Jan 7, 2024 - Grade 7 (Sunday PM)

Jan 7, 2024

Hari Om Parents,

We started the class with usual prayers. Subsequently we chanted together Nama Ramayana. Please have them practice this at home. We also did pranayama/breathing exercises.

We did brief revision of Ramayana story so far. We again discussed how Rama represented ideal student, ideal son, ideal brother etc.

Rama and Lakshmana reached Rshyamukha mountain. Seeing them initially Sugriva and his four associates were scared and runaway. Hanuman then reminded Sugriva that Vali's men cannot come on Rshyamukha mountain. Sugriva asks Hanuman to go and meet them, and find out why they are on this mountain. Hanuman approaches Rama and Lakshmana disguised as a brahmin. This is first meeting of the great devotee Hanuman with Sri Ramji. Hanuman asked them several questions that they look like Princess yet dressed as ascetics - and gives them many compliments. Finally asks as them what they were doing in this part of the forest. Lakshmana explains that they were looking for Sugriva. They wanted to make friendship with him. Hanuman then assumes his original form. He carries Rama and Lakshmana on his shoulders to the top of mountain. He then facilitates friendship between Sugriva and Rama.

Rama asked Sugriva why he was staying in the mountain. Sugriva explains that he was running away from his brother Vali. Vali was king of Kishkinda, Sugriva was his brother. Once Mayavi a demon came to challenge Vali. Vali went behind the demon to kill him. Sugriva followed him. Mayavi went into a cave, Vali told Sugriva to stand guard at the mouth of the cave and went into the cave. Sugriva waited at the mouth of the cave for one year. Then one day he noticed blood coming out of the tave. Thinking that Vali had been killed by the demon he closed mouth of the cave with a big boulder and went back to the Kingdom. There, upon advice of his ministers he assumed kingship. Few days later Vali came to the court, seeing Sugriva sitting as the king he got very angry. In his anger he did not listen to Sugriva's explanation, he assumed that Sugriva tricked him and left him to die in the cave. He chased Sugriva all over the world, finally Sugriva sought shelter on Rshyamukha mountain. Vali or his associates could not come on to the mountain because of a curse that was given to Vali. He explained to Rama that he lost his ability to live in Kishkinda Kingdom and also lost his wife Roma who was kept in the palace.

Once a demon Dundhubhi challenged Vali in the form of a bull. Vali threw the bull several yojanas away, it fell in Sage Matanga ashram. Rishi Matanga got angry with Vali's action and cursed him that if he comes on the mountain he will be killed, if his associates come they will turn into rocks. Hence Sugriva sought shelter on this mountain.

Rama gave his word to Sugriva that he would kill Vali. Sugriva explained the prowess of Vali, his great strength and power. He tested Rama to see If he had the valor and strength to face Vali. Rama was easily able to shoot down all the seven Sala trees with one arrow and able to kick the skeleton of dundhubhi many yojanas effortlessly. Assured Sugriva went to challenge Vali. During the initial combat Vali beats him up badly, Sugriva runs for his life. He was angry that Rama did not kill Vali with his arrow. Rama explained to Sugriva that both of them looked alike, so he could not distinguish between the brothers, he did not want to take a chance and kill Sugriva by mistake. He asked Lakshmana to put a gaja pushpa mala on Sugriva. Rama then asks Sugriva to go and fight Vali again. Sugriva goes back and challenges Vali, now Tara wife of Vali advises him not to go for battle again, she senses that's something bad might happen to him. Vali reassures her and goes to fight Sugriva wearing a kanchana mala. During this combat Rama standing behind a tree shoots an arrow at Vali. Vali falls down onto the ground. He gets angry at Rama and asks him why he shot an arrow at him by standing behind the tree. He says I never interfered in the affairs of Ayodhya, I was fighting my brother, I am an animal and I have the right to fight another animal, what I was doing was dharma and what Rama did was adharma karma  - how can you justify your actions.

Rama replies that what he did was Dharma alone:

1.        Rama was a representative of king Bharata of Ayodhya and as his representative he has to keep up the Dharma. Since Vali kept Sugriva's wife forcefully, he deserved to be punished for his dharmic action.

2.        Vali's adharmic way of life was also shown by him making friendship with Ravana.

3.        Rama was a king, he had the right to hunt animals

4.        Rama gave word to Sugriva that he will protect him.

5.        The key reason Rama had to hide behind the tree was Vali had kanchana mala, a gift given by Indra. Anyone who would come in front of him, would lose half of his power to Vali, hence it was impossible to win over Vali by standing in front of him. Rama knew the power of the golden necklace hence he killed Vali by standing behind the tree. 

In the end we performed some activities – brief yoga and played four corners game involving characters of Ramayana. Finally, we ended the class by chanting Bhagavad Gita verses 15 & 16 along with Swamiji's video.

Happy Sankrathi, Happy Pongal, Happy Lohri,  …. to all.

Pranams,

Vyjayanti

Devender

 

 

Dec 17, 2023 - Grade 7 (Sunday PM)

December 17th, 2023

Hari Om Parents,

We started the class with usual prayers. Subsequently we chanted together Nama Ramayana. Please have them practice this at home. We also did pranayama/breathing exercises for some time.

We continued with our Ramayana story. When Rama and Lakshmana returned to the ashram, they did not find Sitaji. Rama was extremely distraught. He almost behaved like a mad person trying to search for Sitaji going from mountain to mountain, tree to tree, running here and there. Not finding Sitaji he gets extremely angry, to the extent that he wants to destroy the three worlds. Lakshmana talks to Rama, consoles him, and pleads with him to control himself. Tells him that we both can search for sitaji and Finder even if she is hidden anywhere in the three worlds. At this time, they notice some deers pointing to sky start running towards South, they follow the deers. After going some distance, they find Jataayu lying on the ground, destroyed Chariots and weapons around him. Jatayu before dying tells Rama that Ravana took Sitaji. Rama does last rites of Jataayu, as if he was his own father.

