Hari OM Parents,
Please find the details of April 23rd class below:
- Opening prayers and OM chanting
- Recap of previous class.
- Dashavatara Stotram practice
- Story - Ajamila & Chitraketu and others
We did the stories of Ajamila, ChitraKetu, Vinobaji, Indra and Vritasura.
Story of Ajamila:
Ajamila's story tells us how by chanting the Lord's name earnestly and setting the heart at his feet, one can be free from all sins and attain salvation. Ajamila was an honest young man well versed in the Vedas. He fell into bad company and started neglecting his family. He also gave up all thoughts about God and worship. As he lost all his money, he even started cheating and stealing from people. He had ten sons, and the youngest was named Narayana. At the time of his death, the messengers of Yama came to take him. Scared, Ajamila shouted out to his son, "Narayana, Narayana!" As he uttered the Lord's name, his mind rested at the lotus feet of Lord Narayana. There was a fight between Yama's attendants and Vishnu's attendants. As he called out Visnu's name, even though he was wicked in his last days, Vishnu's attendants were ready to take him as he surrendered to the Lord. We shared the lesson - He who surrenders to the Lord is released from all his sins.Such is the power of Narayana's name.
Vinobaji and what we can learn from his story:
Vinobaji lived with his mother in Maharashtra. His father lived away from them due to his business. Once it was time for Diwali, and Vinobaji's father was to return home.Vinobaji knew his father was going to bring him many gifts - maybe sweets, chocolates or toys. He was waiting anxiously. His father did bring him a large package. Anxiously, Vinobaji opened the box and found two books, Ramayana and Mahabharata. His mother said, "Beta, these are the best sweets ever, Enjoy!" Vinobaji tells later in his life how even today these sweets he received are still sweet and are getting sweeter everyday!
Lesson Learnt: Good books are like good friends. They always come to rescue us and guide us in our life.
Chitraketu:
He was a king who was reborn as Vrita, an asura because of the rude words he spoke, without guarding his tongue. Based on Chithraketu's story, we discussed how it is important to guard one's tongue, and be careful about the words one chooses.
Chithraketu's story entangles with the story of Indira and how Indira was clouded by his pride that led him to not respect his Guru Brihaspati and suffer the consequences of his action. Pride always precedes a person's downfall
We also asked kids to do an activity where they mark the number of kind words they speak and hurtful words they speak this whole week, and then report back next week. Please do send the sheets with them.
We concluded the class with Aarthi, prayer and the Pledge.
Guru Stotram: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IcTvswcTFs
Dasavatara Stotram: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aef5HmWG8D8
Geeta chapter 3: https://bit.ly/BGChapter3Playlist
Thanks and warm regards,
Aruna and Subbu
