Hari Om Parents,
We started our class with our regular OM chanting, opening prayer of Sahanavavatu, Guru stotram, Govinda Damodara stotram and finished learning Krishna ashtakam. The kids seem to be doing well with recitations of these slokas.
Our 2 teachers from the My 24 teachers were a baby and a Lady with one bangle.
We usually start this topic by posing a riddle and almost all the kids are eager to answer them to the best of their knowledge and do come up with right answers with a few prompts.
The riddle for a child was something in the lines of, "I am helpless, totally dependent and usually messy. but people adore me, want to be close to me and enjoy my company. Who am I?" and the riddle for the bangle was,"I am an ornament usually made up of metal, glass or plastic. When I am with companions I make too much noise. sometimes I am by myself and still look beautiful. Who am I?" most of the kids answered Anklets which was quite impressive.
We explained to them what we could learn from a child, which was to be childlike and innocent who are never effected by respect or disrespect. They alway speak whats in their heart without any deceit. The story that beautifully explains this concept is about a king who was very fond of nice and expensive cloths. He loved to dress up and throw parties because of which his subjects also turn out the same. 4 weavers come to his town to teach him a lesson and say that they can weave a beautiful garment and only people who are faithful and loyal could see it. Everyone pretends to see the garment for the fear of being labeled as unfaithful though such garment did not exist as claimed by the weavers. The king also falsely admits to seeing it and the weaver asks the king to wear it and go around the town, which the king does and all the people keep saying its a pretty dress except for a small child who shouts loudly the the king has no cloths on and its a shame. Here the child is totally innocent and not afraid of the consequences and hence speaks the truth.We told them the importance of being truthful.
The other story was about a girl who removes all her bangles but one while working in the kitchen so they don't make too much noise as she has visitors in her house and she doesn't want them to know how poor they are as she herself was handling all the tasks at home.
The lesson to be learned here is, sometimes when many people gather there is a lot of commotion, gossip, quarreling. So, like the single bangle on the girls wrist, one should be alone whenever they need to pray or concentrate on some important work.
Krishna's story was about the salvation of Sudarshana. When Lord Krishna was twelve years old, his father Nanda had taken a vow that he would offer a special worship to Godess Ambika. They went to the temple with all the gifts to offer and when the festivities ended they decided to spend the night in the temple courtyard. There suddenly appears a huge python ready to devour Nanda and he cries for help to Krishna. Bhagawan touches the back of the snake with his foot and the ugly python changes into a handsome, celestial being which was a salvation from the curse of a Rishi, for being proud of his beauty.
Towards the end of the class we chanted Bhagawad Gita slokas 63 and 64 with Swamiji.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. Annadanam seva project to Trenton soup kitchen. Kindly sign up and drop off your items by Feb 16th.
2. Register your kids for Shlokathon competition coming up in April. most of the kids know Govinda Damodara stotram, with a little help at home they should be able to memorize it by then and can participate.
3.We are planning for an annual program for our kids, details of which will be sent soon.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me and/or Rama at ramamalini@hotmail.com.
HARI OM,
Thank you,
Purna and Rama.
