Hari Om Parents,
We started our class with 3 OM and the following shlokas and prayers
We started our class with 3 OM and the following shlokas and prayers
- Sahana Vavatu
- Vakratunda Mahakaya
- Saraswathi Namastubhyam
- Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu
- Samastha Jana Kalyane
- Introduced Devi Dhyana Shloka – Sarva Mangala (Page 39 in My Prayers book)
Gita Chanting:
This year, we will be learning Chapters 15 and 12 of the Bhagavad Gita. This week, the class chanted the first two verses of Chapter 15.
This year, we will be learning Chapters 15 and 12 of the Bhagavad Gita. This week, the class chanted the first two verses of Chapter 15.
Mahabharata:
We chanted the following prayers before starting the Mahabharata:
- Narayanam namaskrtyam
- Vyasaya Vishnu roopaya
- Vasudevasutam devam
- We started with the story of King Shantanu. He was the king of Hastinapur. One day he meets Gangaji on the Bank of river Ganga and asked her to marry him. Gangaji puts a condition I'm happy to marry you and stay with you as long as you don't question what I do. The day you question my actions I will leave; King agrees and they get happily married;
- King Shantanu and Gangaji have seven children, as each child is born Gangaji takes the child and puts the child in the river to utter dismay of the King. But when the eighth child is born as she is about to do the same, King stops her, at which point Gangaji says that you have broken your promise that you gave me so I am going to leave you now along with this child. Don't worry I will take care of this child and bring him back to you when he is a young lad.
- After many years while walking on the banks of Ganga King Shantanu sees a young lad who is very handsome and strong, having amazing skills in archery. He was astonished at the feats of this young archer. While he was admiring him, Gangaji comes and tells the king that this is Devaratta your child, and hands the child over to King Shantanu who is very happy and returns to the Kingdom along with Devaratta.
- Background story of 8 Vasus in heaven was discussed. One among them, Dyu upon instigation of his wife steals sacred cow from sage Vasishta. Who curses all the 8 vasus to be born as human beings. When the vasus asks Sage for mercy, he says seven of them will be born but will come back to heaven immediately but the 8th Vasu whole stole the cow will lead a long life on earth and then will come back to heaven. He is now born as Devaratta.
- King Shantanu during a trip meets Satyavati, she's a fisherwoman. He gets attracted to her beauty and charm, wants to marry her, but her father puts a condition that the king can marry her daughter only if he promises that the child of Satyavati will become future king of Hastinapur. King does not agree to this condition, as Devaratta was already the crown Prince and will be the future king.
- Devaratta comes to know of this situation, goes to Satyavati's father and promises him that her child will only become king. To which the fisherman king says that what will happen if you have a child and that child may later claim his rights on the throne. Devaratta without blinking an eye takes a vow that he will not marry in this life and will stay as a celebete, so now the king has nothing to worry about. Because he took such a terrible wow, the heavens showered flowers on him and blessed him with the name of Bheeshma, one who takes terrible vows
- King Shantanu comes to know of this terrible wow, and blesses his son with a boon that he will have 'itchaa – maranam', that is he will die only when he decides to leave this body.
India, the Sacred Land: About India: India's riches, India and US independence and emblems:
In this section, covered the following points with the help of this presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/14mE_yIecugwRgiD8rroDraJDgD8488MwdOg3E298diI/edit?usp=sharing
- Started with ice breaker questions:
- What are the other names of India
- How many states are in India?
- Independence Movements: USA vs. India (Bharat)
- India, a Golden bird
- 2000 years of world economic history chart
- Why Was India Ruled by the British?
- Key Differences and Similarities between the US and India's Independence movement
- Indian Freedom Fighters: Gurudev, Subhash Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Jawaharlal Nehru
- Indian Freedom Fighters: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Bhagat Singh, Rani Lakshmibai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak
- Other Prominent Indian freedom fighters
- Flags of the USA and India
- USA and India National emblems
- USA and India: National flowers, national animal, national bird, national fruit, national tree
- USA and India's Highest National Awards
- USA and India Country messages
- India's emblems convey to us these messages
It was exciting to see that a few students already knew a lot about India's Independence movement, freedom fighters, and facts about India compared to the USA. Many were pleasantly surprised to discover new information about the USA, including its national animal, fruit, and trees.
At the end, we played a Pictionary game to reinforce what we learned, especially about National Emblems. The kids engaged in this activity, practicing their memory and drawing skills to recall and portray these emblems. They thoroughly enjoyed attempting to guess the pictures drawn by their teammates. While some guesses were quite inaccurate, the kids demonstrated remarkable accuracy, coming close to the actual drawings. Ultimately, both teams, consisting of boys and girls, achieved an equal score, leaving no clear winner as they all successfully identified the symbols.
Please have them bring the decorated name tags to the classes. Please make sure children bring in My Prayers book, handbook, notebook, pencils, etc (to take notes, do activities in the class)
Hari Om,
Sachin Gaikwad & Devender Akula
Sachin Gaikwad & Devender Akula
