Hari Om Parents,
The following is what we did during Sunday's class.
Shlokas:
1. "Om Saha navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book)
2. "Vakrathunda Mahakaya" (page 27 in My Prayers book)
3. "Karegre vasate" (page 11 in My prayers book)
4. "Akanda-mandalakaram" (page 61 in My Prayers book)
5. "Ajnana-timirandhasya" (page 61 in My Prayers book)
6. "Gururbrahma" (page 61 in My Prayers book)
7. "Thvameva Maathacha" (page 62 in My Prayers book)
8. "Samudra vasane devi" (page 11 in My Prayers book)
9. "Saraswathi namasthubyam" (page 12 in My Prayers book)
10. "Subham karothi kalyanam" (page 12 in My Prayers book)
11. "Karacharana krithamva" (page 12 in My Prayers book)
12. "Bhramaarpanam bhrama havih" (page12 in My Prayers book)
13. "Srirama Rama Ramethi" (page 129 in My Prayers book)
14. "Manojavam Maaruta" (page 152 in My Prayers book)
Activities:
- Please continue to practice Geeta Chanting slokas with your kids. They have been introduced to slokas 1-16 in Chapter 1 & that will be their requirement for the Geeta Chanting Competition. Please refer to the following website gitachanting.net for the right pronunciation. Most kids have familiarized themselves with the first 3 slokas! Please record videos & send your individual child chanting the shlokas to the Geeta Chanting Team cnjbalaviharhouses@gmail.com to earn house points.
- We have introduced most of the Dainikaprarthanah (means Daily Prayers) & 4 slokas from the Gurustoram. Please have the kids make it a habit to chant the above shlokas every morning, (lighting the lamps / evening) after their bath/shower. This will help them learn, memorize as well as develop a lifelong habit of morning prayer & daily prayer.
- We did some coloring towards the end of class. If you have some extra time at home, please have the kids complete their coloring pages in their Bala Ramayana coloring books. Some kids have missed a class or 2, we have had a few abbreviated sessions due to other activities and were unable to fit the coloring activity in. Please stop on Lesson 29. Please reiterate that the kids are recalling the story as they are coloring.
- Bhajan : We introduced a new Rama bhajan this week. It is on page 141 in the My Prayers book.
After a brief quiz like recap of our story so far, the enthusiastic students were eager to find out what Hanuman had on his mind! Our setting this week began in Lanka, with Hanuman sitting on the wall of the Ashokavana, contemplating his next move. He wanted to make sure that Sita had faith in his abilities. He decided to invite a battle! He grew from the size of the tiny monkey into a huge vanara. As Hanuman grew and stretched he let out a majestic roar that rocked Lanka and even shook the heavens. The lazy rakshasis woke up trembling. Hanuman immediately begins to create havoc. He uproots trees, stomps through fountains, eats the fruits and destroys the Ashokavana. No harm comes to Sita and the ashoka tree that she sat under, making the rakshasis curious about this strange vanara. They hence question her. Sita denies knowing Hanuman and emphasizes that she can't trust anyone as she has been tricked by Ravana's maya before. The terrified rakshasis run to Ravana to report the disaster.
Hanuman sat on the garden's gate and grinned at the mess he had successfully created. At the same time Ravana is furious. He immediately sends a huge rakshasa army demanding that Hanuman be captured and brought in front of him dead or alive. Hanuman grew in size and took them out in a single blow. Then Ravana sends his fiercest rakshasa Jambumaali to face this challenge. Hanuman is enraged when he gets bombarded by arrows from Jambumaali. He leaps on top of a temple, yanks a pillar off of it and hurles it with immense force, smashing his chariot and crushing that rakshasa. He roars out, 'Long live Rama, Lakshmana and Sugriva!". This news reached Ravana and he was beyond furious. He then sends his bold son Aksha. Hanuman sees a young rakshasa prince, he sort of feels sorry for the kid and starts small by just tossing some trees and boulders at him. But the prince was fierce and shot continuous arrows at Hanuman. Then he had to put an end to it and he too ended up lifeless.
The news of Aksha's death saddened and enraged Ravana. Indrajit was Ravana's next line of action. He had beaten Indra in battle and he owned the Bramasthra, Ravana thought that a monkey would be no match to his son. Indrajit took his father's blessings and rode his father's chariot off to defeat Hanuman. This duel attracted the whole of Lanka. The duo were equally matched. Hanuman grew and was glowing brighter than the sun. Indrajit shot one devine arrow after the other and Hanuman was able to answer each arrow with humongous blows. Finally Indrajit decides to use his Brahmastra. Maruti is bound and helpless as the Brahamastra did the job. But he knew that the astra's power would only last for one muhurta. The rakshasas were thrilled to see the monkey bound and motionless. They cheered and wanted to yank him apart and devour him. One of them yelled out that they should probably tie him up tight before they did so. They found jute ropes and tied him up. Unfortunately that took away the power of the astra! Both Indrajit and Hanuman knew that. But Hanuman being the intelligent vanara, wanted to take this opportunity to come face to face with Ravana and serve the duty of being Rama's messenger, so pretended to still be bound by the astra.
