Hari Om Parents,
Please find the below update from our class on Friday Dec 8th, 2023.
Class began with Opening Prayers - 3 OMs, followed by the chanting of Sahana Vavatu. Then invoked the blessings of Lord Ganesha, Goddess Saraswati and all our Gurus, by chanting..
Śri Ganeshaya Namah!
Śhri Saraswathyai Namah!
Śhri Sad-Gurubhyo Namah!
Shlokas: ( My Prayers Book)
We recited the Daily Prayers ( page#11) in the order of:
• Karagre Vasate
• Samudra Vasane
• Gange cha Yamune
• Sarasvati Namastubhyam
• Brahmaarpanam
• Shubham Karoti
• Kara-charana-krtam vak
- As per our curriculum, we proceeded to learn the Devi Dhyana Shloka (page #39). We recited Mahalakshmi Ashtakam (page 40) all verses in the class. We then continued with our Mahabharata review. We learnt to chant the Mahishasuramardini Stotram (verses 1-6).
Kindly encourage the kids to memorize these and recite them at appropriate times throughout the day. Thus instilling in them, not just the learning part but to put all that they learn, into practice in their daily routine.
Mahabharata Summary:NON-CO-OPERATION
It was the day before the commencement of the great battle. The grandsire, now the Kaurava Generalissimo, was with Duryodhana seeking to inspire him with his own heroic spirit and cheerfulness. Bhishma spoke of the strength, skill and prowess of the warriors ranged on the Kauravas' side, Duryodhana was cheered up. Presently, Karna became the subject of their talk. "Karna has earned your affection," said Bhishma. "but I do not think much of him. I do not like his great hatred of the Pandavas, and he is too boastful. There is no limit to his arrogance and he is much given to disparaging others. I would not place him in the highest rank among the warriors of the land. Besides, he has given away the divine armour with which he was born. He is not therefore likely to be of great help to me in this battle. The curse of Parasurama is on him too: his command of supernatural weapons will fail him in his hour of need, for he will not be able to remember the mantras. And the battle that will ensue between him and Arjuna will prove fatal for Karna." Thus spoke Bhishma without mincing matters, and this was exceedingly unpalatable to Duryodhana and Karna. To make matters worse. Drona agreed with the grandsire and said: "Karna is full of pride and overconfidence which will cause him to be neglectful of the finer points of strategy and through carelessness, he will suffer defeat."
Enraged by these harsh words, Karna turned to the grand-sire with flaming eyes. "You sir," said he, "have always slighted me through mere dislike and envy and have never neglected an opportunity of humiliating me, though I gave you no reason. I bore all your taunts and thrusts for the sake of Duryodhana. You have said that I would not be of much help in the impending war. Let me tell you my settled conviction, it is you-not I-who will fail the Kauravas. Why hide your real feelings? The fact of the matter is that you have no genuine affection for Duryodhana, but he does not know it. Hating me, you seek to come between me and Duryodhana and poison his mind against me. And in furtherance of your wicked design, you have been belittling my strength and running me down. You have stooped to behaviour unworthy of a kshatriya. Age alone does not confer a title to honour and respect among warriors, but prowess does. Desist from poisoning our relations."
Turning then to Duryodhana, Kama said: "Illustrious warrior, think well and look to your own good. Do not place too great a reliance on the grandsire. He is trying to sow dissension in our ranks. His appraisement of me will injure your cause. By running me down, he seeks to damp my enthusiasm. He has become senile and his time is up. His arrogance does not let him have regard for anyone else. Age must be respected and experience is useful but as the sastras warn us, there is a point when age becomes senility and ripeness falls into rottenness and decay. You have made Bhishma your Generalissimo who will, I have no doubt, earn some fame from the heroic deeds of others, but I will not bear arms while he is in command. Only after he has fallen will I do so." The arrogant man is never conscious of his own arrogance. When accused of it, he charges the accuser with that very fault. His judgment is warped and he considers it a crime on the part of any one to point out his defect. This is well illustrated in this episode. Controlling his anger, Bhishma replied: "Son of Surya, we are in a crisis and that is why you have not ceased to live this moment. You have been the evil genius of the Kauravas." Duryodhana was in distress. "Son of Ganga, I need the help of you both," he said. "You will both do deeds of great heroism, I have no doubt. At break of dawn, the battle joins. Let there be no fighting among friends, with the foe in full force before us!" But Karna was adamant in that he would not take up arms so long as Bhishma was in supreme command.
