Hari Om,
We started our class with Likitha Japa while waiting for all to come inside the class and get settled in. We started our class with 3 Om's followed by our regular set of bhajans.
Mahabharata continues- We resumed with the third Parva, Vana Parva.
The Pandavas, along with Draupadi leave for the forest. Several of the Brahmins accompany them. The whole group reaches the banks of Ganga and decides to take a break there for the night. The next morning, Yudhishthira addresses the Brahmins and ask them to go back to their families. He tells them that he is not in a position to feed all of them, but they refuse to go back. Sage Dhaumya asks Yudhishthira to pray to Surya, the Sun God, for a solution. Surya, pleased with his fervent prayers, blessed him with a copper vessel named Akshayapatra. The uniqueness of this vessel is that food cooked in that will feed everyone until Draupadi eats at last. Yudhishthira extremely thrilled as he now knows his whole entourage can be fed. All of them continue their journey towards Kamyaka forest.
In Hastinapur, Dhritarashtra is miserable and turns to Vidura for consolation. Vidura again advises him to bring back the Pandavas. Dhritarashtra is angry with Vidura as this was not the consolation he was seeking. He suggests to Vidura to leave him and join the Pandavas if he desires. Vidura decides to leave Hastinapur and proceeds to the Kamyaka forest to meet the Pandavas. The Pandavas, on reaching the destination, are surprised to see Vidura and ask him the reason for the visit. Vidura narrates the whole story. Yudhishthira is happy to see him but is aware of the fact that Dhritarashtra cannot function for long without Vidura's advices. As predicted, Sanjaya comes there with a message for Vidura from Dhritarashtra asking him to return back. Vidura is also happy to go back to his elder brother.
Duryodhana, on hearing about Vidura's return, is not very happy. Radheya again suggests wiping out the Pandavas in a fight. As discussions are going on, Vyaasa comes there, and hearing the different plans, becomes furious with them for entertaining such evil thoughts. He tells them to make peace with the Pandavas or leave them alone during their vanavas. Sage Vyaasa departs. Sage Maitreya now comes there and advises Duryodhana. Duryodhana insults him and shows him his left thigh. This angers the Rishi and he curses him that when Bheema breaks Duryodhana's thigh, he will die because of that. He tells the Kauravas not to underestimate the strength of Bheema as he has successfully killed Hidimba, Baka and Kirmeera. Dhritarashtra is upset, and Rishi Maitreyi says he cannot withdraw the curse but says that it will nullify if the Pandavas are called back. Duryodhana flatly disagrees, while Dhritarashtra wants to know who Kirmeera is. Kirmeera was Baka's brother and Hidimba's friend. On the way to Kamyaka forest, the Pandavas met Kirmeera who was enraged on seeing Bheema as he knows Bheema was responsible for the death of his brother and close friend. Kirmeera challenged Bheema to a fight. Bheema willingly fought with him and alas, Kirmeera met with death after a deadly battle.
Krishna along with Dhristadyumna comes to meet the Pandavas. He is saddened to see the plight of the Pandavas and their queen. He is ready to fight the Kauravas to avenge the injustice. Yudhishthira calms Krishna and accepts he has to suffer because of his foolish desire to gamble. Krishna gets extremely agitated and vows to destroy the Kauravas. Draupadi, on seeing Krishna and her brother, breaks down and narrates the whole saga. She blames her husbands for not fighting for her rights and questions their strength if they cannot even save her from her disgrace. She thanks Krishna for saving her dignity. Krishna wipes her tears and promises her that her tears will not be in vain. Krishna further apologizes for not being with the Pandavas when all this was happening as he was fighting with Salva and Saubha in a war. Krishna then leaves the Pandavas.