As they go through the forest in search of Sitaji, suddenly they see a demon Kabandan who grabs them with each hand. This was an ugly looking demon, who had his eyes and mouth in the stomach, there was no head. After regaining their composure, Rama and Lakshmana cut the hands of Kabandan. Kabandan asked them who they are, Lakshmana tells the story of Ramayana - so far what happened, that they are searching for Sitaji. Kabandan said that he was waiting for them. Previously he used to be a most handsome person. Because of his bad deeds and vanity, he was cursed by sage Sthulasheera and Indra to be in this demon form. He asked Rama to burn his body so that he could regain his divine form. Rama and Lakshmana do the same, he attains his divine form, and asks him to go and visit Shabari in Maatanga forest near Pampa river and she will direct them to Sugriva who is staying in Rshyamukha mountain. With help of Sugriva and vanaras they will be able to get Sitaji back.

Rama and Lakshmana reach Maatanga ashram, and find Shabari. She welcomes them with devotion, offers them asanas and prays to them. She offers fruits to Rama and Lakshmana. Devotional texts very beautifully describe how Shabari gave fruits to Sri Ramji after tasting them individually to make sure the fruits were sweet. Ramji ate those fruits without any hesitation, showing that Lord accepts anything given to him with devotion. After serving Rama and Lakshmana, and showing them around the ashram, Shabari takes leave and goes to the higher worlds. She gives them the direction to go towards Rshyamukha mountain to meet Sugriva.

Seeing the serene atmosphere of Maatanga ashram and the beautiful surroundings of Pampa river, sense of calm comes into Rama's mind, he start feeling positive vibes, and starts feeling confident that they will be able to find Sitaji and get her back.

We spent time practicing aarti in the class. We again played hangman game, involving characters of Ramayana. Finally, we ended the class by chanting Bhagavad Gita verses along with Swamiji's video. Our Grade led aarati and pledge in the assembly.

 

Pranams,

Vyjayanti

Devender

 

Dec 10, 2023 - Grade 7 (Sunday PM)

December 10, 2023

Hari Om Parents,

We started the class with the daily prayers. We did pranayama. We chanted Nama Ramayana from my prayers book.

We discussed and analyzed Surpanakha's incident with students. Surpanakha who was old, ugly looking, was without any value system, approached to marry Rama who was young, handsome and full of virtues. Surpanakha proposes to kill Rama's wife and brother to marry him. After Rama says no, she has no hesitation in approaching Lakshmana to ask him for marriage. She clearly demonstrates her shallow value system, and her goal of achieving pleasure by any means. Rama and Lakshmana had no option but to punish her as she was attacking Sitaji.

 

We continued with Ramayana story. Surpanakha then approaches her brothers Khara and Dhushana, convinces them to attack Rama. Khara and Dhushana along with 14,000 rakshasas attack Rama, who single handedly kills all of them. This incident shows the glory of Rama's valor and prowess. Sages and Devatas were extremely happy with Rama's feet. One rakshasa Acampana escapes and approaches Ravana - tells him about the destruction at Janasthana. Ravana approaches Mareecha for his advice, who advises him not to attack Rama, as this will lead to destruction of rakshasa clan. Ravana goes back to Lanka. Surpanakha now approaches Ravana and again tells him about the destruction of rakshasa clan in Janasthana. She lies – tells Ravana that she wanted to bring Sitaji for Ravana as she was very beautiful. During this time Rama and Lakshmana defaced her by cutting her nose and ears. She implores upon Ravana to take revenge on Rama. Ravana without verifying the truth of Surpanakha's words, after discussing with his Council of Ministers again goes back to Mareecha.

Ravana wants Mareecha to help him to abduct Sita. Mareecha gets very frightened. He tells Ravana  that he escaped from Rama twice, that he was lucky that he was alive. He tries to put sense into Ravana's mind by telling that if he touches Sita, Rama will destroy the whole rakshasa clan. That Ravana would lose his Kingdom, family and his own life. Mareecha gives ultimate certificate to Rama by saying that he is embodiment of Dharma – 'Ramo Vigrahavan Dharmah'. Despite repeated pleas of Marrecha, Ravana does not head to his words. Ravana threatens to kill Mareecha if his does not cooperate with his plan. Mareecha decides to follow Ravana's instructions as he would rather die at Rama's hands.

Marija disguises as a golden deer and entices Sita. Sita pleads with Rama to get the golden deer either dead or alive as she has never seen such a beautiful animal. She wanted to take it back to Ayodhya. Lakshmana warns that this is rakshasa disguised as golden deer. Sita does not pay attention to his words. Since Sita never asked Rama anything in the forest, Rama decides to fulfill Sita's wish fully knowing that there may be rakshasha maya at play here. He tells Lakshmana three times before leaving the ashram that he should protect Sita in his absence. Rama pursues the golden deer for a while, realizing the tricks the deer was playing on him he finally shoots an arrow and kills the golden deer. Mareecha takes his original form and shouts "hey Sita and hey Lakshmana" impersonating Rama's voice. Hearing this Sita gets very scared and upset. She implores upon Lakshmana to go and protect her brother. Lakshmana resists going away from ashram and tries to explain to Sita that no harm can come to Rama. No one in the world can defeat Rama. Despite these words Sitaji keeps getting more and more anxious, uses harsh words against Lakshmana and forces him to leave the ashram. It is said in some Ramayana's that Lakshmana draws a line, called Lakshmana Rekha, before he leaves the ashram and advises Sitaji not to cross the line. Seeing this opportunity Ravana approaches the ashram as a sanyasi asking for alms. Not realizing that a rakshasha has come in the form of sanyasi, Sitaji innocently goes to give him the arms and eventually crosses over lakshmana rekha. At this time Ravana assumes his original form, abducts Sitaji and starts carrying her away in his chariot.

Jataayu who was nearby stops Ravana and challenges him. He fights fiercely with Ravana destroying his charioteer, chariot and weapons. Eventually Ravana cuts off the wings of Jataayu using a sword given by Lord Shiva. Jataayu falls on the ground. Ravana carries away Sitaji in the air. En route to Lanka Sitaji sees five monkeys sitting on the top of a mountain, she drops some of her ornaments tied with a piece of saree onto that mountain.

