Dear Parents,
Our schedule for Bala Vihar was as follows:
Opening Prayers:
1. Om chants (3 times),
2. Shanti mantra - Sa ha navavatu,
3. Ślokā on Lord Vishnu - Śuklām Baradharam
4. Ślokā on Goddess Saraswati - Saraswati Namastubhyam
5. Ślokā on Hanuman - Buddhir Balam
Gita Chanting:
We did the opening śloka of the Gita and the first verse and repeated many times to get the flow before Swami ji's video of the same verses. That way, the children actually repeat after Swami ji.
We did some stretching and a little bit of jumping to get the kids energized.
Rāmāyana:
The itihāsa resumes at the young Princes training at the hands of their teacher Sage Vasishta and mastering the necessary skills.
When the boys had gained sufficient knowledge, Sage Vishwamitra visited Ayodhya. The purpose of his visit was to take Princes Rāma and Lakshmana with him to his Ashrama, where they could help protect his yagna from the two rakshasās, Subāhu and Māricha.
Daśaratha was in a dilemma, he was worried about the safety of his young sons while also afraid to displease the great Sage. His silence angered Vishwamitra, who reminded him that it was the Dharma of a King to protect sages. Meanwhile Sage Vasishta approached the King and informed him that the Princes were ready and able to perform the tasks given by Sage Vishwamitra, and also gave him reassurance that Sage Vishwamitra would not let any harm come to them.
With much sorrow, the King sent his two sons with Sage Vishwamitra.
Sage Vishwamitra, Rāma and Lakshmana stayed overnight at Kāmāśrama (where Lord Śiva reduced Kāmā to ashes for having disturbed his tapas). Then they took a boat across the Sarayu river (where it flows in to the Ganga) to Dandaka Aranya (Dandaka forest). This is where they met their first hurdle, Thataka. Having angered Sage Agastya, she and her son Māricha were cursed to live their lives as flesh eating demons. Sage Vishwamitra told Rāma not to hesitate killing her, but to do as was his Dharma. As Rāma aimed his arrow towards her heart, the angry demoness kept advancing. In one stroke, she was felled. This earned Rāma the gratitude of all the Rishis in Dandakāranya, and the smile of pleasure from Sage Vishwamitra.
Meditation:
We will be doing about 5 minutes of meditation at the end of every class.
Looking forward to our next class on Friday, September 29 at 7pm. We will have the House Kick-off with lots of fun activities for the children.
Pranām,
Uma and Nivedita
Friday Grade 1 Sevikas