In Hastinapur, Dhritarashtra is miserable and turns to Vidura for consolation. Vidura again advises him to bring back the Pandavas. Dhritarashtra is angry with Vidura as this was not the consolation he was seeking. He suggests to Vidura to leave him and join the Pandavas if he desires. Vidura decides to leave Hastinapur and proceeds to the Kamyaka forest to meet the Pandavas. The Pandavas, on reaching the destination, are surprised to see Vidura and ask him the reason for the visit. Vidura narrates the whole story. Yudhishthira is happy to see him but is aware of the fact that Dhritarashtra cannot function for long without Vidura's advices. As predicted, Sanjaya comes there with a message for Vidura from Dhritarashtra asking him to return back. Vidura is also happy to go back to his elder brother.
Duryodhana, on hearing about Vidura's return, is not very happy. Radheya again suggests wiping out the Pandavas in a fight. As discussions are going on, Vyaasa comes there, and hearing the different plans, becomes furious with them for entertaining such evil thoughts. He tells them to make peace with the Pandavas or leave them alone during their vanavas. Sage Vyaasa departs. Sage Maitreya now comes there and advises Duryodhana. Duryodhana insults him and shows him his left thigh. This angers the Rishi and he curses him that when Bheema breaks Duryodhana's thigh, he will die because of that. He tells the Kauravas not to underestimate the strength of Bheema as he has successfully killed Hidimba, Baka and Kirmeera. Dhritarashtra is upset, and Rishi Maitreyi says he cannot withdraw the curse but says that it will nullify if the Pandavas are called back. Duryodhana flatly disagrees, while Dhritarashtra wants to know who Kirmeera is. Kirmeera was Baka's brother and Hidimba's friend. On the way to Kamyaka forest, the Pandavas met Kirmeera who was enraged on seeing Bheema as he knows Bheema was responsible for the death of his brother and close friend. Kirmeera challenged Bheema to a fight. Bheema willingly fought with him and alas, Kirmeera met with death after a deadly battle.
Krishna along with Dhristadyumna comes to meet the Pandavas. He is saddened to see the plight of the Pandavas and their queen. He is ready to fight the Kauravas to avenge the injustice. Yudhishthira calms Krishna and accepts he has to suffer because of his foolish desire to gamble. Krishna gets extremely agitated and vows to destroy the Kauravas. Draupadi, on seeing Krishna and her brother, breaks down and narrates the whole saga. She blames her husbands for not fighting for her rights and questions their strength if they cannot even save her from her disgrace. She thanks Krishna for saving her dignity. Krishna wipes her tears and promises her that her tears will not be in vain. Krishna further apologizes for not being with the Pandavas when all this was happening as he was fighting with Salva and Saubha in a war. Krishna then leaves the Pandavas.
We continued with our learning of Saints of India. We had a presentation on Swami Chinmayanandaji who is also called Pujya Gurudev. He was born on 8th May, 1916, as Balakrishnan Menon in Ernakulam, Kerala. He had postgraduate degrees in literature and law while completing courses in journalism. He took part in the freedom struggle and was also imprisoned for several months. It was while working as a journalist that he travelled to Sivananda's ashram in Rishikesh, for the purpose of writing an expose of the sadhus. Here, he went from being a sceptic to an enthusiast, finally becoming a renunciate monk. He began reading more about Hindu scriptures and reviewing spiritual books. From here, he went on to devoting the next few years of his life to an intensive study of Vedanta under the tutelage of Tapovan Maharaj. On 8th August 1953, Chinmaya Mission was established.
We also had a presentation on Swami Vivekananda. Swami Vivekananda was born on January 12th, 1863 to an opulent family in Calcutta. He was named Narendranath Datta, and was extremely brilliant with a very rational mind. He began to question God and this led him to Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. Narendranath started to accept Ramakrishna as his guru and after his demise, took the vow of Sanyasa and became Swami Vivekananda. He travelled extensively in India and also went to Chicago to take part in the World Parliament of Religions, where he gave an impromptu speech which held the audience spellbound.
Our Geeta chanting continued with us learning verses 15 and 16. The audio clip has been posted in our Whatsapp group.
We will not meet on 14th January. Balvihar will resume on 21st January. Happy Makar Sankranti to all!!
Regards,
Indira and Raji
