Hari OM Dear Families,
Here is this week's update.
Week 5:
08th October 2023 / 9:15 AM
Opening prayers and Shlokas
Slokas: Class began with 3 OMs followed by
Shri Krishnashtakam – In our previous classes we had learnt up to the third verse, today after chanting the first three verses, we learnt the fourth verse.
Verse -4
Mandaragandha samyuktam charuhaasam chaturbhujam ।
Barhipinchaava chudamgam krisham vande jagadgurum ॥
The one who has fragrance of the pastes of Mandara flowers, with a gentle smile and four hands
wearing the peacock feather on his head, I bow to you O lord Krishna, the guru of the world.
Krishna Krishna Everywhere
After a quick recap of last class, we continued to our lesson today from Krishna Krishna Everywhere, Mother Earth in Distress :
Sage Shuka deva tells King Parikshit that those who ask questions about Lord Krishna, those who tell stories about Lord Krishna and those who listen to stories of Lord Krishna, are all blessed and purified. We began the story by saying the earth was being terrorized by demons. Mother Earth was unable to bear the pain and burden, took the form of a cow and rushed to Lord Brahma in tears. Lord Brahma immediately gathered other devas and requested Lord Shiva to join them and approached Lord Vishnu for help. Lord Vishnu told them that He would be born on earth and will make Mother Earth happy again.
A long time ago in ancient India, there lived King Ugrasena in the city of Mathura. He had a son called Kamsa. Kamsa's cousin was princess Devaki. King Ugrasena was a good king. Unfortunately, Prince Kamsa was evil by nature. Soon, Kamsa's sister Devaki was married to King Vasudev. He loved his sister so much, so he decided to become a charioteer for a day and take the couple to their house. When he drove the chariot, Kamsa heard a divine warning from the sky, "O King! Your sister's eighth son will grow up to destroy you." After Kamsa heard this, he was afraid. Immediately he wanted to kill Devaki. Vasudeva stopped him and promised that he would give every child born to Kamsa, When the first child was born, as promised, Vasudeva brought the child to Kamsa. Kamsa however said that since it is the eighth child who is the problem, he let Vasudeva leave. Sage Narada later visits Kamsa and warns him that his end is near, as Lord Vishnu will soon be born, and his supporters already took birth in the Yadava clan.
Now Kamsa got really scared, and he imprisoned Devaki and her husband king Vasudeva, and kept them guarded and watched 24/7. So that no one can oppose him, he even imprisoned his own father, Ugrasena.
Each time Devaki gave birth to a child in the prison, Kansa arrived personally and took the child away. When Devaki became pregnant for the eighth time, Kamsa was totally scared and was on guard all the time. Vasudeva and Devaki were scared and kept praying to the Lord to protect them aad their child. Finally, the time came...It was midnight and suddenly there was a flash of light in the prison, and Lord Vishnu appeared in front of Devaki and Vasudeva. The Lord told them that their sufferings are coming to an end, as he will be born to them soon. Lord Vishnu also instructed Vasudeva, "Take the child across the Yamuna River to Gokul and exchange Him with Yashoda's daughter. You will return to the prison before anyone comes to know about the birth of this child. No one will stop you" Soon, Lord Vishnu disappeared, and Devaki gave birth to a baby boy.
Vasudev immediately followed the advice. As he carried the child in his arms, he found that the prison doors opened automatically, and the guards were put to sleep. Before he knew it, Vasudeva, along with his newborn baby, were on the streets of Mathura. We paused our story here. The kids were eager to hear more and wanted us to continue the story.
"My twenty-four teachers" is adopted from the eleventh chapter of the Bhagavatam.
We started the lesson with a riddle -
I am everywhere
I have no boundaries
I am quite popular with the astronauts
Who am I ?
Yes, the answer is "Space". Many kids got it right. The third clue was quite helpful.
Space is all pervasive, ever pure and ever free. The air, the stars, the clouds, rainbows, are all contained within the SKY, but the sky does not come in contact with any of them. Just as space remains untouched by clouds driven by the wind, we should remain unaffected by the constant changes in the world around us.
Rama Rama Everywhere - During the war between Rama and Ravana, the monkeys of Rama's army were very scared by the look of the Rakshasas. Lord Rama suddenly changed everyone on both sides into His form. All the monkeys saw Rama everywhere and rejoiced. The Rakshasas saw Rama, the enemy, even in other Rakshasas and started fighting amongst themselves and killed each other.
The message from this story is that if we see Bhagavan everywhere, like the monkeys did, with the eye of devotion, fear will vanish from us. We will love everyone and everything alike.
We then briefly discussed the story of how Sita was abducted by Ravana, how Jataayu confronted Ravana, how Lord Rama meets Sugriva, fight between Bali and Sugriva, and about how the army of monkeys (vanara sena) helps Lord Rama fight against Ravana.
We chanted the first verse of the Guru stotram. It is a collection of stotram from the Guru Geeta, found in Skanda Purana. It is a conversation between Lord Shiva & Parvati on the glory of the Guru.
Akhandamannddalaakaaram Vyaaptam Yena Charaacharam |
Tatpadam Darshitam Yena Tasmai Shri Gurave Namah ||
It explains the omni presence of Bhagavan. "My prostration to the teacher who has shown me his abode. He pervades the entire universe". God is everywhere. Kids had learnt this in Grade 3, and some kids remembered 14 verses of the Guru stotram and kids continued chanting the entire stotram in our class with enthusiasm.
We then briefly discussed the story of Prahalad. When questioned by his father Hiranyakashipu, Prahlada showed him that the Lord is everywhere, as Narasimha emerged from a pillar.
Bhagavad Gita Time –We learned to chant verse 2 and verse 3 from Chapter 4 of Bhagavad-Gita
Verses 2 - 3 - Ch.4 BG - YouTube
Please encourage the children to practice by watching the videos.
Enjoy the Navaratri, Dussehra and Vijayadashami festivities! We will discuss how each of us celebrated the festival when we return on 29th Oct 2023 for our next class.
Please reach out with any questions or concerns you may have.
Thank you and Hari OM
Neelima Turaga and Rekha Pai.