 

Meanwhile Lakshmana meets Rama. Rama was not happy to see Lakshmana as he left Sitaji alone in the ashram. Rama feared for the safety of Sitaji. He rushes back to the ashram and finds the ashram empty without Sitaji being there.

 

We again played hangman game, involving characters of Ramayana that was taught in the class today. Finally, we ended the class by chanting Bhagavad Gita verses along with Swamiji's video.

 

Pranams,

Vyjayanti

Devender

Dec 3, 2023 - Grade 7 (Sunday PM)

December 3, 2023

Hari Om Parents,

We started the class with the daily prayers. We did pranayama. We chanted Nama Ramayana from my prayers books.

We continued with the story of Ramayana, Ayodhya kanda. Bharata decides to go to the forest along with ministers and army to bring Rama, Lakshmana and Sita back to Ayodhya. Initially he visits sage Bharadwaja ashram. Sage Bharadwaja gives a great reception to Bharata and his entire army. He initially questions Bharata's motive of going to the forest. Bharata then explains to the sage that he was going to get Rama back, sage Bharadwaja praises him, and glorifies his values. He states that it is very rare to find a brother like him. Following the direction given by sage Bharadwaja Bharata goes further into the forest in search of Rama. Lakshmana hears the army coming through the forest, he climbs up a tree and sees that Bharata was coming towards the ashram with his army. He misunderstands that Bharata was coming to fight with Rama, gets angry and wants to go and attack Bharata and his army. Rama pacifies Lakshmana, and explains that Bharatha his only coming to take them back to Ayodhya.

Bharata meets Rama at Chitrakoot along with their mothers, sages, ministers and army.  Rama finds out from Bharata that his father passed away. He gets deeply saddened and distressed. Rama and Lakshmana offer prayer to the departed soul. Bharata then requested Rama to come back to Ayodhya, stating that he is giving the Kingdom that was asked by his mother back to him. Rama pacifies Bharata. Initially Rama talks about spiritual values explaining how life is impermanent, how man has no control over happenings in his life. One should not get overcome by despair and grief but perform our duties as best as we can. Bharata then insists that he is not capable of ruling the Kingdom, Rama is the eldest son, hence he should be ruling the Kingdom. Rama remains firm on his decision to stay in forest, to keep up the word given by his father. He remains steady in his dharmic values. Sage Vasistha and other ministers also tried to convince Rama. Rama did not change his decision, which was value based, as it was important to make sure that king Dasaratha's words remained true (Satya sankalpa). Other rishis and gandharvas come and convinced Bharatha that he should listen to Rama. Upon suggestion given by sage Vasishta, Bharata takes Rama's padukas and goes back to Ayodhya. He lives in Nandigram outside Ayodhya for 14 years, leading the same ascetic life as Rama and Lakshmana. He took care of the Kingdom diligently as a trustee, always remembering that it was Rama's Kingdom. Bharata demonstrates exceptional value system, he did not accept the Kingdom or riches that came to him because of his mother's boons. He was always ready to serve Rama. He was a true devotee of Rama, ever ready to serve him enthusiastically.

Rama, Lakshmana & Sita then leave Chitrakoot and go into Dandakaranya. They encounter Viradha rakshasa, whom they kill. They meet many sages and Saints like sage Sharabhanga and sage Sutheekshana. They spend 10 years in the forest happily. Eventually they go to sage Agastya's ashram. Sage gives Rama Kodadam or Vaishnava bow, divine arrows given by Brahmaji and quiver given by Indra. On his advice they go to Bank of Godavari and build an ashram at Panchavati.

One day Surpanakha visits the ashram. She's old ugly looking demon, who is sister of Ravana. She asks Rama to marry her. She also says that she will eat up his wife and brother, after which they both can roam happily in forests! Rama says that he's already married and asks her to approach Lakshmana. Lakshmana states that he is already a slave, by marrying him she will become slave of slave. Surpanakha gets angry and tries to attack Sita. At this time Lakshmana cuts her nose and ears upon Rama's instruction. Surpanakha gets very angry and approaches her brothers Khara and Dushana in Dandakaranya.

 

We played a game of hangman, involving the characters of Ramayana that we have learned so far. In the end we chanted along with Swamiji, Bhagvad Gita verses.

 

Pranams,

Vyjayanti

Devender

Nov 19, 2023 - Grade 7 (Sunday PM)

November 19, 2023

Hari Om Parents,

We started the class with the daily prayers. We did pranayama with Chinmudra. We chanted Nama Ramayana from my prayers books. We learned two more new shlokas from Nama Ramayana - Aranya kanda and Kishkinda kanda.

We continued with the story of Ramayana, Ayodhya kanda, before Rama, Sita and Lakshmana leave for forest, they go to King Dasaratha to seek his blessings. He was in deep anguish, could not bear the separation of his dear son, Rama. Many ministers and even sage Vasistha try to change mind of Kaikeyi, telling her that what she was doing was not right, that Bharata would not approve of what she's doing. Ayodhya will not be Ayodhya without Rama being there, people will not be happy with her wish of sending Rama to forest. Despite so many people giving advice and admonition, queen Kaikeyi was adamant in her demands to send Rama to forest and to make Bharata Crown Prince.

Sumantra, minister in King's court, drives the chariot carrying Rama, Lakshman and Sita from the palace towards the forest. People of Ayodhya follow them on their Feet. First night they spent near Tamasa river. That morning Rama wakes up early, asks minister Sumantra to take them to forest leaving the people behind, they rode the chariot in such a manner that the people could not follow them. In the morning when everyone woke up, they realized that Rama Lakshmana and Sita were gone, then they went back to Ayodhya crestfallen.

