Hari Om Parents:
Namaste and greetings
Typical Balavihar activities:
Typical balavihar class starts with Likitha Japa (silent writing of name of ishta devatha) followed by
3 time Om invocation, followed by Shanti mantra
Daily prayers ( Page 11 of My Prayers book).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 ॥
The attendance in the class dropped off dramatically this week- probably the kids were still recovering from all the modakas that they ate on Ganesh Chaturthi 😀🤔
After the daily activities were completed. we practiced the third and fourth slokas of Ganesha Pancharatna ( Page 30 of My prayers book). Please help kids memorize the daily prayer and Ganesha Pancharatnam. There are a few kids who are new to this and are eager to come up to speed and master it, please encourage your kids to practice and participate in their effort by chanting along with them.
We played a game to recap what the kids remembered from last year Balavihar, we asked each kid to pick a character from a pile of chits - each kid had to say what they knew about the character. Kids had fun trying to recollect what they had forgotten after all the fun they had in summer.
By this time the kids were kind of settled down and then we jumped right into the Mahabharatha. After recounting last week's summary - we started with King Shantanu.
Shantanu was a great king of the Bharatha Dynasty and was an able administrator and powerful emperor ruling his kingdom with dharma and justice for all. He was a bachelor and was waiting for a suitable match. One day during his usual strolls on the banks of river Ganga, he spotted a beautiful damsel far far away - he started walking briskly towards her to see her up closely, the closer he got to her, the more he was awed and mesmerized by her beauty. For a moment he thought he was dreaming and was not sure if the lady was for real. Eventually, he closed upon her and was lost for words to describe her beauty. Eventually, he recovered from his state of aw and gently asked who she was - to which the lady replied that she was not from the bhuloka. Before she could go any further - Shantanu drunk and infatuated with her beauty - asks her to marry him and then introduces himself to her as the emperor of Bharatha Varsha. The lady accepts the proposal but puts forth a very strange condition - never shall anybody, including Shantanu ask her, her origins, stop her from doing anything she is doing or question her judgment. Having been smitten, Shantanu was in no rational state to think through the consequences of accepting this strange request, acceding to her whim. With her wish accepted, the beautiful damsel and Shantanu got married and were spending their life like a fairy tale - happily ever after.
However, rarely lives end up in fairy tales - including those of great emperors or powerful people. The entire Mahabharatha is filled with events where great people of high moral character end up in situations beneath them due to their decisions taken in haste
Shantanu and his wife eventually conceive a baby, and sooner the baby is born, his wife takes the infant and leaves in the river Ganga to drown and returns. Shantanu is heartbroken, but dare not question his wife's judgment or action, for fear of losing her. This saga continues for the first seven babies, however, when his wife starts to drown the eighth child, Shantanu musters courage and addresses his wife - oh cruel lady, how can you do this, killing your own born kids and drowning them? I will not let you do this anymore, I order you not to drown the baby in Ganga. To which, his wife replies - oh great emperor - you broke your promise and I can no longer live with you, but before I walk away from you for good, let me tell you my background. Thus his wife recounts her background - she was none other than goddess Ganga and appeared on the mortal earth due to the curse of Brahma and the eight kid that were born to her were the 8 vasus who were cursed by sage Vashista. Ganga then recounts Vasu's curse. The Ashta vasus were one day having fun in the lakes, rivers, and pastures near sage Vashista's ashram and the Vasu's leader's wife's gaze fell on the beautiful cow in the yard of Vashistha. She inquires her husband about the cow's details and learns that it is none other than the Kamadhenu itself - the celestial cow - the giver and granter of one's wishes. She covetes the cow and asks her husband to get it for her. The husband a wise guy, tells her and tries to dissuade her with no effect. Eventually to please her wife, the leader along with his other severe compatriots, schemes to steal Kamadhenu and takes it along with them. Sage Vashistha, after his ashram finds his cow missing and by his yogic powers realizes what happened and in his anger curses all the 8 vasus to be born into the mrityu loka (bhuloka).
Learning sage Vashista's curse, the Vasus come running to the ashram to seek forgiveness. A calmer Vashistha says what has been said cannot be taken back, but I can try to lessen its impact and says that the seven vasus who followed their leaders will be born as human beings but will immediately regain their divine form, but the leader will have to remain in the bhuloka for an extended period of time. However, the leader will be a great warrior and will have a chequered life and history will remember him forever.
Having listened to Ganga's background, Shantanu is pacified and names his newborn son Devavratha. Ganga takes the baby in her arms and tells Shantanu that she will raise the baby for the first 15 years and teach him all shastras and will make him a great warrior and fit to lead Bhartha Varsha. Since he was born to Ganga, he was also called Gangeya later in his life.
It was time for Swamiji's Gita telecast, kids learned the first sloka of Chapter 4 after which we marched into the prayer hall for aarti and pledge
Until we meet next time
HariOm
Shivram
Important Information:
Link to join whatsapp group chat https://chat.whatsapp.com/E0cfUe3NUDYCBwYVKD7tygList 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 5th 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
- Link: https://youtu.be/Oyo0FWP9fB8?si=ZaYVDepNkX0YWShI (play at lower speeds for kids to follow lyrics and hear clearly)
- Nirvana Shatakam: https://youtu.be/rKx7K13OvQ4?si=lM6g_ZtX0kdF5Sfo Nirvana Shatakam - Uninterrupted Line Guided Chant - YouTube
- Bhagavad Gita - Chapter 4 1-28
