Hari Om!
Dear Parents,
Our schedule for Bala Vihar on October 27 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 Verses 4-5 of the Gita with Swami ji's video.
Yoga and Sanskrit:
We practiced Sanskrit phrases for
- Good morning
- What is your name?
- My name is…
- Welcome
- Thank you
- Please
We did some stretching and jumping to keep ourselves active.
Rāmāyana:
We did a review of the epic from the beginning, with the children explaining every slide, including names.
The itihāsa resumes from when Rāma and his brothers returned to Ayodhya with their wives after the grand wedding in Mithila.
King Daśaratha decided to crown Rāma as his successor and the palace was rejoicing over the news. Meanwhile Mantara, Kaikeyi's maid, approached her Queen in her bid to plant the poisonous seed of doubt and jealousy. Although she was known to be dull, she managed to convince Kaikeyi that if Rāma was crowned king, then Kausalya will be the most important Queen Mother, and Kaikeyi will be relegated to the background.
Having been granted two wishes by her husband, Kaikeyi decides to use them and tells Dasaratha that her two wishes will be
- Bharata should be crowned King
- Rama should go to the forest for 14 years.
Rāma, upon Kaikeyi's request, appeared before his father. Kaikeyi's wishes were conveyed, between sobs. But Rāma did not react or object. He consoled his father that Bharata would make a very fine and able administrator, and that the 14 years of vanavās would go quickly and he will soon return to Ayodhya.
Lakshmana and Sita refused to stay in Ayodhya, instead choosing to accompany Rāma.
The very next day, donning simple garb, the trio set out to the forest, with the sad citizens in their wake. After consoling the followers, Rāma, Sita and Lakshmana set out towards the Ganges. There they met the tribal leader Guha, who felt honored to feed and house them.
The next day they set out on the Ganga towards Chitrakoota.
Fun time: We watched a short animated video on Why do we Pray, in Gurudev's voice.
We did closing prayers and pledge in class.
Looking forward to our next class today Friday, November 3 at 7pm.
Pranām,
Uma and Nivedita
Friday Grade 1 Sevikas