Sumantra takes Rama across forest to the banks of Ganger River. They reach village Srigabheripuram. The chieftain of that village Guha was a dear friend of Rama. He welcomes Rama lovingly. Rama was also very happy to see his dear friend. Guha food and comforts to them. But Rama declines the gifts saying that he's now supposed to lead a life like a sannyasi. Rama and Sita sleep on grass under a tree. Next day Rama asked minister Sumitra to go back to Ayodhya and inform his father that they had gone into forest. Sumantra reluctantly leaves on the advice of Rama. Guha offers a boat for them to cross across the Ganges. On the way Sitaji does prayer to the river and nature for their safe return back to Ayodhya.

They eventually reach Prayag, holy place where Ganga, Jamuna and Saraswati rivers meet, here they meet sage Bharadwaja. On his advice Rama goes to Chitrakoot. Lakshmana builds an ashram in Chitrakoot, where they start living a content life enjoying the nature and company of rishis.

Sumantra returns to Ayodhya and informs king Dasaratha that Rama went into forest along with Sita and Lakshmana. Hearing this news King becomes even more grief stricken, on the 6th night Dasaratha remembers incident from his earlier life. When he was young, while hunting in nighttime he shot an arrow based on the sound that was coming from a pond thinking an animal was drinking water. Unfortunately, arrow hit Shravana kumara, who was there getting water for his old blind parents. Shravana kumara asks Dasaratha to take the water to his parents, and then dies because of the arrow shot. When the blind parents of Shravana kumara learn about his demise, they curse king Dasaratha that he will also die because of separation from his son and from the resultant agony and grief. Remembering this incident Dasaratha passes away that night. Next paragraph

Sage Vasishta sends messengers to get Bharata from Kaikeiyi Rajam. After several days Bharata comes to Ayodhya and sees that there is no joy or happiness in the Kingdom. Initially he goes to King's palace and does not see the king there. He then learns from his mother Kaikeyi that king Dasaratha passed away and that Rama has gone to forest. He gets extremely upset and sad. On further questioning he understands that the whole incident happened because of the boons that his mother has asked. Bharata becomes very angry with his mother, admonishes her and disowns her. He later goes to queen Kausalya's palace to console her, who initially talks very harshly to him, after finding out his true intentions blesses him. Final rights of king Dasaratha we're done on the riverbanks of Sarayu.

The last 10 - 15 minutes we played a word game Scategories - we made multiple teams of two students, and gave them character name in Ramayana, they were supposed to write all that they could remember about each character. Several characters were given including sage Vishwamitra, Guha, Parashuraam, Rama, Dasaratha, queen Kaushalya, queen Kaikeyi, Mantara  etc. Then each group had to present who the character was and what kind of values the character displayed to the class. Children did very well in coming up with the right characteristics and values of each character for most part. They enjoyed the game.

In the end we chanted versus 6 & 7 of Bhagavad Gita chapter 4 following Swamiji's video.

Please drop off new or gently used coats as part of winter coat drive at the ashram by Dec 17^th. Also please have your children practice Bhagavad Gita shlokas.

Happy Thanksgiving. No class next weekend.

 

Pranam,

Vyjayanti

Devender

 

 

 

Nov 5, 2023 - Grade 7 (Sunday PM)

November 5, 2023

Hari Om Parents,

We started the class with the daily prayers. We did pranayama for some time. We chanted Nama Ramayana from my prayers books.

We finished Bala kanda from Ramayana in the last class. We briefly revised salient points from Bala kanda. Here we can see how Rama was showing the example of an ideal student:

1.     Rama's curiosity to know - he asked several questions to sage Vishwamitra whenever he saw new things in the forest.

2.     Rama's regular prayer - he would get up early in the morning and do daily prayers.

3.     Rama's obedience - he obediently listened to his father and gurus.

4.     Rama's service to his teacher - survived sage Vishwamitra faithfully in forest.

5.     Rama's humility / simplicity – for example he sleeps on the floor on grass without any complaints, was humble even when he killed mighty rakshasas.

6.     Rama's work commitment - did not get distracted till he killed the rakshasas during the yajna.

7.     Rama's Satsang in forest - he stayed with the rishis and listened to their stories, instead of doing other things such as hunting etc.

We continued the story, next section is Ayodhya kanda. Here the story revolves around the happenings in the capital city of Kingdom of Koshala - Ayodhya. After marriage Rama and Sita spend many years happily in Ayodhya. While Bharata and Shatrughna along with their wives go to grandparents' house. 12 years later king Dasaratha after witnessing some bad omens in his dream decides to make Rama as Crown Prince. He consults initially with his ministers and the sages. Subsequently he announces the intention of making Rama the Crown Prince in his assembly, but before doing it, he wanted to know from his citizens and ministers why Rama is qualified to be Crown Prince. The citizens of Ayodhya enumerate numerous virtues of Rama and wholeheartedly encourage the king to appoint Rama as Crown Prince. Our ancestors also practiced democratic values! Rama is then called into the assembly and king makes the announcement that next day he will be anointed as the Crown Prince. Rama remained calm and did not show any over jubilation but accepted it as his duty and as his father's wish. He performs all required austerities along with Sitaji that night. Whole of Ayodhya starts celebrating.

Mantara, who was a servant maid, in queen Kaikeyi's palace sees this celebration and gets angry. She goes to queen Kaikeyi and tells her the news, initially queen Kaikeyi is extremely happy that Rama is going to be crowned as Crown Prince. She even gives her a necklace as gift. But Mantara because of her nature throws away the necklace and starts poisoning the mind of queen Kaikeyi. She states that Rama becoming Crown Prince is not a good thing for her and her son Bharata. Initially queen Kaikeyi praises Rama and his virtues. But as she listens to Mantara's viewpoint her mind slowly starts changing. Mantara tries to convert mind of queen Kaikeyi by approaching from various viewpoints. She says king Dasaratha is not dharmatma, he's giving all his power and property to Rama and queen Kausalya. He is doing this ceremony when Bharata was not in Ayodhya. Queen Kausalya will get more respect as raja mata. She will not get any respect from Kausalya. Bharata will be servant of Rama and that she will be servant of queen Kausalya. Bharata may even be sent away from that country or harmed. It did not take a long time to change queen Kaikeyi's mind.

