitted him. He promised Duryodhana that he would capture Yudhishthira alive.
As soon as Drona made his promise, Duryodhana revealed his real intent. If Yudhishthira were killed, it would anger the Pandavas and the battle would rage more fiercely and Duryodhana knew that it would only mean utter defeat of his army. Even if the fight were to be continued relentlessly and both armies were destroyed, Krishna would remain alive, and he would have either Draupadi or Kunti in sovereign possession of the kingdom. So, there was no point in killing Yudhishthira. But if he were captured alive, he could trick Yudhishthira into playing a game of dice and send him back to the forest again.
Hearing this Drona was greatly disappointed, but he was just glad that Yudhishthira was not to be killed. The news that Drona had given a promise to take Yudhishthira as prisoner spread to the Pandava army. They took this seriously and arrayed the forces, so Yudhishthira was never left unsupported.
In the first day's battle under the leadership of Drona, the acharya amply demonstrated his great skill and energy. The Pandava forces were destroyed. There were also many single combats among renowned warriors. There was a great combat between Salya and Bhima in which Salya was defeated. When the Kaurava forces began to lose courage, the Pandava army attacked the Kaurava army with renewed energy and broke its ranks. When Drona saw this, he decided to restore lost morale by leading a straight attack on Yudhishthira. He fought back. Dhrishtadyumna tried to intercept Drona but in vain. Drona came very near Yudhishthira. Suddenly Arjuna appeared on the battlefield and shot an unending flood of arrows at Drona. Drona retreated and Yudhishthira was not taken alive. The eleventh day of the battle was thus stopped for the day.
The Twelfth day
After the attempt to capture Yudhishthira alive failed, Drona and others knew that if Arjuna was near Yudhishthira, it would be impossible to capture him. So, they wanted to draw Arjuna away to some other part of the battlefield by some stratagem. The Trigartadesa chief Susarma, who heard Drona say this, talked it over with his brothers and they made a plan. They took samsaptaka oath whereby they performed funeral ceremonies for themselves as if they were dead. They took the oath to kill Arjuna and return. If they fled in battle out of fear, they would be punished for their deadly sin. They marched south for that was the direction of Death and challenged Arjuna to battle.
Arjuna turned to Yudhishthira and said that he had to accept the challenge led by Susarma and the Samsaptakas. But before he left, he asked the Panchala prince Satyajit to stand guard by Yudhishthira's side.
On this twelfth day of the great battle, Arjuna along with Krishna approached the large samsaptaka force and it was a fierce battle. Heavy were the losses on the samsaptakas but under the leadership of Susarma they persevered and fought vigorously. As Arjuna was opposing the Trigartas, Drona gave orders to attack the Pandava army at the point where Yudhishthira stood. Dhrishtadyumna marched forward to meet Drona. Drona avoided Dhrishtadyumna for he knew that his death was destined at his hands, and he wheeled his chariot towards Drupada. Drupada's forces suffered greatly at Drona's hands.
Drona then turned his attention to Yudhishthira. The Pandavas stood firm and answered Drona's attacks with a shower of arrows. Satyajit made a charge on Drona's chariot and there was a fierce battle. Satyajit, Vrika, another prince of Panchala as well as Satanika, son of Virata all died in that battle.
Drona defeated Satyaki, Sikhandin and others and was now almost within reach of Yudhishthira. At that moment, Panchalya, another son of Drupada tried to stop the acharya and he also fell dead. Duryodhana was delighted to see the attack by Drona. Duryodhana and Karna now proceeded to support Drona as he was fighting hard against several of the great warriors in the Pandava army.
Brave Bhagadatta
Drona made many attempts to take Yudhishthira prisoner but failed. Duryodhana led a large elephant division against Bhima. Bhima defended himself from his chariot, with well-aimed arrows. His shafts tore down Duryodhana's flag and cut down his bow. Seeing this the Mlechchha king Anga marched against Bhimasena, seated on a huge elephant. But Bhima sent shafts that laid the elephant low and killed Anga, which resulted in scattering that section of the Kaurava forces in fear and confusion. When the elephants stampede, the horses also took fright and thousands of footmen were trampled under the feet of the elephants and the horses. Seeing this great confusion and the scattering of the Kaurava forces in all directions, the king of Pragjyotisha, the brave Bhagadatta, got up on his renowned elephant Supratika and charged at Bhimasena.
The gigantic beast rushed forward and crashed into Bhimasena's chariot, but Bhima escaped by jumping off the car in the nick of time. He got below the great and fierce elephant and showered blows on vital points. The great beast got mad and whirled round trying to throw off Bhimasena, who was sticking to its legs. It bent down and caught Bhima by its trunk and was about to crush him under its knees, when Bhima somehow released himself from its hold and again got below, in between its limbs and sticking to the elephant's under-regions, causing exceeding pain to the beast.
