Dear Parents,
Harih Om! The following material was taught to your children on Sunday, September 29th.
Required Reading: Chapters 1 through 5 of Mahabharatha by C. Rajagopalachari.
Beginning of Class: Chanting Om three times and beginning Prayers
Part I: Symbolism
Symbolism of Lakshmi Devi: After getting rid of our tamasic qualities, the mind needs to work on developing ethical and cultural values. Goddess Lakshmi is referred to as "Suvarnahasta" (one whose hands shower gold). Here the reference is not to material wealth but to the six wealth of virtues. They are:
Sama: calmness of mind
Dama: self control
Uparati: self withdrawal
Titiksha: forebearance
Sraddha: faith in scriptures and our Guru
Samaadhana: single pointedness in seeking our goal
Goddess Lakshmi is shown seated on a lotus: we should learn to be unaffected by external events and pursue the goal of self realization.
Symbolism of Goddess Saraswati: Goddess Saraswati is shown seated on a rock. Only through right living and knowledge can a person be steady as a rock. She is shown with four hands holding:
A Japa Mala: meditation/concentration
A Book: a calm mind is capable of learning
The Veena: She is the deity of arts, crafts, technology
She is shown wearing a white saree which represents purity and the Swan or Peacock represents the beauty within which shines when one has gained knowledge about the Self.
Part II: Mahabharatha
Origin of Mahabharatha: Veda Vyasa is the author of the Mahabhaarata and he chose Lord Ganesha to be his scribe.
It is said that reading and comprehending the Mahaabharata will lead our soul towards enlightenment and hence the epic is often referred to as Jaya. The Mahabhaarata describes various social, economic and political situations and it is believed if any of these are not mentioned/referred to in this book, then the situation does not exist in the world.
The Mahabharata begins with King Shantanu smitten by River Ganga. She agrees to marry him under the condition that he would never question her actions. The King is so enamored by her beauty and grace that he agrees to her proposition without a second thought.
While Ganga was an ideal wife in every aspect, every time she had a baby she would calmly throw the baby into the river. The King would remain silent each time she did this because he was scared of losing her. However, when the eighth son was born and she was ready to throw the baby into the river, the King could no longer control himself and asks his wife to stop. At this, Ganga tells the King that she would leave with the baby as he had violated their agreement. She explains that the seven babies she had drowned earlier were Vasus (celestial beings) who had been cursed by Sage Vashishtha for stealing his cow. The Vasus had begged Ganga to be their mother and end their lives quickly so that they could return to heaven. However, the eighth child born (named Devavrata) was the actual instigator of the "crime" and as punishment he would spend his entire life on earth as rigorous punishment. She promised she would care for the boy and train him in archery and would him back to Shantanu when he was older. After a few years,Ganga hands over Devavrata to his father. The king is overjoyed and returns to Hastinapura and crowns his son the Yuvaraja (i.e. the heir to the throne).
With every episode of the Mahabharata, we will be discussing the cause and effect of an action.
The cause in this episode was the King was enamored by Ganga's beauty and agreed to never question her actions during their married life.
The effect is that the King was finally forced to question his wife's actions due to which he lost her.
The Lessons we learnt are never to agree to anyone's conditions without thinking through first. Secondly, one should not be enamored by external beauty! Never judge a book by its cover!
CORD Walkathon is coming up on Sunday, October 13th, 2019 at Mercer County Park. Please encourage your children to register and raise money to empower women in Rural India. Please register your entire family!
Thank you!
Devender Akula
And
Mekhala Girish