Now Mantara reminds queen Kaikeyi that during deva asura fight when she protected king Dasaratha he gave her two boons. Mantara advises to ask those boons now. One boon is to make Bharata the king, the other one is to send Rama to the forest.

When king Dasaratha comes into queen Kaikeyi's palace, he finds her disheveled on the floor full of sorrow. He tries to find out the reason and consoles his dear wife. She asks him if he can fulfill his two boons. King Dasaratha innocently gives his word that he will fulfill her boons and wishes. Heartlessly queen Kaikeyi asks the king to make Bharata the Crown Prince and send Rama to forest for 14 years. Hearing this king immediately faints. Throughout the night he tries to change the mind of his queen, by pleading with her and begging her to change her mind. But she remains adamant. Next day morning Rama was brought to the palace of king Dasaratha & Kaikeyi by minister Sumantra upon queen Kaikeyi's order. Seeing his father's condition Lord Rama has some fear in his mind for safety of his father. Upon enquiring, queen Kaikeyi tells him that his father has given her two boons, and that it was up to him to fullfill his boons. Rama says for the sake of his father he will do anything, he is ready even to give up his life. Queen Kaikeyi tells Rama about her two boons. Rama without even an iota of hesitation agrees to go to the forest. He prays to his parents and to the various pooja material prepared for his ceremony and leaves the palace.

He visits his mother Kausalya's palace. Tells her that he will be going to forest for 14 years as per father's wish/boon. Hearing which mother Kausalya also faints. Lakshmana who was with Rama all this time was extremely angry. He advises Rama to take the Kingdom forcefully. Rama convinces them both with his decision to leave for forest, by saying that he must follow his father's wishes, follow the dharma of his son to make sure that his father's word does not go wrong. He then visits Sitaji, who upon learning the news also wants to accompany him to forest. Rama spends a lot of time trying to convince Sitaji not to come to forest, explaining about hardships in forest. Sitaji says that wherever you are I will have the most comfort, and I'm very confident that you will be able to protect me from any dangers in the forest. She says that she will be more comfortable and happier in forest with Rama than being in Ayodhya without him. Lakshmana also convinces Rama that he will come along with them to serve them, since he will not be able to live without seeing Rama. Rama agrees. In this way all three decide to go to forest.

In this Ayodhya kanda supreme human values are on display. This was analyzed with the students. Rama shows no elation when he is asked to be Crown Prince and no dejection when he is asked to go to forest. He was completely rooted in his duty and his Dharma of following his father's words. Lakshmana shows his supreme love for his brother and readiness to serve him. Rama does not compel Sitaji to come to forest. After understanding her mind and making sure that she's comfortable in coming with him he agrees to take her to forest. Dasaratha had to let Rama go to forest to live by the word he gave – even though he could have refused Kaikeyi's boons. More to come…

In the end we chanted along with Swamiji's video Bhagavad Gita verses from chapter four.

We also practiced an impromptu 2-3 min skit by few students – who performed it in main hall during aarati to get the message of winter coat drive across. Two students pretended that they were shivering; another student could help one of them with a coat not the other as he had only one coat to donate. Two other students gave the message of importance of our coat drive which will help the needy during the cold wintery days. It was well received, and the children did a good job with the spontaneous task given to them.

We will try to send these emails in a more prompt manner moving forward.

 

Pranams,

Vyjayanti

Devender

 

 

Oct 29, 2023 - Grade 7 (Sunday PM)

October 29, 2023

Hari Om Parents,

We started the class with the daily prayers. We did breathing exercises for some time. We chanted Nama Ramayana from my prayers books.

Today was abbreviated class as children had the unique opportunity to perform Saraswati pooja in the ashram, on occasion of Dusherra.

We continued with Ramayana story. Sitaji was Daughter of king Janaka. While performing Yajna, king Janaka was ploughing the yajnashala to purify it, at which time the tip of the plough got stuck, when they looked into it, Sitaji was found in a basket. She is ayonija. When she grew up, to find a suitable life partner for her, king Janaka came up with a unique task that had to be performed. He announced that whoever can string Lord Shiva's bow which was in his palace will be able to marry Sitaji. Normally it would take several thousand people to move the carriage that has Lord Shiva's bow. Many kings, demi-gods, rakshasas tried to string Lord Shiva's bow but were unsuccessful. Sage Vishwamitra took Rama and Lakshmana to look at the palace, to look at the great bow. After getting blessings from the sage, Lord Rama was able to lift the bow, string it and break it without much effort. King Janaka was extremely happy. After this ceremony messengers were sent to Ayodhya. King Dasharatha with his ministers then came to Janakpuri. Under the auspicious guidance of sage Vasishta and sage Shatananda marriage ceremonies were conducted. It was decided to give in marriage Sitaji to Rama and Urmila to Lakshmana – who were daughters of king Janaka. On the advice of sage Vishwamitra Mandavi and Sruthakirti (who were daughters of king Janaka's brother, Khushadhwaja) very given in marriage to Bharata and Shatrughna respectively. The whole of Janaka Puri celebrated marriage of Lord Rama and Sitaji.

After marriage while returning to Ayodhya, Dasharatha and party encountered sage Parashurama. He was very upset that Lord Shiva's bow was broken. He challenged Rama to string Lord Vishnu's bow. Lord Rama does this without any difficulty. Sage Parashurama realizes that Rama was indeed none other than Lord Vishnu, bows to him and departs. Rama's arrow took away all punya lokas of sage Parashurama during this incident.

We watched the video showing Sita swayamvaram, how so many kings fail to even move Lord Shiva's bow, while Lord Rama was able to do it quite easily.

 

Pranams,

Vyjayanti

Devender

 

Oct 8, 2023 - Grade 7 (Sunday PM)

October 8, 2023

Hari Om Parents,

We started the class with the daily prayers. We did breathing exercises for some time. We chanted Nama Ramayana from my prayers books.

