Nov 3, 2023 - Grade 1 (Friday)

Hari Om!

Dear Parents,

Our schedule for Bala Vihar on November 3rd was as follows:

Opening Prayers: 

1. Om chants (3 times),

2. Shanti mantra - Sa ha navavatu,

3. Ślokā on Lord Vishnu - Śuklām Baradharam

4. Ślokā on Goddess Saraswati - Saraswati Namastubhyam

5. Ślokā on Hanuman - Buddhir Balam 

Yoga and Sanskrit:

We revised the Sanskrit phrases for 

1. Good morning
2. What is your name?
3. My name is…
4. Welcome
5. Thank you
6. Please

Rāmāyana:

The itihāsa resumes with King Dasaratha, heartbroken, pining for his Rāma, as life slowly wanes from his body and death prevails.

Meanwhile Bharata and Shatrughna, who were spending time at Kekeya, returned to Ayodhya. Seeing the despair on the faces of their citizens, Bharata rushed to see his father. Kaikeyi intercepted him to give him the good news of Rāma's banishment and the unfortunate consequence of the King's sudden demise. Bharata, the devoted brother and son, could not make sense of the happenings. Kaikeyi's machinations were revealed in her vile speech, leaving Bharata utterly disgusted with his mother's behavior. Unable to digest both pieces of news, he sought Kausalya, to apologize for the events and seek her forgiveness for his inaction. He promised to bring Rāma back to rule the kingdom, as it was his birthright. 

Clad in simple garments of bark and cotton, he set out with his army, ministers and scholars towards the forest. He ate frugally, slept on the ground - a penance undertaken to undo the injustice meted out to Rāma.

Fun time: We watched a couple of short animated videos from Chinmaya Mission.

It was a short class as there was Saraswati Puja performed by all children at the temple. 

Looking forward to our next class today Friday, November 17th at 7pm. 

Pranām,

Uma and Nivedita

Friday Grade 1 Sevikas

Oct 27, 2023 - Grade 1 (Friday)

Hari Om!

Dear Parents,

Our schedule for Bala Vihar on October 27 was as follows:

Opening Prayers: 

1. Om chants (3 times),

2. Shanti mantra - Sa ha navavatu,

3. Ślokā on Lord Vishnu - Śuklām Baradharam

4. Ślokā on Goddess Saraswati - Saraswati Namastubhyam

5. Ślokā on Hanuman - Buddhir Balam 

Gita Chanting: 

We did Verses 4-5 of the Gita with Swami ji's video. 

Yoga and Sanskrit:

We practiced Sanskrit phrases for 

1. Good morning
2. What is your name?
3. My name is…
4. Welcome
5. Thank you
6. Please

We did some stretching and jumping to keep ourselves active. 

Rāmāyana:

We did a review of the epic from the beginning, with the children explaining every slide, including names. 

The itihāsa resumes from when Rāma and his brothers returned to Ayodhya with their wives after the grand wedding in Mithila. 

King Daśaratha decided to crown Rāma as his successor and the palace was rejoicing over the news. Meanwhile Mantara, Kaikeyi's maid, approached her Queen in her bid to plant the poisonous seed of doubt and jealousy. Although she was known to be dull, she managed to convince Kaikeyi that if Rāma was crowned king, then Kausalya will be the most important Queen Mother, and Kaikeyi will be relegated to the background. 

Having been granted two wishes by her husband, Kaikeyi decides to use them and tells Dasaratha that her two wishes will be 

1. Bharata should be crowned King
2. Rama should go to the forest for 14 years.

Rāma, upon Kaikeyi's request, appeared before his father. Kaikeyi's wishes were conveyed, between sobs. But Rāma did not react or object. He consoled his father that Bharata would make a very fine and able administrator, and that the 14 years of vanavās would go quickly and he will soon return to Ayodhya. 

Lakshmana and Sita refused to stay in Ayodhya, instead choosing to accompany Rāma. 

The very next day, donning simple garb, the trio set out to the forest, with the sad citizens in their wake. After consoling the followers, Rāma, Sita and Lakshmana set out towards the Ganges. There they met the tribal leader Guha, who felt honored to feed and house them. 

The next day they set out on the Ganga towards Chitrakoota. 

Fun time: We watched a short animated video on Why do we Pray, in Gurudev's voice. 

We did closing prayers and pledge in class. 

Looking forward to our next class today Friday, November 3 at 7pm. 

Pranām,

Uma and Nivedita

Friday Grade 1 Sevikas

Oct 6, 2023 - Grade 1 (Friday)

Hari Om!