Hanuman is dragged into Ravana's court as all the rakshasas are ridiculing him and throwing sticks and stones at him. Hanuman observes the majestic grandeur of his surroundings. Ravana was awestruck seeing this vanara, he was unable to make sense of how this single monkey was able to create this much havoc and was able to take down so many of his brave warriors single handedly! As Ravana is making his own observations, Hanuman too is making his own. He can't understand how all of Ravana's supernatural achievements have gone to his head and has ultimately turned him senseless and wicked! Ravana immediately demands to know who Maruti is and the reason behind the mayhem. The tone of his voice sends shivers down everyone's spine, but Hanuman is unaffected and responds with his chest pumped out. He says that he is Rama's messenger and the Chief Minister of the vanara king Sugriva. The purpose of his visit was to request the return of Sita, as it was an unjust act. He also mentioned that there would be forgiveness involved even at this point. But if the request was denied, he would face a deadly consequence of dealing with Sugriva's army and Lord Rama Himself! On hearing what Hanuman had to say, Ravana was beyond furious. He demanded that the vanara be killed immediately!
Ravana had his younger brother, Vibhishana in his court. He was a good and wise man. He advised his brother that it was against the court's law to kill a messenger. But, he was allowed to punish him for his behavior. Ravana reluctantly agreed. He stated that a monkey's pride is his tail and he ordered it to be tied up in rags, dipped in oil and set on fire. He wanted Hanuman to be paraded in the streets of Lanka, to show everyone what kind of punishment they could receive for such behavior. Hanuman increased the size and length of his tail every time some rags were tied on to it. Finally after his tail was immensely long, he stopped growing and the rakshasas dipped it in oil and set it on fire. He was paraded throughout Lanka for everyone to see. He was still bound and he kept observing strategic points as he walked and heard all the insults. As they passed the Ashokavana, the rakshasis updated Sita on the happenings. She prayed to Agni, asking to keep Maruti safe and cool. Lord Rama was the only thought on her mind. Hanuman was unaffected by the fire, he continued to think of his Lord and him being the messenger, even the elements couldn't harm him!
At this point, we decided to tell the class the story of when Hanuman was a baby and from inside the cave, he flew towards the Sun, thinking that it was a yummy fruit. Indra saw that the baby was in danger and threw his thunderbolt at Maruti and knocked him out of the sky, breaking his jaw. This was how he got his name. ("Hanu"-jaw, "Hanuman" - big jaw). When Vayu saw what had happened to his baby, he sucked all the air out of the earth and Heavens. He was furious with the world. Then one by one each God granted Hanuman boons to save the life on earth and those of the Devas as well. With all of the boons that Hanuman received, he was deemed deathless and would live on for eternity.
Hanuman had enough of parading, so he decided to shrink into a tiny monkey, got out of the ropes that he was tied up with and then grew back into a huge fierce vanara. He jumped on to the nearest roof top, setting it ablaze. Then he jumped from building to palace to temple to another house, setting everything on fire. Before he knew it, Lanka was burning! Every time he jumped, he yelled out, "Jai Sri Rama! Jai Lakshmana". Maruti made his way to the top of the Trikuta mountain. He dropped his tail into the ocean and put the fire out. He surveyed all the damage from the mountain top and questioned his own actions. He wasn't sure if Sita too may have been hurt in the fire and felt sad. He decided to go and check for himself. As he approached the Ashokavana, he could see that Sita and the tree that she was sitting under was untouched by the fire and it looked like she was protected by a force field. He told Sita that he had taught the rakshasas a lesson and that he'd be back soon with Lord Rama and Surgiva's army. Mother Sita blessed Hanuman.
Hanuman decided to use Mount Arista as his springboard to make his leap and flight back to India. He flew past Mainika waving at her and saying that he has no time to rest. He roared triumphantly as he approached the Mahendra hill. All the vanaras were eagerly awaiting his arrival and immediately embraced him. Maruti's eyes spoke of his victory! The army instantly began contemplating whether they should take the army to Lanka or to go to Kishkindha to report their findings.They decided that it would be better to give Lord Rama an update they plan their next move. We paused our story here.
Please go to the link below to check out the pictures from this week's class
Each week's update is maintained on Google docs, if for any reason you are unable to attend class on a certain Sunday, you are requested to check for weekly updates so that your child does not miss out. Below is the link
We require at least 1 parent inside the ashram during the full duration of the class. You are free to choose an Adult Study Group or sign up to Volunteer or Meditate/Read in the Temple.
Required books for Grade 1
My Prayers Book
Bala Ramayana Coloring Book
Regards,
Keerthi Kobla and Dipti Chauhan
