Hari Om parents!
Please find the summary of the last class ( 03/01) below.
Topics of the day: 'Hanuman, The Life Saver' and 'Hanuman, The Commander'
After reciting the 'opening prayers', Hanuman Dhyana Shlokas and 'Rama nama japa', we chanted the first 10 caupais of the Chalisa and repeated the same multiple times to help kids memorize the same. We then learnt the meanings of 8th, 9th and 10th caupais
8th Caupai: Prabhu charitra Sunib ko rasiya…
Meaning: You always take delight in listening to the glories of Prabhu ( Sri Rama) and you have Sri Rama, Lakshmana and Sitaji residing permanently in your heart.
· Hanuman ji never gets tired of listening to the glories of Sri Rama and he always looks for Rama himself or his name in everything he uses.
· To demonstrate the dedication and love towards Rama, we reviewed a story with Kids where Sita ji once presents a lovely pearl necklace to Hanuman ji. He immediately breaks the necklace and bites every pearl in it. Sitaji offended by this demands for explanation. Hanumaji innocently replies that he was looking for Rama or his name in the pearls but could not find it. So, he found it useless. When Sita ji asked whether he has Sri Rama in him, Hanumanji immediately tore open his chest. To her dismay, Sitaji saw Lord Rama and herself glowing in the heart of Hanumanji and every pore of his skin was singing the name of Lord Rama.
· Lord Rama always dwells in the heart of Hanuman and hence , by worshipping Hanumanji, we are automatically worshiping Lord Rama and Sitaji
· We also went over a story of how Hanmnaji applies sindhur all over his body because Sitaji mentioned that she puts Sindhur on her forehead to please Rama. Such is the love of Hanumanji for Sri Rama
9th Caupai: Sukshma rupadhari Siyahimdikhava….
Meaning: You assumed the smallest form when you revealed yourself to Mother Sita and you assumed a fierce form to burn down the Lanka.
· To understand the meaning of this deeply, we went over the tale of Hanumanji burning Lanka. We discussed how Hanumanji assumed a miniature form to hide from all rakshasas and reveal himself to Sitaji when he entrusted the ring that lord Rama gave him. After this, he wanted Raavana to know Rama's power. So he expanded himself into a huge form and roared. He jumped all over the garden and ruined every part of it. As a messenger of Rama, he warned Ravana and asked him to return Sita. When his tail was set to fire, he burnt all the buildings in Lanka. After the city was set ablaze, he returned to his normal size to get the burning rags off his tail. Such is Hanumanji's resourcefulness and intelligence.
10th Caupai: Bhimna Rupa dhari Asura samhare…
Meaning: You accomplished the mission of lord Rama by destroying several demons assuming a dreadful form.
· While remembering Hanumanji's valor when destroying demons, we also talked about different kinds of demons we all have inside us. They are anger, jealousy, hatred etc. Under the influence of these monsters/demons, we behave like Ravana.
· When we use our senses and limbs only for selfish motives, we are like Ravana and all demons inside us are alive and happy. When we learn to put others first in our lives, we are eradicating the demons within. We brainstormed some d2d examples on how we can put others first and be selfless.
· We then played the game "Eradicate Ravana": similar to Bowling pins, we had cups (titled with bad qualities) arranged as 10 heads of Ravana and Kids took turns to knock them down. We all agreed that whatever bad quality was knocked down, the kid will work on getting rid of it. Several of them chose Lying, laziness and jealousy as the qualities that they will let go. Kids thoroughly enjoyed the game and at the same time made a promise to themselves that they will get rid of those demons inside them.
We wrapped up the class with Closing prayers after learning two Bhagavadgita shlokas from Swamiji.