Bhima was thus gaining time in the hope that some elephant on the Pandava side would be led to attack Bhagadatta's elephant and enable him to get away. But, when Bhima disappeared from view, everyone thought that he was dead. Yudhishthira heard the cry and urged the forces to destroy Bhagadatta. The king of Dasarna charged at Bhagadatta. Dasarna's elephant was also a fierce beast and there was a great battle between Supratika and Dasarna's elephant. But Supratika killed Dasarna. At that moment, Bhima emerged from below Supratika and ran out safe, and the Pandava army cheered when they saw Bhima alive.
Bhagadatta was now attacked on all sides, but he did not lose heart. Bhagadatta's elephant wrought great havoc in the Pandava army. Bhimasena, equipping himself once again with a chariot, renewed his attack on Bhagadatta. The elephant stretched out its trunk and blew out a violent spray of mucus which scared the horses of Bhima's chariot and they bolted in wild flight and the charioteer could not check them. A great cloud of dust rose from the field where this great elephant battle raged.
Arjuna saw this from where he was fighting the samsaptakas and he also heard the tumult created by Bhagadatta's elephant. He feared things had gone wrong and said to Krishna that they should offer support to the army and to save the situation. Krishna drove the chariot accordingly towards the main battle front. Susarma and his brothers came up behind the chariot and again attacked Arjuna. But Arjuna sent three well-aimed shafts, which compelled Susanna to turn back.
As soon as Arjuna's car was seen, the Pandava forces rallied and soon Arjuna reached the lines where Bhagadatta was. Bhagadatta attacked Arjuna on Supratika. But Arjuna's arrows broke the elephant's armour and began to hurt the beast. Bhagadatta saw that his elephant could no longer stand the attack and he hurled a javelin at Krishna. Arjuna met it with a shaft from his bow and broke it into two. Bhagadatta then discharged another javelin which struck Dhananjaya's helmet. Readjusting his helmet, Arjuna bent his bow and hurled at him shafts which broke his bow, shattered his quiver and pierced the joints of his armor.
Bhagadatta was very old and his skin hung loose down over his eyes, and he had tied its folds over his forehead with a silk kerchief so that they might not interfere with his sight. Bhagadatta was not more renowned for valor than for purity of character and conduct. When deprived of all his weapons, Bhagadatta hurled his elephant goad at Arjuna. It was sent with deadly aim and charged with the Vaishnava mantra. It would have killed Arjuna, but Krishna came in between and presented himself as a target for the missile. It settled on his chest as a shining necklace. Charged with the mantra of Vishnu, it could not hurt Vishnu but just became the Lord's jewelled garland round his neck.
Arjuna was confused why Krishna had offered himself as a target for the enemy's missile. Krishna told Arjuna that the shaft would have killed him if it had hit him, but it was really Krishna's own thing, so it came back to its lawful owner. Then, Partha sent an arrow which entered the head of Bhagadatta's elephant, and it was killed. Arjuna was somewhat grieved at the death of the noble animal and for his not having been able to slay Bhagadatta without killing the beast. Arjuna's shafts tore the silken napkin that bound up the folds of the aged king's forehead and he was blinded at once by his own hanging wrinkles.
Soon, a sharp crescent-headed shaft came and pierced his chest and Bhagadatta fell down dead. Sakuni's brothers, Vrisha and Achala, tried their best to oppose Arjuna but they were also killed. Sakuni was full of anger, when he saw his brothers lying dead on the field. He attacked Arjuna fiercely and used all the weapons of illusion. But Arjuna's strokes broke all the charms and rendered them useless, and Sakuni had to leave the field, as fast as his horses could bear him. The Pandava forces then attacked Drona's army and wrought great havoc till the sun set, and the twelfth day's fight ended. Drona gave orders to cease fighting and the Kaurava forces, which had lost heavily, retired in sullen dejection to their camp. The Pandava army, on the other hand, was in high spirits and its warriors gathered round camp-fires in cheerful talk and praise of Arjuna and the other heroes, who had led them to victory.
Bhagavad Gita: Verses 28, 29, and 30 from chapter 3 were taught and rehearsed this week, following our Swamiji, Swami Shantanandaji's chanting video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLXiFygZ6Mk&list=PLwv-WSJSokEMjzRiL_CQC--igySyIgJqA&index=15
Class Reflection:Then and NowWe had an active discussion in the class as we entered into the eleventh day of the war under the leadership of Dronacharya. The children were intrigued by the strategies used by both the armies to try and break the formations. We also discussed the character traits of the different warriors. The children were able to relate to the character analysis they do for school work. We discussed the concepts of Monarchy (how it runs for generations in a family) and Democracy ("We the people" concept) and their differences. A wise and noble prince like Yudhishthira always had the vision and foresight to ensure that his actions and decisions brought prosperity to his people whereas Duryodhana brought more harm than good to his people.
Aarathi: We concluded with the closing prayers, followed by pledge.
Please have the children do their daily prayers regularly and also practice the ślokas and Gita chanting.
Thank you! See you back on Friday March 31st, 2023.
Pranāms,
Viji Lakshmi Hari and Anupama SivakumarFriday Grade 6 sevikas
