Apr 2, 2023 - Grade 4 (Sunday AM)

Hari OM Dear Families,

Here is this week's update.

Week 20 :
2nd April 2023 / 9:15 AM
Opening prayers and Shlokas
Slokas: Class began with 3 OMs followed by

"Om Saha Navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book)
 Om shrI Ganeśaya Namaha,  shrI Saraswatyai Namaha,  shrI Sat Gurubhyo Namaha.
"Vakratunda Mahakaya" (page 27 in My Prayers book)

Saraswathi Namasthubhyam
"Gurur Brahma" (page 60 in My Prayers book)
"Krishnaya Vasudevaya" (page 105 in My Prayers book)

Govinda damodhara stothram- we learned the sixth verse, "jihve sadaivam..."

Krishna everywhere
We started the lesson with a comparison - how Ravana had Maaricha do his bidding to entice Sita by posing as the golden deer, even though he did not want to. Both Akrura and Maaricha unwillingly obeyed their king's orders, but here, Akrura was unable to keep Kamsa's evil plan to himself.)

Akrura, Krishna & Balarama were set to depart for Mathura early the following morning. Nanda prepared carriages and presents for the trip to Mathura. Nanda, some elders and some gopas joined them.The gopis weren't included but figured out what was going on. They were all beyond devastated to see their Lord depart. Yashoda was inconsolable. Krishna said, "The world will always know that My Mother is, and always will be, My Yashoda maiya."

Akrura takes Krishna and Balarama with him in the chariot. They start their journey to Mathura. It becomes noon, and as it's very hot, they take a break on the banks of River Mandakini. Krishna and Balarama refresh themselves in the cool waters. Akrura goes into the river to offer his noon prayers. He takes a dip in the river, and lo! He sees Lord Vishnu with all his splendor lying down on the thousand headed Seshanaga, surrounded and worshipped by rishis, and sages, including the Sanat Kumaras, Prahlada and Narada.

{Who are The sanat Kumaras - They are four sages (rishis) from the Puranic texts of Hinduism who roam the universe as children, generally named Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana, and Sanatkumara. They are described as the first mind-born creations and sons of the creator-god Brahma} 

Continuing the story, Akrura returns to the chariot reveling in the divine vision he had in the river. They start their journey again and reach Mathura by sunset. Akrura invites the brothers to his house, but Krishna gently refuses, saying that they will come after their mission is accomplished.

Mathura was a beautiful city with wide, clean roads. There were beautiful gardens, parks and marketplaces. There were simple rest houses for travelers and majestic mansions. Krishna and Balarama were utterly delighted by what they saw. 

As they continued to roam the streets, word quickly spread that Krishna and Balarama had arrived. Women and children rushed to the windows to get a glimpse of them.He showered flowers on them and worshipped them with incense, milk, curd, flowers and fruit. Krishna and Balarama entered the home of a garland maker named Sudama. Sudama worshipped them with betel leaves, garlands and many different kinds of flowers. Krishna blessed him in abundance. As they proceeded further, they met a hunchback woman, Trivakra. She was the royal maid at Kamsa's palace, and made sandalwood paste and other perfumes for Kamsa. When she saw Krishna, with great devotion she offered all the sandalwood paste and watched them as they put it on their face and arms. Krishna thanked her. With a smile he put his feet on hers and placed two fingers under her chin. Her body straightened up magically then and there. She was transformed into a beautiful woman.

As the brothers keep walking, they come across the hall where the huge dhanush was kept for the yagna. Fierce looking guards were appointed to safeguard the place. Within minutes, Krishna leaped towardsthe dhanush and broke it in no time. That sound was certainly horrifying like the thunder blow. Then the brothers fought with all the guards and killed them. The sound of the breaking of the bow reached Kamsa and he was filled with fear and anger. Krishna and Balarama casually continued their walk until they reached their camp in the night.

We practiced for our class play. We have sent the scripts to all families in the email, please print a copy for them. (each child should have a personal copy, please ) Parents, please help our children to memorize the lines with expressions and make them understand to note whose line is before theirs to form into a sequence.

Play on 5/7 - the stage rehearsal dates and timings

4/15 and 5/6 - 4.00 pm - 5.30pm  

(These are given in the whatsapp group. FYI)

Geeta recording - We recorded verses 17-25 (Chapter 3, karma yoga) and sent them to earn house points.

House contests- 

The Geeta chanting yagna is on 4/22 at our ashram, an in person event. The registration is now open and the link is given below. Please register early to choose your choice of slot. We will share the link in the whatsapp group as well.

 Geeta Chanting (chinmayavrindavan.org) 

This is the link to register.

Bhajanotsav on 4/29, please register and form your own groups (4-6) for this unique group competition. House Events (chinmayavrindavan.org)

(Registration links also provided in the whatsapp group)

We concluded the session with arathi and pledge in our class (akhanda ramayanam parayanam was almost to conclude by noon, so we did not have the assembly and arathi/pledge etc together)

We look forward to seeing the kids in the class next session (4/16), No class on 4/9

Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you and HariOm,
Neelima Turaga & Vidhya Aiyer