Hari Om Parents,
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, we repeated it once and sang it together 1 time.
- We have introduced most of the Dainikaprarthanah (means Daily Prayers) and 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 and 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 introduced "Likita Japa" to the kids today, we taught them how to write "Rama" in Hindi and had them continue to write "Rama" as they listened to Swamiji's Geeta chanting. The kids are welcome to practice "Rama" likita japa during the week if they would like to do so. They were happy to show off their pages today. If the kids have some incomplete pages in their coloring books, they may color them, Please Stop on Lesson 31.
We began today's story with a brief recap of what we heard during our previous class, of how Rama along with Sugriva and his vanara army built a bridge across the Indian Ocean and made their way on to the shores of Lanka.
Today's setting was in Lanka. As Rama along with the vanara army approach Lanka, Malyavaan, Ravana's wise grandfather tries in vain to convince his grandson to do the right thing and save his people. Ravana was blinded by his desire for Sita and would not listen to anyone. He strategically posted his army in all different directions along with his trusted leaders of Prahasta, Mahaparsva, Mahodara, his own brave son Indrajit and Virupaksha incharge of each location. Ravana stayed at his Northern gate position. The vanaras who had arrived observed the positioning from the Trikuta mountain. From this vantage point, Rama was also observing the beauty and splendor of Lanka and he became sad that he would end up destroying this beautiful kingdom! Rama also positioned his army led by Nila, Angada, Hanuman, Sugriva, Jambava and Ravana's own brother Vibhisana to lead each direction forward. Rama and Lakshmana took their righteous postings at the Northern gate. The two armies were all set.
All of a sudden, Sugriva was so agitated and he decided to fly out of his army to confront Ravana! They were both equally matched wrestlers, but Ravana always had tricks up his sleeve. So Sugriva decided to retreat back to his army. The vanara king was questioned by Rama for his sudden disappearance. Rama after hearing about Sugriva's hasty actions explained that a king should never risk his life and cross enemy lines before the battle commences! Suriva apologized and begged for forgiveness. Rama then called on Angada to be his messenger and his last resort prior to declaring war and death to Ravana and the rakshasa race. Ravana was enraged on seeing the messenger and he would not listen to reason. He called on all his rakshasas to attack Angada. Two of Ravana's strongest rakshasas attacked Anagadha. The mighty Angadha was able to lift both of them high up in the air and dropped them violently. They fell to the ground with a massive thump. On his way down to the ground after dropping them, Angadha decided to damage and break two of the palace's turrets. The messenger escaped and went back to his position along with the vanara army. Ravana saw the destruction of his 2 palace turrets as an ill omen. He then went up to his observation tower to see Rama and the strength of his mighty army.
Ravana was filled with dark determination. His thoughts focused on his evil ways of trickery. He had reached a point of no return. He had to conjure a plan to persuade Sita to change her mind and have Rama leave heartbroken without a fight. He asked his sorcerer Vidyujjihva to make an exact replica of Rama's head. He then stormed into his Ashokavana and victoriously screamed at Sita showing her the head and claimed that he had defeated Rama and his army. He demanded Sita to be his queen. He placed the severed head before Sita. She believed it was her beloved husband and she began lamenting uncontrollably. At that moment, the vanaras had begun their invasion and his army generals needed him immediately. As Ravana departed to answer his call, the fake head of Rama went up in smoke. That illusion was no more! Sita was bewildered. Saramaa, the good rakshasi then told Sita that it was Ravana's evil maya in action.Due to Sita's pure soul and constant prayer and thought of Lord Rama, it sounded like the vanara army and Rama were finally here to rescue her. Sita felt hope again as simultaneously the rakshasa race was trembling with fear. 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
