Hari Om Dear Families,
We had a great second Sunday afternoon. Please find below the summary of our class on Sunday, Jan 7 2024
1) Opening Prayers: We chanted 3 OMs followed by opening Prayer:
Om Sahanavavatu
Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu
Saraswati Namastubhyam
Vakratunda mahaakaavya(for Lord Ganesha)
Buddhir Balam Yashodhairyam
2) Hanuman Chalisa - We revised the first 10 verses of Hanuman Chalisa and learnt the following new verses
Vidyavan guni ati chatur Ram kaj karibe ko aatur
Meaning: You are the repository of learning, virtuous and fully accom- plished, always keen to carry out the behest's of Shri Ram.
Prabu charitra sunibe ko rasiya Ram Lakhan Sita man Basiya
Meaning: You are an ardent listener, always so keen to listen to the narration of Shri Ram's Life Stories. Your heart is filled with what Shri Ram stood for. You therefore always dwell in the hearts of Shri Ram, Lakshman and Sita.
Sukshma roop dhari Siyahi dikhava Vikat roop dhari lanka jarava
You appeared before Sita in a Diminutive form and spoke to her in humility. You assumed an awesome form and struck terror by setting Lanka on fire.
3. Storytime -
Hanumanji's Flight
When Hanumanji flew across the ocean to look for Sitaji. He encountered 3 obstacles which he overcame easily. The first obstacle was the Mainaka Mountain, which appeared in the middle of the ocean. Hanumanji was invited to rest for a while on this mountain but Hanumanji did not give in. Instead he said he cannot rest till his masters work is done and so continued.
The next obstacle that Hanumanji had to face was raksasi name Surasa who threatened to eat Him. This was the second obstacle. Hanumanji pleaded with her to let Him go to finish His Lord's work.She ignored his pleas and showed no compassion Instead she opened her mouth wide to swallow Him. Hanumanji grew bigger and bigger so the rakshasi opened her mouth wider and wider then suddenly Hanumanji became small in size and he flew across his mouth before she could close it. He then said I went into your mouth and out so now let me go. Surasa was pleased with his intelligence and let him go. Then she turned into a beautiful woman and said she was sent by Devatas to test his intelligence. Surasa blessed him to complete his journey and mission successfully.
As Hanumanji continued on his journey he felt a mysterious force pulling him down. That force turned out to be the third obstacle, the rakshasi Simhika who had the power to bring down and devour all creatures flying over her head. Symbolically Simhika stands for jealousy. Jealousy can never bear the rise of another. Jealousy pulls us down and burns us. Obe should destroy jealousy and so Hanumanji mercilessly killed Simhika with one blow.
Burning of Lanka
When Hanumanji reached Ashoka vatika. He recognized Mother Sita sitting under a tree guarded by rakshasis. Ravana approached Sitaji initially tried to tempt her saying she can be his queen. She asked him to get rid of his lustful wicked desire and warned how he will loose his entire kingdom as a king who is not disciplined was destined to loose his entire kingdom. This enraged Ravana who gave her an ultimatum saying she has two months to agree to be his wife if not she would be served as his breakfast.
Hanumanji saw all this and did not know how to convey that he was Rama's messenger. Then it occurred to him he can change his size to the size of mosquito and narrated beautiful story of Rama. Hanumanji presented himself as a miniature form so that no one else except Sitaji could see him. He then gave Ramas ring to Sita and Sitaji gave her ring to him so that he can give it to Rama. After exchanging rings he told Sitaji that she would soon be with Rama. He wanted Ravana to know his powers so he then became huge and roared. He jumped all over the garden and destroyed the garden. Hanumanji then let him get captured and he was brought to the court of Ravana.
When asked who he was Hanumanji spoke fearlessly that he was the messanger of Rama the prince of Ayodhya. He said he had come with a message of peace. Ravana had abducted the Sitaji his queen. So, he said return Sitaji to Rama and ask for his forgiveness and you will be forgiven. Hearing this Ravana got very angry. He wanted to kill him. Ravana's brother advised you cannot kill the messanger. At the most you can punish or ill treat him and send him back.
Thinking monkey's pride is its tail Ravana asked his guards to tie rags to Hanumanji's tail and set it to fire. As quick witted as Hanumanji was he used this opportunity to scare Ravana and destroy half of Lanka. He then grew huge is size and then started jumping from building to building till he set fire to the whole city of Lanka. He then again became small in size shred his rags.
This story shows Hanumanji's resourcefulness and intelligence.
Hanuman saves Lakshmana by getting the Sanjivani Herb
To understand how Hanmanji was a lifesaver, we reviewed the part of Ramayana where Lakshmana gets injured when fighting against Indrajit, son of Ravana. Hanumanji come to the rescue and gets the required sanjivani herb. He brings the whole mountain to ensure he neither wastes time nor picks the wrong herb. Lord Rama, overwhelmed with love and gratitude, embraces Hanumanji with tears of joy.
4. We watched a video illustrating the Hanuman Chalisa verses we have learnt so far.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qywgxZ9A58
5. Bhagavad Geeta : We have been learning Bhagavad Geeta for few classes and 2nd grade kids have been assigned only 14 verses this year. So we will be working on memorizing these 14 verses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSTS7nJlewU
6.Meditation/Yoga : We did silent meditation for 2 minutes and couple of yoga poses.
7.Likhita japa: We did Likhita japa of the kids favorite god in the book. Please remember to send it with the kids every class. Yellow is our house color. To read more about Balavihar Houses, check out this link and participate in the upcoming events. https://www.chinmayavrindavan.org/balavihar/balavihar-houses
8.Activity: We learnt about 10 heads of Ravana and 10 bad qualities and then proceeded to list 10 good qualities that we can practice.
Things to note:
You will receive class updates through email every week.
WhatsApp group if you haven't joined yet: https://chat.whatsapp.com/JTCTZ4rPWLPH8te76B1QGy
Class starts at 1 PM sharp with opening prayers. Please make sure kids are inside the classroom 5 mins before the class starts.
Please make sure kids use the restroom before entering the class.
This year's parents handbook is available at the following link- https://www.chinmayavrindavan.org/balavihar/parents-corner/handbook
Materials Needed for the Class
Notebook for Likhita japa ( Pencil and Eraser)
Hanuman Chalisa book
Balavihar Handbook (Bhagavad Gita)
Regards,
Divya