We continued with the story of Ramayana. Sage Vishwamitra along with Rama and Lakshmana now reach Mithila Puri. The people of Mithila Puri were mesmerized by the beauty of Sri Rama. King Janaka and his ministers welcomed sage Vishwamitra, Rama & Lakshman to the palace. Sage Shatananda, one of the ministers of king Janaka, tells the story of sage Vishwamitra to Rama and Lakshmana.

Once sage Vishwamitra, when he was still a king, visited the ashram of sage Vasishta. Where the sage provided him with great dinner and hospitality. Sage had a cow named Kamadhenu or Surabhi. Upon request of the Sage, Kamadhenu was able to provide sumptuous dinner, which fed thousands of army men accompanying the king. Seeing this miracle king requested sage Vasishta to give him Surabhi. Sage Vasishta refused saying that Surabhi was like a daughter to him. The king then tried to take Surabhi forcefully. Upon sage's command Surabhi was able to produce a large army which destroyed King's army and his children.

Humiliated and defeated king Vishwamitra vowed to defeat sage Vasishta. He performed severe penance, and propitiated Lord Shiva. Lord gave him many divine weapons as a boon. Equipped with these divine weapons king went to fight with sage Vasishta. But all the divine weapons were nullified by sage Vasishta mantra power. King was astonished by the mantra power of sage Vasishta. King was extremely distressed, but did not get completely dejected, so he also took a strong resolve to perform the more tapas / austerities to gain similar kind of powers. He went and performed more severe tapas. He wanted to be equal to Sage Vasishta. After some time, king Trishanku approached Raja Rishi Vishwamitra, with a desire to reach heaven with his human body. Learning that this desire was turned down by sage Vasishta, Vishwamitra decided to send Trishanku to heaven with the human body. But the gods in heaven did not allow Trishanku to enter heaven in human form, hence sage Vishwamitra created alternate heaven which is tapas power. With this act his tapas power got depleted.

Vishwamitra again performed great austerities and earned title of Rishi. After this Indra sent Apsara Menaka to distract Vishwamitra, and he spent several years with her in forest. Subsequently realizing his mistake, he went to Himalayas leaving Menaka and did severe austerities. He now gained the status of Maharshi. Still, he was not happy as he did not conquer all his senses. While he was doing austerities, Apsara Ramba was sent by Indra to again distract Maharshi Vishwamitra's tapas. Vishwamitra got angry and cursed Ramba to become a stone. He then realized that he still had to overcome anger, hence performed more severe austerities. After many years of tapas Brahmaji finally confirmed the title of Brahmarshi to Vishwamitra. Thus, sage Vishwamitra attained his highest goal, and became equal in status to sage Vasishta. Obviously at this time he did not have any jealousy or anger towards sage Vasishta and took his blessings.

The story of sage Vishwamitra is very powerful where it depicts an ordinary person rising to become a Brahmarshi. There are many lessons for us to learn from this incident.

1.     Goal setting is important, sage Vishwamitra never lost sight of his goal of becoming Brahmarshi to be equal to sage Vasishta.

2.     To be aware of the mistakes we make, and importantly we should not completely get bogged down by the mistakes but learn from them and grow. Sage Vishwamitra continued his austerities despite many obstacles in his path, created mainly by his own internal weaknesses.

3.     Need to have constant and meaningful effort to achieve our goals.

When we look from standpoint of the inner enemies that sage Vishwamitra had to overcome to achieve his goal

1.     Leaving his desire for Kamadhenu - he overcomes lobha or greed

2.     From the Trishanku incident - he overcomes ahankara or ego

3.     From Menaka incident - he overcomes desire or kama

4.     From Ramba incident he overcomes krodha or anger

This shows that in order to achieve great results in the world we need to be able to have control over our mind and senses. Then it will become easier to meet external challenges and achieve our goals.

In the end we chanted along with Swamiji's video Bhagavad Gita verses from chapter four.

 

Pranams,

Vyjayanti

Devender

Oct 1, 2023 - Grade 7 (Sunday PM)

Hari Om Parents,

Oct 1, 2023

Today was house inaugural day. Half of the class was spent in the assembly doing house activities. Students were divided into four different houses, each house chanted at their respective house bhajans. They were given the task of making nice napkins with forks and spoons in places that can be given to various shelters, where people can use them during their dinner and lunch. This activity made the students work together as a team and tested their individual soft skills. It also inculcates in them the importance of service or seva which is the theme for this year while doing various activities. Reminds how we can help community by doing small things that make others life a little better. Hope some of you were present to see these activities in person. 

 Because of the house inaugural we had a limited class. After opening prayers, we continued our story of Ramayana. Sage Vishwamitra along with Rama and Lakshmana are now crossing river Ganga. Rama asks about river Ganga. Sage Vishwamitra tells the story about how Ganga was brought from heaven to earth. In Ishwaku dynasty, dynasty in which Lord Rama took birth, there lived king Sagara who wanted to do Ashwamedha yagna. During yagna Indra takes away the sacrificial horse. Since the yajna cannot be continued without the sacrificial horse, king asked his 60, 000 sons to go in search of the horse. After searching all over they find the horse in ashram of sage Kapila, without finding out what exactly happened, the 60,000 sons mistake that the sage took the horse and try to attack him. But the sage with his tapas power reduces them to ashes. King Sagara sends his grandson Anshuman to go in search of his uncles. He eventually finds them reduced to ashes in the hermitage of sage Kapila. He is saddened by seeing their plight. He wants to do their Pitra karyam. Garuda comes and tells that only when water of divine river Ganga which is flowing in the heaven comes and washes the ashes then their souls will attain peace and heavenly abode. He carries the message to king Sagara, who during his time thinks about achieving this goal of bringing Ganga from heaven to earth but was not successful. After him Anshuman, followed by king Dilipa in that family try to bring Ganga from heaven to earth, but we're unsuccessful. Finally, king Bhageeratha who is son of king Dilipa, makes a firm decision to achieve this goal of bringing Ganga from heaven. He assigns duties of ruling his Kingdom to the ministers and goes to Himalayas, and does severe austerities for 1000 years, after which Lord Brahmaji appears and grants him the boon of getting divine river Ganga from heaven to earth, but he warns that earth will not be able to withstand the force with which Ganga is coming down. He advises King Bhageeratha that he should pray the Lord Shiva so he can hold the river when it comes down and slow its force. So, the king starts praying to Lord Shiva, after one year of severe austerities Lord Shiva appears and grants him the boon that he will hold river Ganga on his head when it falls so that the force of the river is slowed down. The mighty divinely Mother Ganga flows from heaven down to earth, follows the king, on the way, she destroys the ashram of sage Jahnu, who swallows all the waters of river Ganga. Sage Bhageeratha pleads with him to release her, then he releases her from his ear, hence river Ganga from that time on also came to be known as Jahnvi. Eventually they reach sage Kapila's ashram where the ashes of his ancestors were washed by her sacred water, and the ancestors attain higher abodes. Lord Brahmaji himself comes and praises king Bagheeratha for the monumental task that he achieved.

