Hari Om parents!
Following is the update from last class:
After opening prayers, we kicked off the class revising what we learnt about Chalisa what Hanuman Chalisa in the last class. We then delved right into learning the meaning and significance of the first two Dohas and also the first Caupai of the Chalisa. In the first two dohas, Sri Tulasidas ji offers his prayers to the lotus feet of his Guru and also Sri hanuman ji to purify his heart , mind and bless him with Strength, wisdom and discriminating knowledge. With this, he feels ready to describe the unblemished glory of the Sri Hanuman, 'The Untained' and 'The Bestower'.
· In the first doha, Tulasidas ji refers to Sri Hanuman as Raghubara ( who is part of Raghu Dynasty). This is demonstrate the love of Lord Rama and matha Sita towards Hanumanji and how they referred him as 'Suta'( My son) in recognition to the fact that he was the greatest devotee of Sri Rama.· We brainstormed the importance of Guru and why Sri Tulasidas ji started his work by offering his prayers to his Guru. We helped Kids understand that their parents are their first gurus teaching the basics of life and how we should pay our respect s to them.· Similarly, we also discussed the importance of praying and how it helps connect our mind with a higher force resulting in attaining a more glorious, powerful and visionary person.· In the second Doha, saint Tulasidas ji calls Hanumanji as Pavanaputra, the son of the Wind God. The main virtue of wind god is to flow continuously and servers us all 24 hours, 7 days and 365 days but Invisibly. Without it, all life would be dead in the matter of minutes. Since we cannot see it, we often take it for granted and do not give the credit it deserves.· Hanumanji inherited this virtue of serving all invisibly from his father. He served lord Rama to the fullest, invisibly – meaning, he performs all his duties without any pride, arrogance and ego. His only ambition is to serve the lord with humility and devotion.· Explaining the above, we encouraged children to learn and develop this virtue of Hanumanji and strive to serve others without expecting any praise or reward/recognition.· We brainstormed some things Kids can start doing at home and school to fulfill one's duties silently (cleaning spills, organizing book and other stuff, cleaning their rooms, picking up trash etc. )· We then recited the first Caupai and explained the meaning of it. Tulasidas ji refers to Hanumanji as Guna Sagara ( Ocean of virtues) and Kapisa ( Lord of monkeys). We explained to the kids why he was referred to as lord although he was not the king. Lordship is an uncrowned king who is worshipped and adored by all.· We wrapped up the discussion by going over the story of how Hanumanji got his name ( Hanu means 'Chin'). We went over the story of Sri Hanumanji as a child swallowing the Sun thinking it was a fruit.We chanted the first 8 chaupais multiple times and some of the kids memorized few of them. Please work with your kids in memorizing the chaupais. They are very easy and Kids can memorize in no time with little help.Before we wrapped up the class, We learnt the 9th and 10th verses of the 1st chapter of Bhagavad Gita through Swamiji's telecast. After closing prayers, the class headed to the Aarthi.Thanks and warm regards!
