Hari Om!
Dear Parents,
Our schedule for Bala Vihar on October 6 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 1-3 of the Gita at the beginning of the class using Swami ji's video and repeated many times to get the pronunciation and flow.
Yoga and Sanskrit:
Sanskrit numbers from 1-10 were enthusiastically memorized, while the children also recounted the numbers in their own mother tongues.
We did some stretching and made ourselves 'loose' so that we could be relaxed while listening yo the story.
Rāmāyana:
For a better understanding of the story, we have created a slide of pictures that depict the story.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-3BzDcgQCHNOW0TolpT4O1p_Olre87MIC_kW4ZWQZ00/edit
The itihāsa resumes from when Sage Vishwamitra was pleased with Rāma and Lakshmana for getting rid of Subahu and Maricha. The next day he informed the brothers that they were all going to Mithila for a yagna being performed by King Janaka. King Janaka had a bow presented to him by Lord Śiva which was a must-see.
On their way to Mithila, they stopped at Sage Gautama's ashram. Sage Gautama and his wife Ahalya had lived there happily till one day Indra, taken by the beauty of Ahalya, came in the disguise of her husband and partook the food that she had lovingly prepared. Sage Gautama, in a fit of anger, cursed her to stone. Her freedom from that existence could only be granted by the Holy feet of Sri Rāma. Knowing this, Sage Vishwamitra took the brothers to the Ashram. When Lord Rama's feet touched the stone statue of Ahalya, she came to life, receiving moksha (liberation from the cycle of rebirth).
The trio reach King Janaka's kingdom city of Mithila. King Janaka had a daughter, Sita. She was found in the fields that were being ploughed by King Janaka, as a yagna ritual.
King Janaka personally invited the great Sage and his brave disciples to the Yagna, greatly pleased to meet the sons of his friend, King Dasaratha.
Many attendees, Rishis and Kings alike, filed in as the Yagna was commencing. Finally the beautiful bow of Lord Shiva was brought in with great difficulty by five thousand warriors. Rāma itched to lift the beautiful bow. The Sage, noting his interest, nodded and blessed him to go ahead. He lifted the bow, drawing gasps from the audience. While stringing the bow, it broke in two. King Janaka was impressed with his valor and promised the hand of his daughter Sita to him. While Lord Rāma married Sita, King Janaka gave his other daughter Urmila to Lakshmana, and his brother's daughters Māndavi and Srutakirti to Bharata and Shatrughna respectively.
Meditation:
5 minutes of meditation at the end of class, counting beads as they are dropped into a steel box.
Looking forward to our next class today Friday, October 27 at 7pm.
Pranām,
Uma and Nivedita
Friday Grade 1 Sevikas