 

This episode teaches several key take home points that will be useful in our own lives:

1.    It is important to have a clear goal in life, higher the goal and higher the ideal the better it is. The goal should then motivate us to act, perform and achieve more than what we would normally would.

2.    We should have the attitude of never giving up, like Bhageeratha – he did penance for 1000 years initially to propitiate Lord Brahmaji, then he was asked to perform more austerities to propitiate Lord Shiva, he did not get disappointed, give up and leave – he was determined & achieved his goal.

3.    Respecting our elders and ancestors, Bhageeratha did such as stupendous task for his ancestors who were five generations away from him, showing the kind of reverence we should have towards our elders and ancestors. Whatever we have now, we owe it to our ancestors.

 

Pranams

Vyjayanti

Devender

Sept 24, 2023 - Grade 7 (Sunday PM)

Hari Om Parents,

Sept 24, 2023

We started with daily prayers. After which we practiced Rama bhajan. Encourage your children to practice the bhajan book - it is in my prayers book on page 144.

We did revision of what was taught in last class. We briefly discussed story of sage Valmiki – how Ratnakar the dacoit became Sage Valmiki. Sage Narada visits Sage Valmiki's ashram. Sage Valmiki asks him if there is a human being who is currently living who has all 16 virtues fully – virtues like one who is truthful, compassionate, powerful, humble etc.. Naradji says yes there is Sri Rama in Ayodhya who has all these virtues and more and tells Ramayana story in brief to Sage Valmiki (in 100 verses). Later Sage Valmiki composes first sholka after he sees a hunter kill one of the Krauncha birds. Lord Brahma comes to his ashram and blesses him to compose Ramayana. With Lord Brahmaji's blessing Ramayana is composed (24,000 verses).

We then went into the story of Ramayana. It was done in interactive way – always involving the children. Kingdom of Kholsa, which has Ayodhya as capital, was ruled by King Dasartha – who had three wives – Kausalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi. But he did not have any sons. So after discussing with his ministers and Sage Vasistha he decided to do putrakamesthi yajna to have children, this was done under supervision of Rshyasrunga Muni. Divine person at conclusion of yajna comes and gives payasam to King Dasaratha. King distributes it to his wives – later Kausalya gives birth to Sri Rama; Kaikeyi gives birth to Bharatha and Sumitra to Lakshmana and Shatrugna. Naming ceremony was performed by Sage Vasistha few days after birth. Initial education for the young princes was done under guidance of Sage Vasistha.

When the princes are teenagers, Sage Vishwamitra visits Ayodhya. King Dasaratha welcomes him with reverence and asks how he can help Sage Vishwamitra. Sage Vishwamitra asks the King to send Rama to forest with him to protect his yajna which was been disturbed by two demons Mareecha and Subhahu. King Dasaratha was petrified to send young Rama to forest, but on the advice of Sage Vasistha he sent Rama and Lakshmana to the forest along with Sage Vishwamitra.

In the forest Rama constantly asks Sage Vishwamitra several questions whenever he sees something new. One of the first task Rama was entrusted was to kill Thataka, the rakhshasi who was terrorizing all the sages in that forest. Rama valiantly kills her using his prowess. Sage Vishwamitra was pleased with this and gave all his divine weapons to Rama and Lakshmana. Later Rama and Lakshmana go to the ashram where Sage Vishwamitra was doing his yajna, they guard the yajna for 6 days & nights. When Mareecha and Subhahu came to spoil the yajna, Rama kills Subhahu and throws away Mareecha 100 yojanas distance with his arrows. Yajna was successfully completed.

In this part we can see how Rama demonstrates how an ideal student should behave – we analyzed this as a group activity, with students coming up with some of Rama's characteristics that made him an ideal student:

-        Inquisitiveness - he asks several questions whenever he sees something new.

-        Attentiveness – he listened attentively to all the stories of Sage Vishwamitra, which were answers to his questions

-        Obedience – he follows the orders of his elders & teachers.

-        Alert and goal oriented – during yajna the demons came only after 6 days, during this time Rama and Lakshmana did not lose sight of their goal and remained alert.

-        Humble – after killing demons he did not brag about his prowess.

-        Skillful – able to put the knowledge he gained to appropriate use by killing the demons.

More to come.

We also did yoga and stretching exercises in the end. Children enjoyed the activity.

 

Pranams,

Vyjayanti

Devender

Sept 17, 2023 - Grade 7 (Sunday PM)

Dear Parents,

Hari Om!

Welcome to the second balavihar class of the year!

In the interest of some new students, who started today, the curriculum and the events of our class scheduled for the year 2023-24 was debriefed. 

The curriculum for this grade comprises 2 books, the great epic, Ramayana and Key to Success. The goals of this class are to acquaint the children with the values of the Hindu religion by grade curriculum accompanied by Chinmaya slokas, bhajans, and Geeta chanting.  We will explore how the Ramayana molded, not only the characters, but the civilization of the world for the first part of the BV year. 

The Ramayana is one of the greatest epics of Hindus written by the sage Valmiki. The underlying messages conveyed are the values and ideals, particularly in relation to duty, morality and social responsibility.  This epic is a great pillar of Dharma, which supports our experience of our own humanity.  It is "victory of dharma (good) over adharma (evil)". It teaches us how to live a dharmic life, which finally leads to liberation. 

