Hari Om Parents,
Last Friday, the Spirit Day was in full swing at our ashram with games and activities planned for the kids during the regular Balavihar hours. I am sure the children would have regaled you with all the details of events that they participated in. The feedback about their performance from the host teachers were pretty positive particularly with regards to the story sequencing of Lord Krishna's life, including the names of the asuras and other characters! Teamwork and friendship was what the kids expressed when enquired as to their experience regarding that day!
This past Friday, we started our session with 5 minutes of Likitha Japa, meditating on Lord Krishna and then moved on to reciting the daily prayers from the "My Prayer" Book. As per our curriculum the second sloka to be taught this year is "Govinda Damodhara Stotram" for which handouts were distributed. The children learnt the first two verses complete with proper diction and meaning as well.
"Kaliya Mardhanam" was our main topic of discussion that day from the Krishna Lila Stories. The venomous, hundred-hooded serpent, Kaliya, inhabited Lake Madu, an offshoot of the mighty River Yamuna. He lived there for many yugas with his multitude of wives and children. The poisonous fumes that arose from his breath decimated all the thriving plants and animals around the banks of the lake for as far as eyes can see. One hot sunny day, a few gopas and their cattle strayed from their path along the river Yamuna and ended up in the vicinity of Lake Madu. The glistening, still waters of the lake beckoned them, as thirst was foremost on their minds. Krishna and his entourage found them in a swoon next to the lake as they came upon them in their search. Krishna, the seer, recognized the culprit as Kaliya and set out to do his duty as the savior of his village people. He climbed up the Kadamba tree nearby, against the warning cries of the Gopas, and dove straight down into the deep, murky waters.
Kaliya was enraged at such an invasion of his privacy and swiftly rose to confront his visitor. He thrashed about trying to curl his body around Krishna in order to squeeze the last breath out of him. Krishna, the master manipulator, evaded his tactics and attacked him every chance he got from all directions. Eventually, Kaliya held Krishna in a vice-like grip and tried to kill him. But Krishna, after a lengthy battle, wriggled out of the serpent's grip and swam to the surface. He took a giant leap out of the water and landed on the hoods of Kaliya, tightly holding on to the monster's tail. Kaliya, floundered and squirmed with fury, to try and dethrone the boy dancing on his monstrous hoods. Meanwhile, Nandababa and Yeshoda were informed of the unfortunate incident and they, along with others villagers, raced to the banks of the lake. Cries of horror and laments rose from the lips of all those that were gathered. Krishna's tinkling anklets further infuriated the monster, as he thrashed about in the water. Kaliya grew tired and asked the Lord's forgiveness for his arrogant and insolent behavior. His many wives pleaded the same and appeased Lord Krishna with prayers and complete devotion. Being the benevolent one, Krishna then instructed Kaliya to go to Ramanaka Dvipa and live peacefully with his family. He also granted that the footmarks of his own, imprinted on the hoods of the serpent would protect him from all his mortal enemies, including Garuda himself. The villagers rejoiced at the sight of Krishna emerging from the waters, adorned with sandalwood paste and expensive gems.
The deeper, meaning behind this particular, historic event was discussed in detail as well. River Yamuna is also referred to as Kalinidi, the daughter of the mighty Sun God, who represents our Inner consciousness. The monstrous hoods of Kaliya, represent the "I, me, myself" which indicates the egotistical, arrogant nature within us. By introducing the concept of divinity into our psyche, all such egotistic trends in a person tends to disappear, thus giving rise to peace and harmony within and all around us. Kids questioned the difference between material possessions and personal achievements versus the egotistical nature of " I, me, myself" as discussed above. Using their life instances as examples, we arrived at the proper understanding of these two varied principles.
We, then moved on to discuss the principle of Humility and the kindness to animals such as Cows, by using the maze picture of the Roadmap to Krishna.
We then recorded the Gita verses chanting by the whole class to send to the Houses team in order to earn House points. We will be recording the Gita chanting in all of our upcoming classes so kindly help them to prepare. Go Krishna's Cowboys!!
The children are asked to prepare for a quiz activity, where each of them will be playing the dual roles of the quizmaster and the participant. More details to follow…please help them to prepare from chapter 1 to 12 of Part 2 in their Bala Bagavatham book.
The class was dismissed directly from the classroom after the arti and the pledge.
Please feel free to contact us, if you have any questions. See you all this Friday!! Stay warm and safe!
Thanks and regards,
Viji Lakshmi & Shivram 