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. "Samudra vasane devi" (page 11 in My Prayers book)
8. "Saraswathi namasthubyam" (page 12 in My Prayers book)
9. "Bhramarpanam bhramahavihir"
10. "Subham karothi kalyanam" (page 12 in My Prayers book)
11. "Karacharana krithamva" (page 12 in My Prayers book)
12. "Sri Rama Rama Ramethi" (page 129 in My Prayers book)
Activities:
- We practiced our Geeta chanting. Please continue to practice the slokas with your kids. They will be learning slokas 41-56 & 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 6 slokas! Please record videos & send your individual child chanting the shlokas to the Geeta Chanting Team cnjbalaviharhouses@gmail.com to earn house points. We introduced shlokas 51 and 52 this week.
- 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 & were unable to fit the coloring activity in. Please stop on Lesson 26. Please reiterate that the kids are recalling the story as they are coloring.
- We have introduced most of the Dainikaprarthanah (means Daily Prayers) & 3 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 & before going to bed. This will help them learn, memorize as well as develop a lifelong habit of morning prayer & daily prayer.
- We did some jumping jacks & yoga stretches.
After a brief quiz like re-cap of our story so far, we returned to the Rishyamuka mountain. There Sugriva was telling Rama that the vanaras had seen a rakshasa speeding across the sky like a dark cloud grasping on to a crying lady. That lady had tied up some of her jewels in a cloth & tossed them down to the vanaras who were picking berries. One glance at them & Rama instantly knew they were Sita's. Sugriva asked for Rama's help to fix his situation & promised to Rama that he would help him find Sita right after.
Sugriva was concerned that Rama would not be able to defend himself against Bali & actually doubted his strength. Lakshmana was enraged by Sugriva's doubt, but Rama flicked his toe & tossed Dundubhi's skeleton far away. Sugriva still was not impressed. Then Rama aimed his arrow at a tree...he let go & that arrow pierced through 6 trees & returned back to Rama! Seeing that, Sugriva was convinced that Rama was a formidable match for his brother and prostrated before Him.
The banished crew along with Rama & Lakshmana head to Kishkindha & Sugriva shouts out for Bali & challenges him to a duel. Bali instantly accepts & comes out with immense determination. Rama & Lakshmana watch from a distance & can see Sugriva getting very tired & weak. Unfortunately, Rama was hesitant to take a shot with his bow & arrow as the vanara brothers looked very much alike. Sugriva had to retreat as he was unable to carry on any longer. Extremely disappointed with Rama, Sugriva demands why Rama did not do anything. Rama had to explain his dilemma & told Sugriva to wear a flower garland & to go back & challenge Bali again. Sugriva agrees & does so.
This time, before Bali headed out, his wife Tara was very concerned. She told Bali that Rama & Lakshmana were on Sugriva's side, & she said that she had heard that they were very powerful. Bali responded by saying that, he too had heard about them, but he also heard that they were very righteous men & were on the side of dharma.Then Tara offered prayers for her husband's safety. The brothers restarted their duel. Sugriva was getting weak & from behind a tree, Rama found the right instance & had a perfect shot, he aimed his arrow & pierced Bali in his chest. He immediately fell to the ground. The vanaras along with Rama & Lakshmana rushed to his side. Bali looked at Rama with sad & accusing eyes & demanded an explanation! Rama then lovingly explains to Bali that he had made a promise to Sugriva to set right the injustice towards him. Also he says that while hunting, one hides & shoots, that's not considered a crime. Complete understanding swept across Bali's face as he departed to the warrior's heaven.
All is right in Kishkindha...Sugriva is crowned king, Angada (Bali's son) is made Prince, normal life continues. The monsoon season brings heavy rains & flooding. Rama & Lakshmana spend their time inside a cave on the Rishayamuka mountain, worrying about how time is running out & that Sugriva has not kept up his end of the deal! Sugriva continued to party on. As the season changed & the rains stopped, Rama was still waiting to hear from his friend, the newly crowned king. Lakshmana was enraged & wanted to go & find out what the delay was. Rama calmed his brother down & sent him to go find out what the delay was. In the meanwhile, Hanuman was also thinking the same! Though Sugriva was still partying, Hanuman being the voice of reason, comes out as the whole kingdom hears the twang of Lakshmana's bow. Sugriva snaps out of his party state of mind & humbly receives Lakshmana & announces that the vanara forces around the world would assemble within a day at Kishkindha. Sugriva accompanies Lakshmana to Rishyamuka to beg for Rama's pardon & he does so.
The search begins! The vanaras from all diresctions assembled & search parties were given 1 month's time to bring back information. Sugriva sent armies headed North, East & West were sent out. The team heading South consisted of Hanuman, Angadha, Jambavan & Nila. As everyone already had clues pointing South, Rama wanted Hanuman to be his personal messenger. He called him aside & took off his ring & gave it to Hanuman. He said that Sita would instantly recognise it & know exactly who you are & who sent you. Hanuman bowed down to Rama & accepted the immense task. The teams from the other directions already were back reporting failure. The team heading South came across a cave & entered it. It was enchanted & was like a never ending maze of beautiful gold trees with rubies, diamonds & emeralds hanging from them, lovely waterfalls, lily ponds & prently of food everywhere. It was paradise & a tapasvini called Svayamprabha lived there. Hanuman related the happenings leading them to their search. She told the vanaras to close their eyes & she would transport them out of the never ending maze.
When the vanaras opened their eyes, they were on the sea shore. They were all confused. Most of them wanted to just go back & enjoy the rest of their lives in the enchanted cave. Hanuman had to remind them about their mission. An old, handicapped & starving vulture named Sampati was eagerly watching the vanaras from a close by hill, planning how to score his next meal. When suddenly he heard the name Jatayu come up in conversation. His eyes lit up, but immediately saddened on hearing that he was killed by a rakshasa. Sampati called out to the vanaras asking what happened & they narrated the situation. Sampati told them how he was protecting his brother Jatayu from the sun when his wings got burnt off & he landed here. He told them that he recently saw a demon fly across the ocean grasping on to a crying lady! The vanaras brought Sampati down from the hill, fed him & asked for more details. Then with his keen sight, he was able to see Lanka across the ocean, the rich royal kingdom, its beautiful garden & under a tree surrounded by rakshasis, a lady sadly sitting! As soon as Sampati related this to the vanaras, he could feel blood in his veins moving towards his wing area & small wings started sprouting! He had received a boon that his wings would grow back when he helped Rama!
Sita was finally located, now the task was how they were going to get to her. The vanaras started estimating how far they could jump. No one was able to say that they could jump across the ocean. Then Jambavan looked at Hanuman & started praising the multitude of abilities that the son of Vayu had & made him realize that he was their only hope to fulfill this mission. The hidden strength started to swell up inside of Hanuman & he started to glow & grow!!! He was ready to depart.
We paused our journey here.
Please go to the below link to check out the pictures from this week's class
Regards,
Keerthi Kobla & Rukmini Sriram
