Hari Om parents!
In this class, We moved to the next section of this year's curriculum – 'Hanuman Chalisa'. While we started reciting chalisa at the beginning of the year and kids are memorizing it, this class marks the beginning of the Chalisa section of the syllabus where we go into each of the verses and explain the meaning of it with examples and stories.
After opening prayers, we did the Rama nama japa and recited our Dhyana Shloka.. Budhirbalam Yasodhiryam. I am very glad that most of the kids in the class memorized the Dhyana Shloka and understands the meaning of all the virtues mentioned in the shlokam.
We started Hanuman Chalisa with an activity that will help refresh the story of Ramayana in their minds. Everyone very enthusiastically shared what they know in the story of Ramayana.
We reviewed the meaning, author and the benefits of reciting this very popular prayer
· Sri Goswamy Tulasidas, who is also the author of 'Tulasi Ramayana' has composed Hanuman Chalisa. It is said that his singing in praise of Hanuman helped him recover from illness that he had for a long time.
· Chalisa means forty. The Hanuman Chalisa for forty Caupais ( verses) and is written in Avadhi Language, a dialect of Hindi spoken in Ayodhya.
· This prayer is sung by millions of hindus all over the world with great love and devotion
· Singing Hanuman Chalisa makes us fearless and purifies our mind.
· The importance of pure speech was explained through a story of 'A Man and an Ox '. The story demonstrates how the Ox behavior changes based on his master's way of talking and treating him. The man at the end realizes the benefit of pure and sweet speech. Purse speech reflects pure mind. You may ask the kids to narrate the story to refresh their memory.
We learnt the verses 7 and 8 from the 1st chapter of Bhagavad Gita from Swamiji. In the next few classes, we will focus on memorizing these verses of the chapter. We wrapped up the class with closing prayers.
Thanks,
Mythili and Madhuri
