Hari Om,
Here is the update for the class yesterday.
Stotram: We chanted the Mahalakshmi Ashtakam and Mahishasuramardini Stotram.
Mahabharata: Salya, the king of Madra and maternal uncle of Nakula and Sahadeva is now the new commander in chief. He faces a one on one with Yudhishtra and after a fierce battle, Yudhistra kills Salya. At the other side, Sahadeva and Shakuni fight and Shakuni is killed by Sahadeva.
Sanjaya comes to the war front to check on the details and wants to report to Dhritarashtra. He observes the armies are reduced much in numbers. He meets Duryodhana who is leaving the field of war, burning with rage. Duryodhana gets into a lake and is hiding and creates an illusory feel of a frozen surface of the lake. Ashvatthama, Kripa and Kritavarma come to meet him there and he sends them away, wanting to rest and recoup. Bhima's food suppliers notice this act of Duryodhana and report to Pandavas about Duryodhana's hideout. Pandavas go to the lake shore and ask Duryodhana to come out of the lake. Duryodhana tells Yudhishtra to take all the kingdom as his gift and Yudhishtra taunts Duryodhana. He tells Duryodhana to fight any one of the Pandavas and promises him that if they lose to Duryodhana, the war declares Duryodhana's victory. Krishna says that this is a bad idea, as anyone other than Bhima would lose to Duryodhana. Duryodhana picks Bhima as he thinks only Bhima is equal to him in valor and strength. They both fight like terror never seen before. Duryodhana breaks Bhima's armor and throws him down to the ground. Krishna keeps reminding about Bhima's vow and subsequently Arjuna pats his thighs. Bhima, having fallen into the ground, almost loses consciousness but gathers strength and picks his mace and jumps on a flying Duryodhana and knocks a blow on his thigh that makes Duryodhana fall with a great pain and broken thigh. Balarama, who chose to stay away from this war gets to the spot and is mad for Bhima's act of hitting Duryodhana on his thigh, which does not come into the grammar of war with maces. At the same time, he is very sad about Duryodhana's misbehavior and act of underhandedness. Duryodhana lies dying on the banks of the river.
India, Sacred Land: We started to talk about the grains, spices and lentils used in Indian cooking. It ended up being a fantasy exploration of dosa bushes, roti plants, frozen rivers of sambar, samosa trees, tasty pongal and shots of sugarcane juice at local grocery stores. The children made us believe that wheat is broken down bread and the two types of lentils are yellow dal and dal makhni. It would be an understatement to say we could not speak for laughter for a good 30 minutes of class time. So to bring the children back to the real world of grains and spices, we have asked them to explore the pantries in their houses, with your permission of course. They did seem more informed on spices like pepper, turmeric, saffron and cardamom and the medicinal use of spices. We will continue to explore the magical topic of food in the upcoming week.
Please note that we will start posting slots for class presentations by next week - plan to start by May 7th.
We had a great presentation on Earth Day - go Green initiatives at Chinmaya Vrindavan by the high schoolers. We watched stage performances from Grade 5 and Grade 8.
Good luck to all children participating in Bhajanotsav! Next class is on April 30th.
Regards
Keerthi Kobla and Abhirami Shrinivas