Duryodhana eventually yielded to Karna and suffered him to carry out his threat. Karna kept out during the first ten days of the battle, though all his men participated in it. At the end of the tenth day, when the great Bhishma lay on the battlefield covered all over with arrows, Karna went to him and bowed reverently and asked for forgiveness and blessings, which he received. Thereafter, Karna co-operated and himself proposed Drona for the command of the Kaurava forces in succession to Bhishma. When Drona also fell, Karna took over the command and led the Kaurava forces.
KRISHNA TEACHES
ALL was ready for the battle. The warriors on both sides gathered together and solemnly bound themselves to honour the traditional rules of war. The code of conduct in war and methods of warfare vary from time to time. It is only if what was in vogue at the time of the Mahabharata war is kept in mind that we can understand the epic. Otherwise, the story would be puzzling in places. From what follows, the reader may have some idea of the rules of warfare followed in the Kurukshetra battle. Each day, the battle was over at sunset, and the hostiles mixed freely like friends. Single combats might only be between equals and one could not use methods not in accordance with dharma. Thus those who left the field or retired would not be attacked. A horseman could attack only a horseman, not one on foot. Likewise, charioteers, elephant troops and infantrymen could engage themselves in battle only with their opposite numbers in the enemy ranks. Those who sought quarter or surrendered were safe from slaughter. Nor might one, for the moment disengaged, direct his weapons against another who was engaged in combat. It was wrong to slay one who had been disarmed or whose attention was directed elsewhere or who was retreating or who had lost his armour. And no shafts were to be directed against non-combatant attendants or those engaged in blowing conchs or beating drums. These were the rules which the Kauravas and the Pandavas solemnly declared they would follow.
The passage of time has witnessed many changes in men's ideas of right and wrong. Nothing is exempt from attack in modern warfare. Not only are munitions made the target of attack but dumb animals such as horses, camels, mules and medical stores, nay, non-combatants of all ages, are destroyed without compunction. Sometimes the established conventions went overboard even in the Mahabharata war. We see clearly in the story that occasional transgressions took place for one reason or another but, on the whole, the accepted rules of honourable and humane war were observed by both sides in the Kurukshetra battle and the occasional violations were looked upon as wrong and shameful. Addressing the princes under his command, Bhishma said: "Heroes, yours is a glorious opportunity. Before you, are the gates of heaven wide open. The joy of living with lndra and Brahma awaits you. Pursue the path of your ancestors and follow the kshatriya dharma. Fight with joy and attain fame and greatness.
A Kshatriya does not wish to die of disease or old age in his bed but prefers to die on the battlefield," and the princes responded by ordering their trumpets to be sounded and shouted victory to the Kauravas. On Bhishma's flag shone brightly the palm tree and five stars. On Aswatthama's the lion tail fluttered in the air. In Drona's golden-hued standard, the ascetic's bowl and the bow glistened, and the cobra of Duryodhana's famed banner danced proudly with an outspread hood. On Kripa's flag was depicted a bull while Jayadratha's carried a wild boar. Likewise others, and the battlefield thus presented a pageant of flags. Seeing the Kaurava forces ranged in battle array, Yudhishthira gave orders to Arjuna: "The enemy force is very large. Our army being smaller, our tactics should be concentration rather than deployment which will only weaken us. Array our forces, therefore, in needle formation."
Now, when Arjuna saw men arrayed on both sides for mutual slaughter, he was deeply agitated and Krishna spoke to him in order to quell his agitation and remove his doubts. Krishna's exhortation to Arjuna at this juncture is the Bhagavad Gita which is enshrined in millions of hearts as the Word of God, and is acknowledged by all as one of the supreme treasures of human literature. Its gospel of devotion to duty, without attachment or desire of reward, has shown the way of life for all men, rich or poor, learned or ignorant, who have sought for light in the dark problems of life.
YUDHISHTHIRA SEEKS BENEDICTION
EVERYTHING was ready for the battle to begin. At this tense moment, both armies saw with amazement Yudhishthira, the steadfast and brave son of Pandu, suddenly took off his armour and put away his weapons and, descending from his chariot, proceed on foot towards the commander of the Kaurava forces. "What is this that Yudhishthira is doing?" asked everyone and was puzzled by this sudden and silent proceeding on the part of the Pandava. Dhananjaya too was perplexed and he jumped down from his chariot and ran to Yudhishthira. The other brothers and Krishna also joined. They feared that perhaps Yudhishthira, surrendering to his natural inclination, had suddenly decided to seek peace on any terms and was going forward to announce this. "King, why are you proceeding to the enemy's lines in this strange manner? You have told us nothing. The enemy is ready for battle, their soldiers sheathed in armour and with uplifted weapons, but you have doffed your armour and thrown aside your weapons and are proceeding forward, unattended and on foot. Tell us what you are about." Thus said Arjuna to Dharmaputra.
