Hari Om! Parents,
Note: Bala Vihar will be on a Holiday break. The next class is on Jan 7th, 2024
Week 11 Class
Children could choose to do these Likhita Japa at the start of class - "Sri Krishna Sharanam Mama"/ " Sri Rama, Jaya Rama", "Om Namah Shivaya".
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).
Children took turns to chant the entire Mahalakshmi Ashtakam (ref. My Prayers book pg 40). The class learned Verses 7 and 8 of the Mahishasura Mardini Stotram (ref. My Prayers book pg 47)
Activity: I Love You by Swami Chinmayananda, a collection of letters to children from our Pujya Gurudev
Today we read the second letter in Swami Chinmayananda's book, "I Love You." Pujya Gurudev says "Love is the very heart of Hinduism".
He explains how everyone wants to be loved, but does not know how to give love to others.
Pujya Gurudev encourages the children to become a devoted, intelligent seeker and come to know the true nature of enduring love.
The class was given this shloka for introspection,
"To an idler where is education?
To the uneducated where is wealth?
To the impoverished where are friends?
To one who has no friends where is happiness?"
We used the rest of class time to brainstorm ideas for our upcoming Grade 6 performance. Please save the date - March 3rd, 2024, we will perform during the Bala Vihar Assembly.
Geeta Chanting
Grade 6 is group Partha, assigned verses 1-28 to memorize. Today our class learned verses 12, 13, and 14 of the Bhagavad Geeta Chapter 4 from our Swamiji.
You can submit your child's chanting video and get House points for every 4 verses memorized. Details are shared on the Parents WA group.
We concluded the session with Aarti and Pledge recitation in the Prayer Hall. Wishing all the families a fun and safe holidays!
- Rashmi Kuroodi and Sangeetha Srikanth
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
