Hari Om Parents,
Thank you for joining us today for our very first E Balavihar session. It was a pleasure to see all of the kids' smiling faces, oh sooo ready for Balavihar this morning! We had a great turn out today. We actually ended up with a huge virtual classroom instead of our tiny pantry! Thank you for your cooperation with getting the devices and programs set up for the kids. They were well behaved for the most part and adjusted smoothly to our new teaching platform. The kids were pretty patient as I was trying my best to navigate the Whiteboard during the story. We tried our best to replicate/emulate our regular Balavihar class. Kudos to the kiddos!
The following is what we did during today'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:
- We sang our Rama bhajan "Jaya Jaya Tulasi" (page 141 in My Prayers book) twice. This is a relatively new bhajan for most of the kids as we had only a few kids during our previous 2 classes.
- 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 played the Concentration Game. After the chanting of 3 "Om's kids keep their eyes closed. They count the number of stones being dropped into a box during the quiet time. Later they give the count of the stones dropped. The game quiets the mind and improves concentration. Today I muted everyone so that the kids wouldn't have any potential distractions from each other. 2 of the students got the count correct! Most of them were very close, as there was an echo, I told them that if they had a few more than the actual count, they were also correct. They seemed happy.
- 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 31. Please reiterate that the kids are recalling the story as they are coloring.
- We had some technical difficulties with the audio for the Geeta chanting, we hope to have that issue resolved prior to our next class.
We began our story with a brief recap. I left the platform unmuted and we got tons of responses to the recap questions! Hanuman has returned to Kishkindha and with Jambavan's persuasion, Hanuman humbly narrated his wild expedition in Lanka and he reported that he has successfully found Sita to his Lord Rama. He had confronted Ravana and, as Rama's messenger, requested him to return Sita to her husband and to beg Him for His forgiveness. Ravana denied doing so and he was furious about how Hanuman had destroyed his favorite Asokavana. He was ready to kill Hanuman when Indrajit successfully captured him and brought him into Ravana's court. But Vibhishana, Ravana's brother, said it was not just for a King to kill a messenger, instead, he said a punishment was acceptable. He then had Hanuman's tail set on fire. Hanuman burnt Lanka, went to the Ashokavana to check on Sita's safety and was relieved to see her safe inside her force-field. He had offered to carry her back to Rama. She denied that, and told him that Rama had to come to Lanka, fight and defeat Ravana and then take her back with him. Hanuman agreed to her request and flew back to India and returned to his vanaras with the news. On hearing this news, Rama was in a very emotional state not knowing how he would be able to repay his devoted messenger. He fondly embraced Hanuman. Then Rama, Lakshmana, Sugriva & his massive Vanara Army head to the tip of India. Hanuman lifted Rama on his shoulders and Angadha lifted Lakshmana on his to make sure that they kept a vanara's pace as they marched on.
Our setting today began with the vanara army close to the shoreline. They are all looking at the massive Indian Ocean as they are planning their next move. As they are doing so, they spot five dark clouds in the sky, swiftly approaching their location. Their immediate thought was that rakshasas were heading over to fight them, so they got prepared. Vibhishana was not afraid of being attacked and he spoke from the sky saying that he tried his best to advise his evil brother Ravana to change his mind and return Sita, but his efforts were futile. So he said that he and four of his like minded rakshasas are coming to seek asylum at Rama's feet. Sugriva was very suspicious and thought they were coming to spy on them, so he went to warn Rama. Rama in turn decided to seek advice from his army leaders, and they also sided with Sugriva and wanted to get ready to fight or at least test their real motive. Rama then turned to Hanuman for advice. Hanuman respectfully addressed Lord Rama, saying that he knew all the answers as he was the Lord himself. But putting his bhakthi and those thoughts aside, Hanuman gives his opinion that Vibhishana and his men are arriving unarmed and thus we should trust them. Rama was happy and agreed. He then went on to say that it was against his Dharma to turn away anyone that comes to Him for shelter.
Sugriva was still suspicious. He went on to doubt Vibhishana and justifies it by saying that he had sided with Ravana for so long...Rama reminds Sugriva that not long ago, he too had sided with his own brother Bali! On hearing that he calms down and accepts his wrongful thought. The talks of brothers reminds Rama and Lakshmana of their faithful and loving ones that they soon hope to reunite with. Soon Vibhishana arrives and takes blessings from Rama. Lakshmana and Angadha are asked to bring seawater for Abhisheka and Rama crowns Vibhishana as King of Lanka. Vibhishana then shared details of Lanka and strategies that were being planned there.
The army was nowhere close to figuring out how to cross the ocean. So some of the elders advised Rama to undertake a fast to request the sea God for help. Three days passed and when there was still no response, Rama was furious and wanted his bow and arrows to make sure that everything in the ocean perished. As soon as the wrath of Rama was felt by the sea God, he rose up and prevented any more destruction. The sea God had to take a stand and tell Rama that he could not go against his nature and dry up for them to cross over. But he agreed that with Rama's name on anything that was tossed onto him, would float and he would hold each object together like glue! Nala was appointed as the chief engineer. The Vanara army immediately began building the bridge with 100% enthusiasm, that kept growing as they kept building and marching towards Lanka as they chanted "Rama, Rama, Victory to Rama"! They were able to achieve this incredible feat in just 3 days. They finally succeeded in ascending to the shores of Lanka. 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
Regards,
Keerthi Kobla and Dipti Chauhan