Dear Parents,

Our schedule for Bala Vihar on October 6 was as follows:

Opening Prayers: 

1. Om chants (3 times),

2. Shanti mantra - Sa ha navavatu,

3. Ślokā on Lord Vishnu - Śuklām Baradharam

4. Ślokā on Goddess Saraswati - Saraswati Namastubhyam

5. Ślokā on Hanuman - Buddhir Balam 

Gita Chanting: 

We did Verses 1-3 of the Gita at the beginning of the class using Swami ji's video and repeated many times to get the pronunciation and flow.

Yoga and Sanskrit:

Sanskrit numbers from 1-10 were enthusiastically memorized, while the children also recounted the numbers in their own mother tongues. 

We did some stretching and made ourselves 'loose' so that we could be relaxed while listening yo the story.

Rāmāyana:

For a better understanding of the story, we have created a slide of pictures that depict the story. 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-3BzDcgQCHNOW0TolpT4O1p_Olre87MIC_kW4ZWQZ00/edit

The itihāsa resumes from when Sage Vishwamitra was pleased with Rāma and Lakshmana for getting rid of Subahu and Maricha. The next day he informed the brothers that they were all going to Mithila for a yagna being performed by King Janaka. King Janaka had a bow presented to him by Lord Śiva which was a must-see. 

On their way to Mithila, they stopped at Sage Gautama's ashram. Sage Gautama and his wife Ahalya had lived there happily till one day Indra, taken by the beauty of Ahalya, came in the disguise of her husband and partook the food that she had lovingly prepared. Sage Gautama, in a fit of anger, cursed her to stone. Her freedom from that existence could only be granted by the Holy feet of Sri Rāma. Knowing this, Sage Vishwamitra took the brothers to the Ashram. When Lord Rama's feet touched the stone statue of Ahalya, she came to life, receiving moksha (liberation from the cycle of rebirth). 

The trio reach King Janaka's kingdom city of Mithila. King Janaka had a daughter, Sita. She was found in the fields that were being ploughed by King Janaka, as a yagna ritual. 

King Janaka personally invited the great Sage and his brave disciples to the Yagna, greatly pleased to meet the sons of his friend, King Dasaratha.

Many attendees, Rishis and Kings alike, filed in as the Yagna was commencing. Finally the beautiful bow of Lord Shiva was brought in with great difficulty by five thousand warriors. Rāma itched to lift the beautiful bow. The Sage, noting his interest, nodded and blessed him to go ahead. He lifted the bow, drawing gasps from the audience. While stringing the bow, it broke in two. King Janaka was impressed with his valor and promised the hand of his daughter Sita to him. While Lord Rāma married Sita, King Janaka gave his other daughter Urmila to Lakshmana, and his brother's daughters Māndavi and Srutakirti to Bharata and Shatrughna respectively. 

Meditation: 

5 minutes of meditation at the end of class, counting beads as they are dropped into a steel box. 

Looking forward to our next class today Friday, October 27 at 7pm. 

Pranām,

Uma and Nivedita

Friday Grade 1 Sevikas

Sept 29, 2023 - Grade 1 (Friday)

Hari Om!
Dear Parents,
Our schedule for Bala Vihar was as follows:

Opening Prayers:
1. Om chants (3 times),
2. Shanti mantra - Sa ha navavatu,
3. Ślokā on Lord Vishnu - Śuklām Baradharam
4. Ślokā on Goddess Saraswati - Saraswati Namastubhyam
5. Ślokā on Lord Hanuman - Buddhir Balam

Being a short class, we went over the Shanti mantra a few times. We will send a recording of all Opening Prayers. Please have the children listen, repeat and memorize.

Lastly, we did a Likhita Japa
Activity, writing Lord Rama's name in Sanskrit and English.

Looking forward to our next class on Friday, October 6 at 7pm.

Pranām,
Uma and Nivedita
Friday Grade 1 Sevikas

Sept 22, 2023 - Grade 1 (Friday)

Hari Om!

Dear Parents,

Our schedule for Bala Vihar was as follows:

Opening Prayers: 

1. Om chants (3 times),

2. Shanti mantra - Sa ha navavatu,

3. Ślokā on Lord Vishnu - Śuklām Baradharam

4. Ślokā on Goddess Saraswati - Saraswati Namastubhyam

5. Ślokā on Hanuman - Buddhir Balam 

Gita Chanting: 

We did the opening śloka of the Gita and the first verse and repeated many times to get the flow before Swami ji's video of the same verses. That way, the children actually repeat after Swami ji.

We did some stretching and a little bit of jumping to get the kids energized.

Rāmāyana:

The itihāsa resumes at the young Princes training at the hands of their teacher Sage Vasishta and mastering the necessary skills. 

When the boys had gained sufficient knowledge, Sage Vishwamitra visited Ayodhya. The purpose of his visit was to take Princes Rāma and Lakshmana with him to his Ashrama, where they could help protect his yagna from the two rakshasās, Subāhu and Māricha. 