But Yudhishthira was immersed in deep thought and proceeded forward silently. Then Vasudeva, who knew the hearts of men, smiled and said: "He is going to the elders to ask for their benediction before commencing this terrible fight. He feels it is not right to start such a grave proceeding without formally taking such benediction and permission. He goes to the grandsire to take his blessing and that of Dronacharya. So he goes unarmed. It is right that he does this. It is only thus that we might fare well in this battle." The men in Duryodhana's army, when they saw Yudhishthira advancing with hands clasped in humble attitude, thought: "Here is the Pandava coming to sue for peace frightened at our strength. Truly this man brings disgrace to the race of kshatriyas. Why was this coward born among us?" Thus did they talk among themselves, reviling Dharmaputra though delighted at the prospect of securing victory without a blow.
Yudhishthira went through the lines of soldiers armed and proceeded straight to where Bhishma was and, bending low and touching his feet in salutation, said: "Grandsire, permit us to begin the battle. We have dared to give battle to you, our unconquerable and incomparable grandsire; we seek benediction before beginning the fight." "Child," replied the grandsire, "born in the race of Bharatas, you have acted worthily and according to our code of conduct. It gives me joy to see this. Fight and you will have victory. I am not a free agent. I am bound by my obligation to the king and must fight on the side of the Kauravas. But you will not be defeated."
After thus obtaining the permission and the blessings of the grandsire, Yudhishthira went to Drona and circumambulated and bowed, according to form, to the acharya, who also gave his blessings, saying: "I am under inescapable obligations to the Kauravas, O son of Dharma. Our vested interests enslave us and become our masters. Thus have I become bound to the Kauravas. I shall fight on their side. But yours will be the victory." Yudhishthira similarly approached and obtained the blessings of Kripacharya and uncle Salya and returned to the Pandava lines. The battle began, commencing with single combats between the leading chiefs armed with equal weapons. Bhishma and Partha, Satyaki and Kritavarma, Abhimanyu and Brihatbala, Duryodhana and Bhima, Yudhishthira and Salya, and Dhrishtadyumna and Drona were thus engaged in great battles.
Similarly, thousands of other warriors fought severally according to the rules of war of those days. Besides these numerous single combats between renowned warriors, there was also indiscriminate fighting among common soldiers. The name of "sankula yuddha" was given to such free fighting and promiscuous carnage. The Kurukshetra battle witnessed many such "sankula" fights wherein countless men fought and died in the mad lust of battle, and on the field lay piles of slaughtered soldiers, charioteers, elephants and horses, and the ground became a bloody mire in winch it was difficult for the chariots to move about. In modern battles there is no such thing as single combats. It is all "sankula." The Kauravas fought under Bhishma's command for ten days.
After him, Drona took the command. When Drona died, Karna succeeded to the command. Karna fell towards the close of the seventeenth day's battle, and Salya led the Kaurava army on the eighteenth and last day. Towards the latter part of the battle, many savage and unchivalrous deeds were done. Chivalry and rules of war die hard, for there is an innate nobility in human nature, but difficult situations and temptations arise which men are too weak to resist, especially when they are fordone with fighting and warped with hatred and bloodshed. Even great men commit wrong and their lapses thereafter furnish bad examples to others, and dharma comes to be disregarded more and more easily and frequently. Thus does violence beget and nourish adharma and plunge the world in wickedness.
Bhagavad Gita: Verses 10 & 11 from chapter 4 were taught and rehearsed this week, following our Swamiji Swami Shantanandaji's chanting video.
Link: https://bit.ly/Ch4verses10-11Class Reflection:
The children have been given a class assignment on Bhagavad Gita. Each child has been assigned a chapter. This chapter assignment is available in Google classroom. They have to make a power point presentation of 10 main ideas/learnings from their assigned chapter and present it before the class. We also played hangman covering the Mahabharata topics discussed.
Aarathi: We assembled at the main prayer hall for aarathi and concluding prayers.
Please have the children do their daily prayers regularly and also practice the ślokas and Gita chanting.
Thank you! See you back on Friday Jan 5th, 2024.
Pranāms,
Viji Lakshmi Hari and Anupama SivakumarFriday Grade 6 sevikas