The second book  "Key to success" is an odyssey of mind that uses the analogy of Chariot. Sri Rama used it to enlighten Vibhishana about inner preparation for the battle.

 

This year the students will learn to chant chapter 4 of Bhagavad Geeta for the Geeta chanting competition in April, and they will give a "mini" stage performance In April on stage at the ashram.  iIn the month of  May, the class will perform an Annadanam at the soup kitchen, as a service assignment.  A very full year, indeed!

Adding additional dimensions to the learning, we will include many in person and online games, discussions, videos, enactments and other creative activities to reinforce each week's theme.  We hope to enhance our classroom learning even further with a field trip as well, if time permits. We encourage each student to participate fully and actively in all activities.  Again, for the children to get the full benefits of this program, we encourage them to participate actively, and to strive to attend all the sessions for the year.  Every year students with perfect attendance will receive a Special Recognition Award at the annual graduation ceremony.

As an added bonus, we have a blog for the seventh grade  written by teachers itself.  We encourage you to check it out frequently for class information and updates.  The blog can be found at:

https://cmnjparentportal23-24.blogspot.com/

Please note that we would like each child to bring a Balavihar folder, a "My Prayers" book, pencil/pen,  and a "Fat Little Book" (or a composition book) for Likhita Japa, in his/her Balavihar bag. 

Looking forward to a great Balavihar year with our students!

Balavihar Class on  9/17/2023

 

Our class opened up with Pranayama- breathing exercises, the chanting of OM 3 times, and daily prayers including: Sahanaavavatu, Vakarathunda, Karaagre vasate Lakshmi, Saraswati namastubhyam, Gurubrahma, Brahmaarpanam, Shubhamkaroti, Kara-charana. ( My prayers, green book pages 11, 12)

 

Then the class was taught bhajan " Prema mudita mana se kaho"   ( My prayers green book 144)

Next we stood up and stretched for a few minutes. 

 

Later, we moved on to explore the authenticity of the Ramayana.  The class watched this very interesting 7 minute video clip of Ramayana being Itihasa (history) rather than Mythology. 

 

The video explained that several of the key events of the Ramayana are properly dated in relation to each other using the cosmic alignments given within it. It also spoke about how several other cultures used variations of Rama's name and described heroes similar to him. 

Students were given a brief introduction and were advised to buy the Ramayana by Rajagopalachari from Amazon.  It's a great book and we encouraged them to read a few chapters before coming to the class. We also told our students that they can also borrow from the senior students as well! 

 

We quickly recollected the Ratnakara story, who later became sage Valmiki through Narada, and narrated how he was moved by the Krauncha birds episode, Valmeeki's curse of the hunter then the sorrow (soka) leading to the verse (sloka) and the composition of Ramayana. 

Before we started Rama's story, we had a brainstorming session with our students: who is a hero for them or how do they define a hero?

The class came up with interesting answers, along with the fictional characters as superheroes examples, including Superman, Spider-Man, Batman, and Captain America, historical legends such as Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King to Lebron James, Malaela, Kate Davis and more.   They were told to think about Sages & Swamiji's who work for the welfare of the society giving up their worldly pleasures, and also their parents who can be  considered to be heroes at times as they do countless things and make sacrifices to raise them.

Then we brought their attention to explore Rama, a historical figure and an epic hero and his journey captured in the great epic Ramayana. We consider Rama a great hero, who lived his whole life by the rules of dharma. The story of RAMA is the story of an ideal son, an ideal brother, an ideal husband, an ideal friend and an ideal king. He is known to be kind, affectionate, empathetic, noble, generous, fearless, simple and free from flamboyance. Sri RAMA is widely known and revered by Hindus as "Maryada Purushottama " 

Many of our students either did not know Rama's story or forgot, so we started narrating it with Rama's birth.

Ayodhya, which means that which cannot be conquered, was the capital city of Kosala, situated beside the Sarayu river,was a beautiful well planned city with forts and was ruled by a great king Dasharatha of the solar dynasty. His three wives- Kausalya, Sumitra, and Kaikeyi, dearly loved, had no sons to inherit his throne so was in deep sorrow, consulted his guru Vasishta, on his advice performed Pushtta Kaameshetti yaaga, led by Rishyashringa.

At the same time Devas held a conference in the Swargaloka or the heaven as rakshasa Ravana was growing more powerful, employing devas as per his wishes became a threat to Devas and mankind as well. Lord Brahma and Devas went to Vaikunta to see lord Vishnu and appealed to him about rakshasa Ravana, and the boon he had obtained from Brahma and the omission as well. Lord Vishnu assured them he would be born to Dasharatha as his son Rama and will slay rakshasa Ravana. 

At the end of the Dashratha's yaaga, the god of fire, Agni deva emerged holding a golden bowl in his hand, which had payasam and the king's wives were asked to drink the special payasam in the bowl. The king was happy, asked his eldest queen Kausalya to drink half of the payasam, gave half to Sumitra and a part was left to Kaikeyi, and he asked Sumitra to drink the remaining in the golden bowl. So Sumitra got two parts of payasam. Soon four sons were born to Dasharatha. Kausalya gave birth to Rama, who was the incarnation of Vishnu, Bharata was born to Kaikeyi, Sumitra became the mother of the twins Lakshmana and Shatrughna (as had partaken the divine payasam two times). King Dasharatha loved all his four sons, but Rama was the apple of his eye. 

We ended Rama's story here, as the students were eagerly waiting to play a 4 corners game as announced, with important names - Dasaratha, his wives and children, that they needed to remember. They had a ball with it. 

As we will be learning chapter 4 of Bhagavad Gita this year, we watched a video on Sanskrit Chanting Primer and repeated the sounds along.. This is to familiarize kids with transliteration of characters in Sanskrit.

 

We had an interesting class today.  As always, we concluded with Aarti and Pledge in the assembly. 

Stay tuned until next!

Pranaams, 

Devender & Vyjayanti