Hari Om Parents,
We started our class with our regular OM chanting, opening prayer of Sahanavavatu, Guru stotram, recited Govinda Damodara stotram Krishna ashtakam.
We are very close to finishing our curriculum with just 3 chapters left in each of the books.
Our riddle for the 24th teachers this class was, "I am a skilled worker who makes what are useful for armies in the olden days..Rama, Lakshmana used me to destroy demons and Arjuna used me to win a contest and married Draupadi. Who am I?" Yes, He is an Arrow-Maker and the children in the class came up with the right answer.
There was once an arrow maker who was so engrossed in his work that he did not even notice a big party of king and his whole retinue with loud noises pass by. The message that he conveyed here is to have utmost concentration in whatever activity one does.
We discussed about the power of concentration by giving the example of how Sunlight does not burn anything just out in open but when a magnifying glass is placed a few inches away from the paper then it begins to burn. The concentrated suns rays are that powerful.
We also told them a couple of stories of how concentration works wonders.
One is, when Swami Vivekananda was in Chicago, America, he saw a group of kids trying to shoot eggshells floating on water and always missed them. But when he himself tried it, he did not miss a single shot and said that the secret to this was the power of his concentration which was completely on the target without any other distractions.
We explained how it is very important for kids as students to concentrate on their studies without getting deviated.
Another story was how Dronacharya tested Kauravas and Pandavas by asking them what each would see when told to shoot the eye of a bird on the tree. Everyone would say about all the other things including the bird, like the branches, the sky and all, except for Arjuna who says that he could only see the eye of the bird and does not miss the shot.
Krishna's story this week was about Narada and Kamsa.
Sage Narada goes to Kamsa and tells him how Devaki's eighth child is still alive and is growing up in Vrindavana getting ready to kill hi. Kamsa gets terribly agitated by this news and summons Akrura, the chief of Yadavas. He asks them to invite Krishna and Balarama on the pretense of witnessing a sacred Yagna and visiting the beautiful city Mathura. He makes the cruel plan of killing the brothers once they enter the wrestling ground.
We chanted Bhagawad Gita slokas 65 and 66 with Swamiji's guidance.
As always, please contact me and/or Rama at ramamalini@hotmail.com with any queries.
HARI OM,
Thank you,
Purna and Rama.
