Hari Om Everyone,
My name is Thejasvi, and I'll be taking over for Sruti from now on and will send these weekly emails.
We started off the class with the usual opening prayers. After this, we recited the four verses of the Mahishasura Mardini that we learned until now, and then learned the fifth verse. At the end of class, we learned verses 61 and 62 of Chapter 18 in the Bhagavad Gita. As always, we encourage everyone to practice and try to memorize the Gita.
We then picked up from last week's lesson on the Kurukshetra War, when Abhimanyu is killed at the end of the 13th day. Upon learning that his sone died, Arjuna vowed to kill Jayadratha by the next day at sunset, or else he would kill himself. However, Krishna is angry that Arjuna took this oath, as he did not know that Jayadratha's father cast a curse that whoever causes Jayadratha's head to fall to the floor, their head will explode into a thousand pieces. Therefore, Krishna used his chakra during the battle to make the Kauravas think the sun had set so that they would stop protecting Jayadratha. Arjuna used a divine weapon to kill Jayadratha, which took his head to his father's lap, making him get up in surprise and drop Jayadratha's head on the ground. This way, Arjuna was not the subject of the curse. Meanwhile, the same day, Ghatotkacha, Bheema's son, joins the battle and starts annihilating the Kaurava army. This prompts Duryodhana to order Karna to use Shakti, a divine weapon given to him by Lord Indra, to kill Ghatotkacha. Karna had been saving this for his fight with Arjuna, but uses it anyway: Ghatotkacha is killed, but he lands on the Kaurava's army, killing many of them.
The next day, Drona is very angry that he has still not captured Yudhishthira, and starts killing many soldiers in the Pandava army. The Pandavas and Krishna know that he is only fighting for his son, Ashvatthama, and so they kill an elephant by the same name and spread a rumor that Ashvatthama is dead. When Drona comes to hear this, he asks Yudhishthira if this is true, since he know he will not lie. Yudhishthira responds, "Yes, Ashvatthama is dead, but it is the elephant named Ashvatthama." However Drona does not hear the second part, and is deeply saddened. He goes into deep meditation, and during this time, Drishtadyumna, Draupadi's brother, kills him.
Finally, we started the story of the next day, when Karna goes into battle with Arjuna. Now Karna does not have his divine weapon, and he has two curses placed on him: one from Bhudevi, Mother Earth, that the wheel of his chariot will get stuck in the earth on an important day of his life, and he will not be able to get it out; the second from Parashurama that he will forget all of his training on the most important day of his life. We left the story here and will continue next class.
Upcoming Events:
- Chinmaya Kalaarangam - February 16th, 1-6pm at Chinmaya Vrindavan Ashram - this is an opportunity for students who learn Carnatic, Hindustani, or any form of classical Indian music or dance to perform and showcase what they have been learning. Only Balavihar students can register to perform in this program. Registration link: https://temple.chinmayavrindavan.com/index.php/cultural-events-upcomming/821-chinmaya-kalaarangam-v
If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
Pranaams,
Thejasvi & Sasi
Thejasvi & Sasi
