Hari Om!
Here is a brief summary of the class activities from Week 6, Nov 3rd, 2019:
1. Beginning Prayers:
- We learnt the fourth verse of Ganesha Pancharatnam and the children are doing a good job of following the words and singing along. If you still need the audio, let us know.
2. Picture Day!
- It was a well-organized picture taking session, please look out for the class pictures in Surabhi magazine.
3. Mahabharata:
- We spent some time discussing the relevance of Bhagavad Gita and Mahabharata to the present day. The children had very insightful answers - that people had not really changed since days of the Mahabharata - we still find it hard to challenge our friends and family, very much like Arjuna in the Gita; we see qualities of Ego, Jealousy, Greed, Courage, Commitment, Sense of Duty, Friendship in us and people around us.
- We continued with the story of Drona, how he and Drupada were best friends in Gurukula. Drupada, as a young prince in the ashram, had in all the innocence of youth, promised to share half his kingdom with Drona. As time passed and they went their separate ways, Drona found himself very poor, unable to afford milk for his son, Ashvatthama. Remembering Drupada's promise, he went to see his old friend, who was now the king of Panchala. Drupada, far from remembering his promise, insulted Drona for even considering that the King would part with his kingdom. Utterly shamed, Drona swore that he would avenge this insult. In time, he became the guru to the princes of Hastinapura. Of all the Kuru princes, Arjuna who was extrememly dedicated and hardworking, soon became Drona's favorite. He promised Arjuna that he would make him the best warrior, second to none. One day, as they were out hunting, Arjuna chased after a wild boar. His arrows hit the boar and at the exact same time, another arrow hit the boar expertly. Shocked at the level of skill of this unknown warrior, Arjuna wanted to find out who this was and how he came to be so adept at archery. He accused Drona of taking on other students and teaching them specially. Drona went to find this hunter and found out that it was a Nishada named Ekalavya. He was not born in the warrior caste (kshatriya), and could never formally join a gurukula to learn warfare. However, he really wanted to learn and decided that he would mentally dedicate himself as a student to Drona. Praying to a small image of Drona, he learnt archery. Impressed though he was, Drona could not let someone be a better archer than Arjuna and also, let a non-kshatriya learn the art of warfare. He blessed Ekalavya and asked for his right thumb as gurudakshina. Ekalavya cheerfully complied.
As time went on, Drona decided to hold a contest to show off the skills of the princes. All of Hastinapura showed up to cheer the princes at their masterful display of skills. Everyone was being dazzled by Arjuna's skills as an archer, when a young man, surrounded by the soft and glowing halo of the Sun, showed up and challenged Arjuna. Seeing him and hearing his challenge, Kunti, who was watching all this from the royal stands, fainted. Even though everyone was impressed seeing this young man, the rules of the day had to be obeyed. Only a warrior could challenge another warrior. As Drona was inquiring into the young man's lineage, his father, a charioteer, came calling out - "Radheya!". As Drona said that a warrior cannot be challenged by the charioteer's son, Duryodhana, seeing in Radheya a perfect foil for Arjuna, immediately rushed to his side and declared him the king of Anga, earning his eternal loyalty and friendship.
As we can infer, this Radheya was none other than Karna, the eldest son of Kunti, who she cast away in the river, as he was born before she was married.
4. Bhagavad Geeta Chanting:
- We continued with Geeta chanting this week, working on verses 3 and 4. Here is the youtube playlist for the children to listen to Swamiji chant and practice at home - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgiT0MDPnYU&list=PLVaQ1AsTFVEK4MvW4zOX3dd7ct-7nFwWC
There is also coaching for those interested, starting Nov 22 (Friday session) and Nov 16th (Saturday session). Here is the link to register: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScwvWASOVvVJLOe4rc6LClWV4Mn9jRVkOxCb4eVaDu_vX_Eaw/viewform
5. Reminders:
- Please make sure the children are in class by 9:15am
- No class Nov.10th
- Chinmaya Surabhi - Nov.15
Regards,
Rekha G Pai
Abhirami Shrinivas
