Oct 27, 2019 - Grade 9 (Sunday PM)

Oct 27, 2019 - Grade 9 (Sunday PM)

Following is the summary of Balaviha session Oct 27, 2019 - Grade 9 (Sunday PM)

We continued talking about Hindu culture from where we left off last week. There were only 3 students present. There was some discussion in class about why we are having the class. Teacher explained that in the spirit of what Gurudev professed, the class must go on even if there is one person attending. 

We also talked about why we are attending the class and what we wish to gain from this. Hindu culture is the oldest living culture in the world. We are discovering that the answers to many contemporary problems in the ancient hindu books or practices. The once "only Indian" practices like Yoga, Pranayam & Ayurveda are rapidly gaining global acceptance. Bhagwad Gita has been rediscovered by Gurudev as a knowledge bank to solve all the problems we face. We have inherited part of this culture. Why, then, can we not spend a couple of hours to understand as much as possible? Why, then, can we not accept and appreciate this inheritance humbly? 

The hindu scriptures are broadly classified into Sruti and Smriti. 

Sruti comes from root "sru" that means "to hear". Thus, Sruti is the revealed knowledge. Rsis, received this knowledge, because they had the subtle ability to "hear" this. Vedas are thus the collective knowledge gained by many such accomplished rsis. Vedas can be classified into four parts - Rg, Yajur, Sama & Atharva. Vedas are derived from the Sanskrit root "vid" - "to know". Vedas can also be classified the Samhitas (hymns), the Brahmanas (rituals), the Aranyakas (theologies) and the Upanishads (philosophies). Upanishads are the essential philosophies that demonstrate the truth in multiple different ways. 

Smriti means "to remember". There are 18 Smritis and one of the popular ones is Manu Smriti. Smritis are knowledge that is modified according to the time, need, circumstances and people. So, there may be limited relevance of one Smriti in another time and cultural setting. 

Ithihasas means "thus it was". So, it is something that has been reported to us by others. Two great and well known Ithihasas are "The Ramayana" and "The Mahabharata". 

Purana means ancient, timeless, eternal. There are 18 puranas and 46 Up-purarans. Bhagwatam is one of the popular puranas. 

Sad Darsanaas and Sadangas are six philosophies and six limbs respectively. The include various different forms of philosophies. Sadangas include knowledge of the worldly science. 

Upavedas have information about all aspects of human life eg Ayurveda (life sciences), Dhanurveda (warfare), Gandharva Veda (Art & Music) & Sthapatya (Architecture). 

We talked about the story of 2 wolves. A grandpa was explaining to his grandson about a fight between two wolves going on inside him. One wolf represents anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other one represented joy, peace, love, hope, generosity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, truth, compassion and faith. The question then is which one wins.
Grandpa answered "The one I fed.".
We have various tendencies and we have a choice to feed the one that helps purify our mind and strengthen our positive tendencies. Karma Kanda from Vedas helps us in this. 

We started Geeta Chanting in class this week onwards. This year we will covering Chapter I of Bhagwad Geeta. 

For Nov 3 Class:
1. Its picture day at Bala Vihar - Please come in traditional Indian Attire. 

2. We are going to cover "Do your Duties" and about Karma. 

Hari Om
CMTC - Vridavan Sevika and Sevak