Hari Om! Parents,
Week 8 Class
Children did this Likhita Japa at the start of class -18 times "Sri Krishna Sharanam Mama". Please encourage your child to do likhita japa every day.
Shlokas
We started with Om chanting and then chanted Sahana vavatu, Vakratunda mahakaya, Saraswati namastubhyam, Guru Brahma, Sarva Mangala mangalye (ref. My Prayers book pg 39)
and Mahalakshmi Ashtakam (ref. My Prayers book pg 40). The class learned Verse 2 of the Mahishasura Mardini Stotram (ref. My Prayers book pg 47)
Mahabharata*
We continued the Mahabharata story today with Udyoga Parva. We touched up on Diplomatic Missions: Various diplomatic efforts are made to prevent the war. Several messengers are sent back and forth between the Kauravas and Pandavas to negotiate a peaceful settlement, but these efforts are largely unsuccessful. Krishna's Peace Mission: Lord Krishna plays a significant role in the Udyoga Parva. He goes to Hastinapura as a peace envoy, offering various solutions to avoid the war. However, his proposals were rejected by Duryodhana. We spoke about how Bhagawan chose to stay with Vidhura. Preparations for War and formation of alliance, despite the attempts at peace, both sides start preparing for war. Armies are mobilized, alliances are formed, and warriors choose their sides. The stage is set for the great battle at Kurukshetra. This has helped set the stage for the Kurukshetra War, and Bhagawat Gita. Introducing the students to key characters and laying out the political and military developments that led to the epic battle.
Next, the class took a break to do deep breathing exercise and to stretch out for a bit
India, the Sacred Land
Topics: The Sacred Land - We explored The Great Sparrow Campaign and the consequences of upsetting the balance in nature. Additionally, we delved into a more contemporary occurrence involving wolves in Yellowstone.
And together reflected on Pujya Gurudev's words, "Cosmos is an ordered system and respect and gratitude is needed to maintain and live in Harmony !!"
We covered the GPS of life and how it serves as key to divine cooperation and the importance of living a life of gratitude.
Moving on we spoke about Games of India, and Moksapatha, The Virtues and Vices.
#TIL - Contemporary Story of Wolves that keeps Yellowstone in balance.
Activity: As it is Thanksgiving weekend, we encouraged students to discuss their family perspectives on generosity and to share the ways in which expressions of gratitude are manifested within their households.
Geeta Chanting
Grade 6 is group Partha, assigned verses 1-28 to memorize. Today our class learned verses 6 and 7 of the Bhagavad Geeta, Chapter 4 from our Swamiji.
We concluded the session with Aarti and Pledge recitation in the Prayer Hall.
- Sangeetha Srikanth and Rashmi Kuroodi
Supplies needed for every class:- Bala Vihar Handbook, My Prayers book, the Junior Class Workbook Part 1 & 2, a notebook and pencils for likhita japa; everything in their Bala Vihar bag
*Reference books - Mahabharata by Rajagopalachari / Mahabharata by Kamala Subramaniam
