Hari Om!
Here is a brief summary of class activities for Week 15 and 16 - Feb 2 and Feb 9, 2020.
1. Opening Prayers
2. Mahabharata:
- We caught up with the Pandavas in Indraprastha - Yudhishtra was well-loved by the people and well-regarded by all the kings. He ruled for 36 years, and was at the time visited by Sage Narada. He blessed the Pandavas and relayed to Yudhishtra a message from Pandu from Indraloka - Yudhishtra should perform the Rajasuya yagna and establish himself the Emperor. Motivated by this and the support of his brothers, Krishna and his counselors, Yudhishtra decided to proceed with the yagna. Krishna advised that Jarasandha, the king of Magadha had to be defeated as he will not accept Yudhishtra as a sovereign. He had also imprisoned many kings to perform a sacrifice. With Krishna's sage guidance, Arjuna and Bheema went to Magadha in disguise and requested one-to-one combat with Jarasandha. He chose Bheema to fight and after many gruelling rounds, Bheema killed Jarasandha. After crowing Jarasandha's son Sahadeva ,king, the Pandavas and Krishna left. Invitations were sent to all kings and they all joyously greeted the news. The elders and family members from Hastinapura took part in helping administer the yajna. At the beginning of the yajna, the first honors were decided to be given to Krishna. But Shishupala, Krishna's cousin was angered by this. He insulted Krishna and was on the verge of instigating a fight inspite of Bheeshma's acceptance of Krishna as the chief honoree. Listening to his string of insults, Krishna forgave him up to a 100 times on account of a promise he made to his aunt (Shishupala's mother). But as Shishupala continued beyond, Krishna killed him with his Sudarshana chakra.
The yajna proceeded and was completed successfully. Duryodhana spent some time in the magnificent palace built by Maya. It was filled with special features like a pond like floor and floor-like water features. Duryodhana slipped and fell into the water feature thinking it was a floor. He felt thoroughly insulted by this and it further fueled his jealousy at all the wealth and respect the Pandavas had gained. He went back to Hastinapura and vented to Shakuni, Karna and Dhritarashtra. Against their advice to be content with what he had, he insisted that he should have everything that the Pandavas had. Karna wanted an open war but Shakuni advised more clever means. He asked Duryodhana to invite the Yudhishtra to a dice game. By the code of conduct of the Kshatriyas, he could not refuse. He was not very good at the game, and Shakuni being an expert could easily make him bet and lose a great deal. Against his own better instincts, Dhritarashtra agreed and sent Vidura to invite Yudhishtra to the game.
Vidura went to Indraprastha with the invitation . Yudhishtra fully realized that this was not a simple invitation. He had been warned by Vyasa at the Rajasuya yajna that a troubling period was upon the Kurus. Due to this warning, he (Yudhishtra) had also taken an oath that he would not disagree with anyone in the family to avert any major fights. Bound by his own oath and the Kshatriya code of conduct, he, with his brothers, Draupadi and Kunti left for Hastinapura.
3. Stage Performance:
- The children did a brilliant job with stage performance on Feb 9th. Pictures and videos are shared in the WhatsApp group.
4. Geeta Chanting:
- Registrations for Geeta Chanting Yajna are now open.
Regards,
Abhirami Shrinivas
Rekha G Pai
