Hari Om Parents,
We started off today's class with Om chanting and our regular set of Bhajans .
We had a quick recap of the Mahabharata introduction that we had discussed last class.
We started off Mahabharata with King Dushyanth. He was lost in a dense forest while hunting. He sees a idyllic hermitage and is greeted by a beautiful girl . She informs him that she is Shakuntala , the adopted daughter of Sage Kanva, who is currently out of the hermitage. She is the biological daughter of Menaka, an Apsara and Sage Vishwamitra. Menaka abandons Shakuntala following which she is brought up by Sage Kanwa. Dushyanth proclaims his love for her and wants her to be his wife. While Shakuntala reciprocates his feelings, she wishes to wait for her adoptive father's return. Dushyanth convinces her that they can marry as per the Gandharva tradition. Shakuntala agrees to the non-traditional wedding, but cleverly asks the king to promise that the son born from their union will be the heir to his throne. King Dushyant agrees, and having spent time with her , leaves with the promise to send for his new bride . He never does .
Shakuntala gives birth to a boy named Bharata, who is so strong that at six years of age he can tame lions with his bare hands. Kanva commands that the boy and his mother be sent to the capital Hastinapur, for the boy is ready to be named as crown prince. Shakuntala proudly enters the court of Hastinapur with her young son. Even though Dushyant recognizes her, he refuses to acknowledge her and insults her . As Shakuntala storms out of the court, an invisible, divine voice commands Dushyant to accept Shakuntala and Bharata as his wife and son, because Shakuntala has spoken the truth. Dushyant joyfully claims that he had recognized both of them but was afraid that society would be suspicious of Bharata's claim to the throne. Now that all earthly suspicions are cleared by "divine intervention", he dutifully honors his wife and son.
This boy Bharata is from the Puru clan and 25 generations later are born the Pandavas and Kauravas.
After this introduction, we jump forward to King Shantanu. He sees Ganga in her human form and is captivated by her and asks her to marry him. She agrees but on certain conditions that neither he nor anybody else can ask who she is or where she comes from and should not question any of her actions. If he acts otherwise she will leave him.The infatuated king agrees. They get married and live a happy life. She gives birth to 7 children and after each one is born she takes the baby and drowns them into the river. King Shantanu is filled with horror and anguish but suffers in silence , mindful of the promise he had made. When the eighth child is born and Ganga is about to throw the child, the king cannot stop himself and restrains her. She replies sadly that he has broken his promise. She reveals her identity and says that the 8 children were Vasus in their previous birth and had to be born on earth because of a curse. The eighth child will have to live and she promises to bring him up with all qualities befitting a king. We also went into details of the reason for the curse.
This boy is Devavrata who is endowed with the form and beauty of Devendra. He dazzles his father with his mighty power when Ganga presents him to Shantanu. King Shantanu is extremely proud of him and crowns him as the heir apparent. Four years go by. One day as Shantanu is wandering along the banks of Yamuna, the air is filled with a fragrant smell. He traces it to a lovely maiden. He asks her to be his wife. The lady says her name is Satyawati and that she is a fisherwoman. She asks Shantanu to ask her father for her hand. The fisherman was an astute man and asks for a promise that the child born out of this wedlock should become the king. Shantanu cannot agree to this condition and leaves dejectedly. But he is not able to hide his sorrow from Devarata. The wise Devarata finds out from King Shantanu's charioteer about the meeting with the fisherman . He approaches the fisherman who puts forth the same condition. Devarata promises him that the son born to King Shantanu and Satyawati shall be the king and that he renounces his right as the yuvaraja. This does not appease the fisherman. He says that he has full faith that Devarata will honor the promise but is not sure of Devarata's sons who might want the throne for themselves. On hearing this , Devarata makes this supreme renunciation. He vows to never marry and dedicate himself to the service of whosoever sits on the throne of his father. As he uttered these words, the Gods showered flowers on his head and cries of Bhishma resounded in the air. He was henceforth called Bhishma. The fisherman is completely satisfied. Then the son of Ganga led Satyawati to his father. The marriage takes place and 2 sons Chitrangada and Vichitraveerya are born to them. Shantanu eventually passes away and the young Chitrangada becomes theYuvaraja , under the watchful eye of his older brother Bhishma. There is a Gandharva, also by the name of Chitrangada, who is not happy that there is a mortal with his name. The 2 Chitrangadas engage in a fight in which Satyawati's son Chitrangada is killed. Hastinapur is again without a king and with Vichetraveerya being a minor, Bhishma rules the kingdom on his behalf.
We started our Geeta chanting session with a brief introduction of the Sanskrit sounds. We will be practising Geeta Chanting Chapter 4 from next week.
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi and we hope the kids will update us on how they celebrated the festival at their homes ! See you all next week.
Regards,
Raji and Indira
