Hari Om! Parents,
Wishing all Grade 1 families a happy new year!
Our class began with deep breathing and Om chanting, followed by opening prayers and three Sri Rama shlokas. Next the class chanted all the daily prayers (My Prayers Book pg.11). We chanted the Guru Stotram and asked Pujya Gurudev to bless us for the new year. We continued learning two verses from Chapter 1 of the Bhagavad Gita from our Swamiji. This is the link for your reference: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVaQ1AsTFVEK4MvW4zOX3dd7ct-7nFwWC. We encourage all Grade 1 children to register and participate in the Gita Chanting competition. Details are in the Balavihar Handbook. The children made a new year resolution to practice all the shlokas and the Gita verses regularly. They also shared their other goals for the new year with the class.
Story time started with a recap of the Aranya Kanda of Ramayana. It is a sad day at Panchavati when Lord Rama and Lakshmana return to the ashram and Sita is missing. Lord Rama breaks down into tears, but as he realizes the trick played on him, the sorrow turns to anger. He picks up his weapons and swears to destroy everything. Lakshmana calms him down, reminding him that it is not fair to punish everyone for one person's mistake. The brothers decide to look for the evil rakshasa responsible and to rescue Sita. They follow footprints, broken parts of a chariot and come upon the injured Jataayu. The bird is fast approaching death, but tells Lord Rama all that had occurred. He tells Lord Rama that Ravana took Sita towards the south. Jataayu asks forgiveness for not being able to help Sita. Lord Rama pacifies the eagle king, who breathes his last. Lord Rama and Lakshmana resume their search southward for Sita. As they passed through the forest, they are suddenly seized by a creature. It had no legs or head, only a mouth with sharp teeth in the stomach and one red eye. It had two arms to capture prey. This was the monster, Kabandha, who was cursed for frightening a rishi to remain in a grotesque form. In a second, both brothers drew their swords and chopped the arms away. Kabandha was liberated from his curse and advised the brothers to go to the vaanara King Sugreeva. They would find Sugreeva and his army on Rishyamukha Hill near the river Pampa and he could help find Sita. We paused the Ramayana story here. The children paired up and played the "Grab it All" game. We spoke about how, like Kabandha, we grab things for our enjoyment and become selfish. By dropping the grabbing hands of desire, we can realize the divine Bhagawan. The children colored two pages from the coloring book and sang "Kathe bhi Rama kaho" bhajan. Class was then dismissed for aarthi and pledge.
Jai Sri Ram!
- Rashmi and Uma
