Hari Om! Parents,
The class began with deep breathing and Om chanting,followed by "Sahanaa Vavatu" and three Sri Rama shlokas. The class chanted all seven of the daily prayers (My Prayers Book pg.11). Next we chanted the first three and last verse of the Guru Stotram (Balavihar Handbook). We practiced verses 1-16 of Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1. Here is the link for your reference: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVaQ1AsTFVEK4MvW4zOX3dd7ct-7nFwWC. We want to encourage all the first graders to register and participate in the Geeta Chanting Yagna at: chinmayavrindavan.org/Geeta-chanting/
Moving on from Kishkindha Kanda, we are now in the Sundara Kanda of the Ramayana story. The brave Hanuman has overcame great obstacles in his flight across the ocean. His great strength and quick thinking brought him safely to the golden shores of Lanka. Here Hanuman pauses to survey the island and marvels at the efficiently planned city. Hanuman knows that crossing the ocean is only the first step. He must be careful not to make any mistakes or be careless. First he needed to determine that Sita was alive. Hanuman waited for nightfall and shrunk to the size of a little monkey. He began prowling around the city wall and was immediately stopped by a fierce rakshasi. He dealt a blow to her jaw and the rakshasi fell. She remembered the prophesy that when a monkey's blow would make her fall, the end of rakshasa race would not be far. She let Hanuman enter the city. As Hanuman searched through palaces, he saw may beautiful ladies dressed in fine clothes and jewelry. He even entered Ravana's grand bedchamber and saw many queens there. However, he knew that none of them could be Sita. Next he came to a beautiful garden with flower, fruit and ashoka trees. He saw a number of rakshasis guarding a lovely lady sitting under one of the trees. She wore simple clothes, was weeping and repeating the name "Rama". He had no difficulty in guessing that it was Sita. Just then, King Ravana approached Sita. He offered all the wealth and pleasures of the world to make her his queen. Sita put on a bold face and refused Ravana's offer. She then gives Ravana some advice. She tells him that it is still not too late to mend his ways and return her to Lord Rama. She also tells Ravana that if he repents for his mistake and apologizes,the benevolent Lord Rama will forgive Ravana. Furious Ravana gives her a warning that at the end of two months he would kill her if she did not change her mind and storms away. We discussed how Ravana's pride prevented him from realising his wrong behavior. The children wanted to know Ravana's story, which took us to the story of the curse of Jaya and Vijaya by the Sanat Kumaras. The two had to take three births on earth and got liberation from the curse in the hands of Bhagawan Vishnu's avataras. Ravana and Kumbhakarna were one of the times and Bhagawan was in Lord Rama avatara.
All this time, Hanuman was hiding on the tree above and decides he must deliver Lord Rama's message to Sita. So as to not frighten Sita, he begins narrating the story of Lord Rama in a sweet voice. The delighted Sita looks up to see a little monkey in the tree and asks who he was. As soon as Hanuman introduced himself, Sita is filled with doubt that it could be Ravana in disguise. Hanuman quickly presents her with Lord Rama's signet ring and shows her his true form. He asks her to sit on his shoulder, so he could take her immediately back to Lord Rama. Sita says that since it is the question of her honour, Lord Rama must vanquish Ravana and rescue Sita. She then gives Hanuman her wedding jewel as a token to Lord Rama and blesses him. Hanuman promises to bring back Lord Rama and Lakshmana soon and Sita is filled with renewed hope. We paused the story and the children did their coloring activity. The coloring book also has likhita japa pages your child can do anytime. The japa is a simple "Sri Ramajayam" and is a good habit for the young ones to cultivate.
On the ocassion of Shivaratri festival the children learnt "Shivaya Parameshwaraya" bhajan and chanted "Om Namah Shivaya". We talked about how Lord Rama prayed to Lord Shiva. The children enjoyed listening to the story of how Ravana got the "Atma Linga", only to be tricked by Lord Ganesha. Class dismissed early to watch the Grade 5 performance.
Jai Sri Ram!
- Rashmi and Uma
