Week 24:
28th April 2024 / 9:15 AM
Opening prayers and Shlokas
Slokas: Class began with 3 OMs followed by
- "Om Saha Navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book)
- Om shrI Ganeśaya Namaha, shrI Saraswatyai Namaha, shrI Sat Gurubhyo Namaha.
- "Vakratunda Mahakaya" (page 27 in My Prayers book)
- Saraswathi Namasthubhyam
- "Gurur Brahma" (page 60 in My Prayers book)
- "Krishnaya Vasudevaya" (page 105 in My Prayers book)
After a brief recap of the Krishna story in our last class we continued…
End of Kamsa: Krishna and Balarama visited all the places of interest in Mathura and finally arrived at the hall where the huge and heavy bow, studded with precious gems, was being exhibited. The bow was heavily guarded by fierce armed men. But before they knew what was going on, Krishna seized the bow and drew its string until it snapped into two pieces. The thunderous breaking sound reverberated in the hall and shook the earth making everyone tremble from head to toe. Not only this, but the terrific thunderclap reached as far as Kamsa's interior compartments and shook him from head to toe with immense fear.
Kamsa had a very bad restless sleep. His head swirled with the day's shocking events : the destruction of the bow, the death of his stalwart guards and soldiers and his own servants and citizens. He was trembling with fear from head to toe and he was plagued by nightmares of death, torture and dishonor. Kamsas nerves were on the edge and he knew no rest or peace.
At last the sun rose and it was the day everyone was waiting for. The massive arena and amphitheatre was luxuriously decorated with flowers and garlands. Spectators had started lining up from early morning to make sure to get good seats. The galleries were filled with princes and chiefs and ministers and traders. The wrestlers Chanura, Mustika, Kutam Sala and Tosala, world renowned for their strength, prowess and skill, were itching for the matches to begin.
Krishna and Balarama as they came into the amphitheater there was an elephant and a mahout. Krishna asked the manhout to move the elephant from the gate instead the manhout set the elephant to trample the boys under its feet. Krishna however slipped between the legs of the elephant and caught the elephant's trunk. It fell down with a mighty thud. Krishna ripped out the elephant's tusks and with one blow killed both the animal and its manhout.
Soaked in perspiration and armed with the bloody tusks, the warrior brothers looked like lions as they marched majestically. Everyone including the wrestlers and Kamsa were scared. At last the signal was given for the games to begin. To all the spectators' surprise all the wrestlers were killed by Krishna and Balarama. The trumpets sounded for the victors and the crowd stood on its feet cheering joyously. Kamsa's rage knew no bounds. He ordered the trumpets to be silenced and shouted...."Drive the boys out of Mathura..Take away the possessions of the gopas. Seize Nanda and put him in chains. Kill the wicked Vasudeva and my father Ugrasena, Kill them. Do it now"
Before Kamsa could finish giving his orders, Krishna started walking toward the throne and in long leaps and strides jumped onto the raised platform and immediately drew his sword. But Krishna was fearless and he caught hold of Kamsa by the hair, swung him around and threw him down into the arena dead. It was just that quick.
But in spite of his disgraceful end, Kamsa was rewarded in his last moment with a blissful vision of the Lord Himself in entire divine splendor. He obtained oneness with the Lord because he never spent a single moment without thinking about Krishna. Even though he thought of the Lord only with hate, anger, and fear, his focus on the Lord was single pointed and constant. Kamsas eight brothers immediately drew swords to kill Krishna and Balarama but soon were overpowered by Krishna and Balarama and killed.
Krishna and Balarama then hastened to join. They released Ugrasena, the family elder and the king now of Mathura. The brothers then bowed to the king and asked for the release of their parents. Then Krishna and Balarama met their parents Vasudeva and Devaki and all the years of pain melted away for that time as they joined in happiness.
Krishna kept his promise to Trivakra(once hunch backed girl now beautiful lady). Then with Balarama and Uddhava, he visited Akrura's home who received them all with great devotion.
Krishna and Balarama met Nanda and respectfully addressed him saying "Dear Father you and Mother Yasoda shall ever be our parents, because it was you who raised us. We request you now to go to Vrindavana to console all the gopas and gopis"
We saw two short videos depicting the story.
24 Teachers :
We did a recap of all the teachers we learnt in the previous classes. We were happy to see that the kids were able to recollect the facts learnt and talk about them. We learnt about the last teacher of the 24 teachers today. As usual, we started with a riddle.
I am woolly in the beginning, sheltered and wrapped inside a cocoon, Only to come out in flying colors.
Who am I ?
Most of the kids answered either caterpillar or butterfly. With a few more hints, they got the right answer. Its the Larva.
What does a Larva teach us ?
When one identifies oneself to something with love, hate or fear, one becomes that.
A larva stays in the cocoon for a long time thinking of a butterfly, so it becomes one later. If you think of God, you become God.
Once a caterpillar looks at another one hanging down, expresses its doubt...How can a fuzzy me, become a butterfly?
Then the hanging caterpillar replies - It is something you are born to be.
A butterfly is beautiful, has colorful wings, drinks nectar from flowers, Goes from flower to flower, spreading their messages of love. Makes the whole world a more colorful and beautiful place. You just have to believe that you can be one, and you will be one some day.
One may not physically transform into what they want to be, but can surely imbibe those qualities, or personality traits. If one aspires to be like God, he / she cannot physically become God, but can surely attain the Godly qualities of love and kindness.
Similarly, if we have a goal to be great, and constantly keep thinking about it, we will surely work toward it and will achieve our goal and become what we want. Whether we want to be an astronaut or a doctor, or anything else if we put our heart to the goal and believe we can, we can surely achieve it.
There is a short story about a little girl in a small village, who believed that she could become Miss America someday. Although it seemed impossible at that time, she still believed she could. And after some years, she actually did win that crown.
Our next class is on Sunday,5th May 2024.
Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.
Thank you and Hari Om,
Neelima Turaga & Rekha Pai