Daśaratha was in a dilemma, he was worried about the safety of his young sons while also afraid to displease the great Sage. His silence angered Vishwamitra, who reminded him that it was the Dharma of a King to protect sages. Meanwhile Sage Vasishta approached the King and informed him that the Princes were ready and able to perform the tasks given by Sage Vishwamitra, and also gave him reassurance that Sage Vishwamitra would not let any harm come to them.  

With much sorrow, the King sent his two sons with Sage Vishwamitra.

Sage Vishwamitra, Rāma and Lakshmana stayed overnight at Kāmāśrama (where Lord Śiva reduced Kāmā to ashes for having disturbed his tapas). Then they took a boat across the Sarayu river (where it flows in to the Ganga) to Dandaka Aranya (Dandaka forest). This is where they met their first hurdle, Thataka. Having angered Sage Agastya, she and her son Māricha were cursed to live their lives as flesh eating demons. Sage Vishwamitra told Rāma not to hesitate killing her, but to do as was his Dharma. As Rāma aimed his arrow towards her heart, the angry demoness kept advancing. In one stroke, she was felled. This earned Rāma the gratitude of all the Rishis in Dandakāranya, and the smile of pleasure from Sage Vishwamitra.

Meditation: 

We will be doing about 5 minutes of meditation at the end of every class.

Looking forward to our next class on Friday, September 29 at 7pm. We will have the House Kick-off with lots of fun activities for the children. 

Pranām,

Uma and Nivedita

Friday Grade 1 Sevikas

Sept 15, 2023 - Grade 1 (Friday)

Hari Om!

Dear Parents,

The schedule for Bala Vihar was as follows:

Opening Prayers: 

1. Om chants (3 times),
2. Shanti mantra - Sa ha navavatu,
3. Ślokā on Lord Vishnu - Śuklām Baradharam
4. Ślokā on Goddess Saraswati - Saraswati Namastubhyam
5. Ślokā on Hanuman - Buddhir Balam 

As we were starting the class, the children had questions about the photos that were on the window sill - those of Goddess Saraswati and the Guru Parampara. We chanted the Ślokā Sadāśiva Samārambham…. and spoke about the importance of our Gurus (from Lord Dakshinamurthy to our Swami ji's). 

Rāmāyana:

This week brought us to the very beginning of the epic - the prosperous Kingdom of Ayodhya, with King Daśaratha and his wives Kauśalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi. They belonged to the Raghu Dynasty (Raghu Kula) that worshipped the Sun.

The need for an heir brought him to Sage Vasiśta who asked him to perform a Putra Kameśti Yagna. A Yagna Purusha (celestial that arises from the flames of the Yagna) gave the King a bowl of Payasam, to be consumed by his three Queens. While Kauśalya and Kaikeyi had a share each, Sumitra got two. 

The result was not just one heir, but four! Kauśalya had Rāma, Kaikeyi had Bharata, and Sumitra had the twins Lakshmana and Shatrughna. The Kshatriya Princes were strong yet gentle, with a strong bond uniting them all. From the very beginning it was clear that they all looked up to Rāma, who was a shining example of Dharma. 

Stotram Chanting:

This year's Stotram is a few verses of the Guru Stotram. We started with the first verse, Akhanda mandalākāram…

We will go slow with these till the children are comfortable with pronunciation and flow.

Gita Chanting:

The Sanskrit Primer (a video on pronunciations) was played in class. This is to familiarize the children with the sounds that they will encounter while chanting. 

Please make sure the children have the following in their bags: the Bala Vihar Handbook, My Prayers book, and Rāmāyana coloring book. Looking forward to our next class on Friday, September 22 at 7pm.

Pranām,

Uma and Nivedita

Friday Grade 1 Sevikas

Sept 8, 2023 - Grade 1 (Friday)


Hari Om!

Dear Parents,
Our first class for 2023-2024 commenced well - a good strength of 11 enthusiastic children.

We sat in a circle, introducing ourselves, our favorite pastimes and foods.
A small introduction was given to our topic of the year - Rāmāyana. We went over the concept of Avatāra and the need for Lord Vishnu to appear in mortal form.

While interacting with parents, a word search puzzle (based on Rāmāyana) was given to the children to keep them busy.
As discussed with the parents, this year we will also cover:
1. Sloka: Nilambuja Śyamala
2. Stotra: Guru Stotram
2. Bhagavad Gīta Ch. 4 Chanting
3. Easy Yoga exercises
4. Meditation
5. Sanskrit - numbers, verbs and some words that we will encounter in Rāmāyana.

We encourage the kids to participate and also recount stories they are familiar with.

Looking forward to our next class on Friday, Sept 15th at 7pm.

Pranāms,
Uma and Nivedita
Friday Grade 1 Sevikas

Welcome to Gr 1 - Friday Session

Please look out for regular updates from 

the teachers 

soon after the session starts.