Hari Om! Parents,
Our Gurudev Jayanthi wishes to all Grade 1 families! May His Grace and blessing be with all of us during this challenging time.
Our class started with deep breathing and Om chanting. After opening shlokas we chanted Sri Rama shlokas and all of the daily prayers. The class also chanted the Bhagavad Geeta chapter 1 verses. We spoke about Pujya Gurudev, Swami Chinmayananda ji, founder of Chinmaya Mission. Gurudev Jayanthi is his birthday celebration. Without Him there would be no Balavihar for children to enjoy! Next the children chanted Guru Stotram (ref. Balavihar Handbook pg.24). We offered our thanks to Pujya Gurudev for this learning opportunity.
Yuddha Kanda of our Ramayana story resumed after the defeat of Kumbakarna and several of Ravana's brave sons. Ravana is worried now and calls for his favourite son, Indrajit. We spoke about how Indrajit roared instead of crying when he was born. So he was called Meghnad, but he earned the name Indrajit after defeating Indra, the king of Devas. Indrajit consoled his father and promised to defeat the enemy. He rode into the battlefield and quickly started destryoying the vaanara army. He resorted to magic and Lord Rama and Lakshmana lay in a death-like coma after being pierced with poison darts. The vaanara army stood by sadly, not knowing what to do. Indrajit immediately reported his victory to Ravana. On the battlefield, Jambavan called for Hanuman. He told him to go to the Himalayas and find the hill with the special medicinal herb that could cure the princes. Crying out "Jai Shri Rama!", Hanuman immediately leaped up and flew all the way to the Kailasa and Rishaba peaks. When he saw the hill of herbs, he could not recognise the right medicinal herb. With no time to spare, he lifted the entire hill and brought it back to Lanka. The medicinal herb - Sanjeevani revived both Lord Rama, Lakshmana and also several vaanaras. Meanwhile, all of the rakshasas in Lanka had been celebrating the victory of Indrajit. Few angry vaanaras entered the fort and burned down palaces and houses, terrifying the rakshasas. Angered with the news of Lord Rama's revival, Ravana sent Kumbakarna's sons to battle. Kumbha and Nikumbha, who wanted to avenge their father's death, fought Sugriva and Hanuman. They both soon met their end and the vaanara army celebrate the win. After a quick quiz about the story, the class saw a video about Pujya Gurudev, "The master storyteller". We discussed the message Pujya Gurudev gives to the children about respecting their parents and elders. Here is the link to Pujya Gurudev's video: https://youtu.be/xkTw7WrGtsk.
Next Grade 1 children and parents viewed Pujya Gurudev's 104th Jayanthi celebrations, Guru Paduka puja live streamed from our Vrindavan Ashram. We dismissed class after Chinmaya Aarthi and Pledge.
Gentle Reminder: Your child's video submission is due by May 15th.
Jai Shri Ram!
- Rashmi and Uma
