Hari Om Dear Families,
We had a productive Sunday afternoon with our kids. Please find below the summary of our class on Sunday, Sep 24 2023
1) Opening Prayers
We chanted 3 OMs followed by opening Prayer:
Vakratunda mahaakaavya(for Lord Ganesha)
2) Shloka
We learned and chanted Sahanavavatu. We also learned the meaning of each verse.
Om Sahanavavatu (May he protect us both)
Saha nau Bhunaktu (May he nourish us)
Sahaviryam karavavahai (May we get the capacity to study and understand our scriptures)
Tejasvinavadhitamastu mavidvisavahai (May we study and get along well)
Om Shantih Shantih Shantihi
Some of the kids were now explaining the meaning as well.
3. We then learned and chanted Dhyana Shloka of Sri Hanuman
Buddhir Balam Yashodhairyam nirbhayatvam arogataa
ajaaDyam vaakpaTutvam cha hanumat smaraNaat bhavet
Buddhi (intelligence), Balam (strength),Yasas (fame),Dhairyam (courage),Nirbhayatvam (fearlessness), Arogata (free from diseases), Ajadyam (alertness) and Vakpatutvam (eloquence) - These are the eight virtues that make our invisible back bone strong.
Throughout the next few classes , we will continue to learn about virtues of Hanuman and what constitutes a strong backbone.
4. We then revised what we discussed in the last class and emphasized on Buddhi and Balam.
Buddhi is intellect in Sanskrit. Buddhi helps us to discriminate between what is right and wrong. Intellect is a gift from God, given only to Human beings. We recalled the stories covered for Buddhli in the last class i.e The empty pot story as well as the Akbar and Birbal story. We then proceeded to discuss Balam.
5. Balam is Strength in Sanskrit. Balam is both physical and mental strength.
Story: Hanuman and Bheema's incidence in Mahabharatha. (Bheema's Arrogance). We watched this video which the kids enjoyed - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVtpsH5LV-Q
Once, Draupadi asked Bheema for a rare sweet-smelling flower. Bheema is known for his Strength. While searching for the flower, he came across an old monkey, blocking the path with his long tail. Monkey was none other than Hanumanji in disguise. Bheema in his arrogance, demanded the monkey to move his tail. Hanuman ji said, "I am an old monkey, I am tired, could you please move my tail aside and go on". Annoyed Bheema, tried to quickly move the tail, but to his surprise, it was quite heavy! He was exhausted with numerous efforts, and realized that it is none other than Hanumanji and prostrated to this old monkey.
Discussion: So after that story we had a brief discussion about Bhima & how he was physically very strong. Why, then, could he not move Hanuman ji's tail? Bhima was temporarily blinded by the arrogance of his own strength and, therefore, became mentally weak. The moral is physical strength without mental strength is not effective.
6. Story : Mahatma Gandhi's mental strength
When Mahatma Gandhi was a student a dictation was given to the pupils to see how good they were in their spellings. As the test was going on, the teacher suddenly stopped near Gandhiji. He secretly signaled Gandhiji to look at the neighbor's notebook and copy it. Gandhiji understood what the teacher wanted him to do but he refused.
Discussion: Why did he refuse to copy? Because Gandhiji knew copying from another is morally wrong. He was mentally very strong and did not resort to cheating to get good grades.
7. Then we talked about the 3rd quality of Hanumanji which is "Yashas". All children came up with someone's name who they knew were famous - Children talked about many but actors and performers were predominant on the list - Rajnikant, Puneet Rajkumar, Taylor Swift, Vijay were some of the names.
Discussion: what kind of qualities led them to fame? Its because of their talent and Hardwork. We discussed if famous people could also be famous for something bad they did and how they would become famous but that is not what we should be.
8.Activity Japa mala : With beads and string, we did a japa mala. The kids picked out two of their favorite color beads and made short malas. Most of them wore it on the wrists after making it :).
9.Geeta Chanting - We chanted Verse # 1 from Chapter 4. Here is the video for the kids to practice - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZMnPAfumw4
10.We ended our class with aarti and shaanti mantra.
Things to note:
Next Balavihar class is on Sep 30th.
You will receive class updates through email every week.
WhatsApp group if you haven't joined yet: https://chat.whatsapp.com/JTCTZ4rPWLPH8te76B1QGy
Class starts at 12:45 PM sharp with opening prayers. Please make sure kids are inside the classroom 5 mins before the class starts.
Please make sure kids use the restroom before entering the class.
Few links for parents
This year's parents handbook is available at the following link- https://www.chinmayavrindavan.org/balavihar/parents-corner/handbook
Materials Needed for the Class
Notebook for Likhita japa
Pencil and Eraser
My prayers book
Hanuman Chalisa book
Balavihar Handbook
Regards,
Divya Purushotham and Rajeswari Ummettala
