Hari Om! Parents,
Reminder: Geeta Chanting Yagna registration is now open for all Bala Vihar students. Details were shared on the Parents WA Group.
Week 19 Class
Children wrote this Likhita Japa at the start of class - "Shri Krishna Sharanam Mama". Encourage your child to do likhita japa daily.
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).
Vasudeva sutam Devam (ref. Bala Vihar Handbook pg 15, verse 5).
Mahabharata
We did a detailed review of the Udyoga Parva first. Next, we started Bhishma Parva. The two armies assemble at Kurukshetra, the Pandavas camp facing east near the lake Samantapanchaka.
The previous night, sage Vyaasa had visited king Dhritarashtra. The sage had granted divine sight to Sanjaya, the loyal charioteer. He could see the war and narrate it to the blind king.
Sanjaya could also know the thoughts of all of the people in the war. Bhishma is the commander-in-chief of the Kaurava army and Drishtadyumna for the Pandava army.
The Pandava army had 7 Akshauhini and the Kauravas had 11 Akshauhini. We paused the story, the children looked at different war formations or vyuha and then observed their unique shapes.
The beautiful chariot of Arjuna was driven by white horses, had Hanuman on the flag and Lord Krishna as the charioteer. They looked like Nara and Narayana had come down to Earth.
When the armies came face to face, Yudhistira put down his weapons and started to walk towards the enemy line. The rest of the Pandavas are very concerned and follow him.
Yudhistira bows down to the elders and seeks their blessings to win the war. Bhishma, Salya, Drona and Kripacharya bless the Pandavas. Yudhistira then announces that if there is anyone
who would still want to join his side, they are welcome. One of the brothers of Duryodhana, Yuyutsu, comes forward and is welcomed by the Pandavas. Yudhistira remarks that he is glad
there is now at least one son who will remain to light king Dhritarashtra's funeral pyre. This makes the Kauravas very uncomfortable. Pandavas return to their chariots and prepare for battle.
Arjuna requests Lord Krishna to take the chariot to the center of the battlefield to take a better look at the enemy. Lord Krishna drives the chariot there and Arjuna is
suddenly filled with grief. He tells Lord Krishna that he cannot kill his clansmen and those who are dear to him. He puts down his weapon and tells Lord Krishna that he cannot fight.
Lord Krishna tries to get Arjuna to shake his feelings of despondency by reminding him of the critical situation. However, Arjuna refuses to fight and sits silently in his chariot.
This brings us to an important part in the Mahabharata story, where Lord Krishna advises Arjuna as what we know is the "Bhagavad Gita". We will discuss it in detail in the next class.
India Sacred Land
Topic: Pilgrimages - Thirth Yatra
India can be explored in several ways - historical landmarks, spiritual places and natural wonders.
We spoke about the - char dham yatra, Kailash Yatra, Jyotirlinga, and Shakti Peetha temples.
The class then explored the important temples using Google Earth.
Activity: # TIL
Spiritual Exploration of India - Temples. Learning the significance of the temples you visit. The children were asked to find out the name of the family's "kula devata"
Geeta Chanting
Grade 6 is group Partha, and is assigned verses 1-28 to memorize. Today our class learned verses 26 - 28 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.
- 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
