Hari Om!
Here is a brief summary of the class activities from Week 8
1. Beginning Prayers:
- We learnt the fifth verse of Ganesha Pancharatnam and the children are doing well, following the words and singing along. If you still need the audio, let us know.
2. Mahabharata:
- We continued with the story of the Pandavas, now completing their training under Drona. Drona decided to test them by pretending to be caught by a crocodile as they were all going along a river. Only Arjuna fought as well as he could with the crocodile to free Drona. Satisfied with his worth, Drona gave Arjuna the Brahmastra (this led to some discussions about nuclear weapons and the idea- "with great power comes great responsibility!).
- As Gurudakshina, Drona requested that the princes avenge his insult at the hands of Drupada. They went immediately and defeated Drupada in war, giving Drona half the kingdom. Drona thus avenged was satisfied, but Drupada decided then and there that he would beget a son who would defeat Drona in war. He performed a yagna and out of that fire came Drishtadyumna, a strong warrior son and Draupadi, the most beautiful woman of her times.
- Meanwhile, in Hastinapura, Duryodhana, Karna and Shakuni were plotting on how to get rid of the Pandavas. They had very cleverly spread far and wide in the kingdom news of a famous festival for Shiva in the town of Varanavrata. They also had a house built of wax in that town. They then asked Dhritarashtra to let the Pandavas visit the town for the famous festival. The Pandavas happily agreed, but on their way out of Dhritarashtra's court, Vidura said something cryptic about moles and how they survive digging underground. Yudhistra caught that and gave it a lot of thought. When they reached the palace in Varanavarata, the Pandavas and Kunti could immediately smell something in the palace that made them doubt the safety of the palace. Yudhistra realized that this was what Vidura's warning was about. Soon, an expert in tunneling, sent by Vidura came to help them. He started work unknown to anyone digging a tunnel for the Pandavas to safely leave the house. They went about during the day, seeming carefree. One day, a poor woman with her five sons came looking for alms. Realizing this was a great opportunity, the Pandavas and Kunti offered them food and rooms in the palace to stay the night. As the visitors fell asleep, they set fire to the palace and escaped through the tunnels to a safe place chosen by Vidura. Everyone who saw the palace burning, found the skeletons of the poor woman and her five sons and thought it was the Pandavas and Kunti who had died in the fire.
3. Bhagavad Geeta Chanting:
- We continued with Geeta chanting this week, working on verses 5 and 6. We recorded the class chanting verses 1-4, and sent it to the Houses team. The class earned full score of 30 points for Arjuna's Arrows!
Here is the youtube playlist for the children to listen to Swamiji chant and practice at home -
There is also coaching for those interested,on (before thesFriday session) and Saturday. Here is the link to register: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScwvWASOVvVJLOe4rc6LClWV4Mn9jRVkOxCb4eVaDu_vX_Eaw/viewform
4. Reminders:
- Please make sure the children are in class by 9:15am
- No class Dec 1st.
- Registrations for Art contest, Shlokathon and Likhita Japa submissions are now open.
Regards,
Rekha G Pai
Abhirami Shrinivas
