Hari Om Parents:
Pranamams and greetings to all.
Link to join whatsapp group chat https://chat.whatsapp.com/E0cfUe3NUDYCBwYVKD7tyg
List of things that we need the kids to bring to the class
- An empty notebook to write likhita japa and notes
- Two sharpened pencils
- Daily Prayers book
Curriculum for 5ht graders
- Mahabharata By Raja Gopalachari
- India the sacred land (handouts will be provided by teachers)
- Slokas - Ganesha Panchratnam
- Link to rendition with lyrics in english https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4lZCKxeJFE or
- Learn Ganesha Pancharatnam with English Lyrics - YouTube (play at lower speeds for kids follow lyrics and hear clearly)
- Nirvana Shatakam
- Bhagavad Gita - Chapter 4 1-2
Summary of Class:
We welcomed more students and are especially happy to announce and welcome a few first-time families to the Chinmaya Balavihar community.
Typical balavihar class starts with Likitha Japa (silent writing of name of ishta devatha) followed by
3 time Om invocation, followed by Shanti mantra
3 time Om invocation, followed by Shanti mantra
After the Shanti Mantra kids lead the daily prayers ( Page 11 of My Prayers book). Once this was completed we practiced the first two slokas of Ganesha Pancharatna ( Page 30 of My prayers book). Please help kids memorize the daily prayer and Ganesha Pancharatnam.Om Saha Nau-Avatu |Saha Nau Bhunaktu |Saha Viiryam Karavaavahai |Tejasvi Nau-Adhiitam-Astu Maa Vidvissaavahai |Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||ॐ सह नाववतु ।सह नौ भुनक्तु ।सह वीर्यं करवावहै ।तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै ।ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
After all the regular class activities were done - it was time for kids to explore Mahabharatha. We started of the genesis of the epic. In this context, we quizzed the kid son on the upcoming major festival - Ganesh Chaturthi, Vinayaka Chavithi - a celebration of the Birth of Lord Ganesha, the god of removing all obstacles. Please teach the kids the various customs, and traditions of your families in celebrating the same. We would like to hear from them.
Mahabharatha is a great epic foretelling the history of the Bharatha dynasty - a great dynasty - its beginning, its nurturing and expansion, and the eventual decline and decimation of the dynasty. The epic is an account of history and is interlaced with stories of morality, immorality, adherence to Dharma, and consequences of not following Dharma leading to grief and destruction. The epic has literally hundreds and thousands of characters who play a prominence at a point in time and recede and fade - but there are a few main characters like Bhishma Pitamah, Kavuravas, Pandavas etc. who remain in the forefront for the majority of the time.
Lord Brahma approached sage Veda Vyasa and requested him to compile the history of the Bharatha dynasty. Sage Vyasa accedes to Bramaji's request but starts looking for a writer. In the search for such a writer, Sage Vyasa encounters Lord Sivs and Maa Parvati and requests the help of Ganeshji to be his scriptwriter. Ganeshaji reluctantly accepts the role, but with a condition - Vysaji should dictate in such a way that Ganeshaji's pen should never pause, or else he would walk away and stop writing. Hearing this tricky condition Vyasa put his own condition to Ganeshji - Ganeshji cannot write anything until he understood what he was writing. With these mutually agreed upon conditions, on an auspicious day, Vyasa starts dictating the history to Ganeshji. Occasionally Vyasaji would give a complex combination of words and slokas and Ganeshji had to pause a little while to understand and complete his writing, this would enable Vyasji to compose many more slokas for dictation. This is how the great epic, which contains about 100,0000 slokas came into the world. It is still considered the largest epic ever written. There were several questions raised by kids - but an interesting question raised by a kid was - How long did it take to write the Mahabharatha? We will try to find and get an authoritative answer. In the meantime, parents feel free to research and share your findings too :-)
We ended our storytelling class and switched to the Bhagavad Gita telecast. Today was only about learning how to pronounce certain key Sanskrit words and syllables. After the telecast, we marched into the prayer hall for aarti and pledge
Until we meet next time
HariOm
Shivram
