Hari Om parents!
Please find the summary of the April month's classes.
As you may recall, we spent the majority of time in the clases scripting and practicing our class play. Children have done a fabulous job in demonstrating what values they have learnt through the story of ramayana and dharma chariot. We hope you all enjoyed the play. We would like to sincerely thank you all for your flexibility in dropping the kids for additional practice sessions and supporting the costume needs.
While practicing for the play, we covered the following topics in the April classes.
1) As of dharma chariot discussion, we reviewed the values represented by the charioteer, shield, sword and axe.
2) We also resume the story of ramayana and covered majority of the yudha kanda
Dharma Chariot discussion:
The charioteer symbolizes devotion to God. Devotion to God is not only very important but it helps us realize that we don't carry the burden of worries. We should always do our best but never forget that God is the one that leads us to our destiny. Krishna was the charioteer for Arjuna, one of the greatest warriors of Mahabharata but he had utmost devotion and faith in Krishna, the lord himself. Hence his confusions about fighting his own relatives were cleared by the Lord Himself leading him to victory! God takes care of all beings and their welfare. We also shared a story where even the tiniest of beings like an ant in a busyness train station platform is able to successfully cross the tracks and reach the other side safely! This is because of the infinite grace of God.
The shield and the sword symbolizes dispassion and contentment. Passion in life is a good thing to have but it should not be one that consumes the person. Passion should be for a higher goal. Attachment to our passion will not elevate us. Just like climbing up the stairs to go to the top, as we grow and evolve we should let go of the lower tendencies and practicing dispassion is needed for this purpose. It is the shield in the Dharma chariot that protects. We asked the kids to make a list of their top 10 most important things that they think are absolutely essential for them. We had a few interesting items, which included hot showers, video games and Taco Bell to name a few! When we practice dispassion we will be able to leave lower attachments and hold on to higher goals. Another enemy for us is greed. We discussed greed being something that can never be fed. The more greedy a person is, the more he/she wants. Greed, if we allow it, would keep growing and it will hinder our better judgement. A good symbolization of greed in the Ramayana is Kabandha. Kabandha was a Rakshasa who used to be a Gandharva and due to a curse turned into a monster with two long arms and a mouth in the middle of a big stomach. The only thing he would do was grab whatever came his way and put it in his stomach without using discretion. Rama and Lakshmana met him when they were looking for Sita. They first cut off his arms and destroyed him. From the body of the monster rose the beautiful form of the Gandharva. The sword of contentment is needed to cut the cords of greed that chain us. Such a sword is one of Rama's weapons in the Dharma Chariot.
The axe represents Daana or Charity. We went through a couple of stories that explained the results of true charity.
Yudha kanda from Ramayana
We did a quick recap of sundara khand, Lanka kanda and then moved to Yudha kanda. We went through the stories of the great battle and the duels between magnificent warriors on both sides. Ravana's town is surrounded by an army of monkeys. Ravana gives the command for a general sortie. A battle takes place, also many cases of single combat between the chief heroes of the two fighting armies. Lakshmana, Hanuman, Angada, and the Jambavan are Rama's most prominent fellow combatants, while on Ravana's side, his son Indrajit is the most conspicuous. The latter is versed in all magic arts and knows how to make himself invisible at the moment. Thus, he inflicts dangerous wounds on Rama and Lakshmana on one occasion. The same night, on the advice of the bear-king Jambavan, Lord Hanuman flies towards Mount Kailasa to find Mahodaya Parvat, to fetch potent healing herbs called Sanjeevni.
As Sanjeevni herbs are concealed, Hanuman takes the mountain peak and carries it to the battlefield. Through the fragrance of the healing herbs, Rama, Lakshmana, and all the wounded are immediately healed. Then Hanuman puts the mountain back into its place. On another occasion, Indrajit, versed in magic, comes out of the city carrying, on his war-chariot, a magically produced image of Sita, which he ill-treats and beheads before the eyes of Hanuman, Lakshmana, and the monkeys. Horrified, Hanuman reports to Rama that Sita is killed; Rama falls into a swoon. Lakshmana breaks into lamentations and utters a blasphemous speech with bitter complaints against Fate that has no regard for virtue, but is soon enlightened by Vibhishana that the whole affair is only a delusion produced by Indrajit.
Ravana decided to awaken his sleeping brother Kumbhakarn, and requested him to come.Kumbhakarn, first accused Ravan of his unworthy act but assured him that he would neutralise that dishonour by killing the enemies. Ravan asked him to proceed to the battle-front. Then, Kumbhakarn reassured and promised Ravan, saying that he would kill Ram in battle. After destroying and wounding many warriors, Kumbhakarna gets killed by Ravana.
We will wrap up the story in the next few classes and review the Final set of values in the dharma chariot.
Pranams,
Nirmala and Mythili
