Hari Om,
We started our class with 3 Oms and then our regular set of shlokas.
Mahabharata continues-
Kunti, the adopted daughter of the king of Kuntibhoja, selects Pandu as a husband in a swayamvara. Maadri, the princess of the Madra Kingdom, also chooses Pandu as her husband in a swayamvara.
Kunti is the adopted daughter of Kuntibhoja. She is Vasudeva's (Krishna's father) sister. When she is a little girl, she impresses Sage Dhruvasa and he in turn teaches her a mantra by which she can invoke any God. The playful girl decides to test the mantra, invokes the Sun God and to her dismay and shock, is blessed with a baby boy born with kavacha (armor) and kundala (earrings). In desperation, she wraps the baby in a silk cloth and lets the baby float in the river with the hope that someone accepts the baby as their own.
After the marriages of Dhirtarashtra and Pandu, years go by as the Kuru dynasty conquers several kingdoms. Pandu and his wives decide to spend sometime in the forest. Pandu, by mistake shoots a male deer, who is actually a sage who has taken the form of a deer. The sage was embracing his wife and because Pandu committed a sin, the deer, in his human voice, curses Pandu that he shall die as well when he looks lovingly at his wife. This jolts Pandu and he renounces his material possessions and decides to live in the forest. As he now cannot sire children, he pleads with Kunti to use her mantra to beget children. On his instruction, she invokes the Lord of Dharma and Yudhishtra, the one who is ever truthful and just, is born. One year later, Vayu is invoked and Bheema, who is extremely strong, is born. That same day, Duryodhana is born to Gandhari. Hastinapur witnesses many ill omens on his birth and Dhirtarashtra is adviced to abandon the child, but he does not. Later on, Kunti invokes Indra and Arjuna, who is an excellent archer, is born. Kunti teaches the mantra to Madri, who invokes the Ashwini Kumars. Nakul and Sahadeva, who are adept in horse riding, religion, administration, astrology, axe fighting etc are then born. These are the 5 Pandavas. Duryodhana along with his 99 brothers and a sister are the Kauravas.
A few years pass by, and the young princes get their education from the Sages in the forest. One day, Pandu lovingly looks at Madri and is met with death. Madri also decides to jump into the fire as she considers herself to be blamed for Pandu' death. Following this, Kunti decides to go back to Hastinapura along with the boys.
We completed Ajam Nirvikalpam and started Ganesh Pancharatnam. Please make sure the kids practice these at home.
This week as promised earlier was super fun. The teams had a group activity and earned points for the respective houses. Announcements were also made of upcoming competitions. Please be on the lookout for registration dates.
We will meet for BalaVihar coming Sunday. See you all !!
Regards,
Indira and Raji
