Oct 26, 2025 - Grade 6 (Sunday AM)

Hari Om Parents,

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
• Chanted Mahalakshmi Ashtakam -  verses # 4 & 5 (Page 40 in My Prayers book) - Aadhya M and Ankita led the chanting while the whole class followed them
  
• We also practiced the Chinmaya Aarti 

Gita Chanting:
This year, we will be learning Chapters 15 and 12 of the Bhagavad Gita. This week, the class chanted Chapter 15's verses 9 & 10:

https://youtu.be/bYwCXutgtJc?si=6SiDXvOjJdVWnhtw

Mahabharata:

We chanted the following prayers before starting the Mahabharata:

• Narayanam namaskritya
• Vyasaya Vishnu roopaya
• Vasudevasutam devam

1. Pandavas learn about Draupadi's swayamvaram, announced by King Drupada. They go to attend the swayamvaram, where a task of hitting a fish on a revolving wheel by looking at the shadow in the water was kept as the test. Whoever was able to pass this test would get Draupadi's hand. Many kings tried and failed; finally, Arjuna, who was disguised as a brahmin, stepped forward and was able to hit the target to the astonishment of the people gathered there. This incident was the first time that the Pandavas and Lord Krishna had come to encounter each other in this epic.
2. Draupadi marries all five Pandavas, as per Kunti's wish. This was done after Lord Krishna and the sages explained to King Drupada and Draupadi that this was happening due to a boon from her prior birth.
3. Dhritarashtra, upon the advice of Bheesma, invites the Pandavas back to Hastinapur. He then divides the Kingdom and gives Indraprastha, part to Pandavas, and Hastinapur (which was more prosperous) to Duryodhana and his sons. Even though Indraprastha was not well developed, the Pandavas, along with the blessing of Lord Krishna, developed the country and made it very prosperous.
4. Pandavas and Draupadi happily in Indraprastha, ruling over the Kingdom righteously, all people prosper under Yudhisthira's rule. Yudhisthira, upon the advice of the sages, decides to do the Rajasuya yagna. For which Arjuna and Bhima go around and conquer all the kings. Rajasuya yagna is done in a grand manner.
5. When they decide to felicitate Lord Krishna, Sisupala gets very angry. He goes on to use many abusive words against the Pandavas and the Lord. Lord Krishna eventually kills him.
6. Duryodhana and the Kauravas grow really jealous of the Pandavas, looking at their wealth and might. In addition, Duryodhana gets humiliated in the mayasabha, where he slips and falls into a water pond due to an illusion created in the palace. His jealousy and anger for the Pandavas increased tremendously after this incident.
7. He plots along with Shakuni, Karna, and Dushasana to invite Yudhishthira to a dice game. Since Shakuni had special dice with magical powers, he knew he would defeat Yudhishthira. Dhritarashtra, upon the urging of his sons, invites Yudhishthira to a dice game. Bheesma, Vidura, and other elders advise against it.
8. Yudhishthira accepts the invitation for the dice game as a mark of respect to King Dhritarashtra, whom he considers a father figure. In addition, he did not want any confrontations with the Kauravas. Unfortunately, in the dice game, Yudhisthira loses all his riches and Kingdom.
9. In desperation, he bets and loses all his brothers and himself also. He even bet and lost Draupadi in the game. Then Duryodhana orders a servant to bring Draupadi to the Sabha. She refuses to come to the Sabha by posing some dharmic questions. Enraged, Duryodhana orders his brother Dushasana to bring Draupadi to the palace.
10. Dushasana brings Draupadi to the Sabha in a very restless manner. Upon the instigation of Karna, at the orders of Duryodhana, he tries to disrobe her. Draupadi prays to Lord Krishna, who comes to her help and prevents her from getting disrobed.
11. Bheema gets very angry and takes a vow that in a war, he will break open the chest of Dushasana, kill him and drink his blood, and kill Duryodhana by breaking his thighs. Dhritarashtra and Gandhari, seeing many bad omens, ask Draupadi and the Pandavas to forgive their sons. Dhritarashtra gives away Indraprastha to the Pandavas, asking them to go back and rule it.

India, the Sacred Land: Guru!

In this section, we covered the following points with the help of this presentation:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1a6L0n83hC5Xtzwc93mGojDq5u763KGsIgcZqF470-3E/edit?usp=sharing 

• Started the class with the question: Who is your first Guru?
  
• Adi Shankaracharya intro and his contributions
• Swami Chinmayananda
  
• The Guru in Indian Tradition
• Types of Teachers in Indian Tradition
• Synonyms of Teachers in Indian Tradition
• Secular vs Spiritual Knowledge
  
• The Light That Shows the Way
  
• Guru-Shishya Parampara
• Salutations to the Guru Lineage
• Story of Sant Namdev
• Darshan of Vitthal when he was a small child
  
• The Pot is still not Fully-Baked! Taunt by Muktabai
  
• Visoba Khechar's feet on the Shivling
  
• Vitthal Everywhere, Vitthal in Everyone! - Bhagwan Vitthal Appeared from the Dog
  
• God's grace - If God wishes, we can recognize him
  

The students delved into the world of types of Guru (Diksha and Shiksha Guru), synonyms for a Guru, exploring titles like Sadhu, Swami, and Acharya. Many of the kids were surprised to learn about Sant Namdev and his incredible story of getting the darshan of Bhagwan in a Dog! 

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Children were provided with the Likhita Naam Japa Book (in red color). Please ask your children to dedicate some time each day to writing "Raam's" name in the book.

Parents, please send your kids on time to class to avoid disruptions to the class. Also, 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