Hari OM Dear Families,
Our class began with an opening prayer.
Shlokas:
We all chanted OM 3 times followed by shlokas
"Om Saha Navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book)
"Vakratunda Mahakaya" (page 27 in My Prayers book)
"Saraswati namastubhyam" (page 12 in My Prayers book)
"Guru Brahma" (page 61 in My Prayers book)
"Buddhir balam" (page 152 in My Prayers book)
Guru Stotram: We have learnt up to VS 8
Story time:
We did a quick recap of stories covered so far in BV classes.
Kardama and Devahuti and learned about their son Kapila. Kardama was a great sage and Devahuti was the daughter of Manu (the first man). They got married and lived a life full of penance and sacrifice. They had 9 beautiful daughters and one son. The son's name was Kapila. He was an incarnation of the Lord. After Kapila's birth, sage Kardama left his ashram and went for doing tapas.
Kapila was famous as a divine teacher and a great sage. He is the founder of the Saankhyan philosophy. One day Kapila's mother, Devahuti asked her son to teach her how to gain freedom from the cycle of birth and death. He told his mother to attain freedom; one must've a pure heart and to attain that there are 7 ways :
- Obeying the rules of Life
- Performing one's Duties
- Seeing Work as Worship
- Chanting God's name again and again
- Trusting God as a trusted, beloved friend
- Seeing the Blessed Lord in all creatures
- Loving God
We explained the points more by telling them some sub stories too. Please ask your child to retell the stories that they heard today.
What is Tapas:
Tapas means austerity. When we take a vow to do something and live by that vow, we are doing tapas
Discussion:
Each kid in our made a promise that they would keep at home and in Balavihar. Some promises they said they would keep at home: do dishes; clean desk; make their own beds; do laundry; fold clothes; vacuum their rooms.
In BV they promised to sit straight and be attentive in class.
Three types of devotion
1) Tamasic Devotion: People who have hatred, anger, jealousy in their hearts. People who worship God selfishly for their own well-being. Such people have tamasic devotion. Ask kids to retell the story they heard in class about 2 boys and ask them what they understood from the story.
2) Rajasic Devotion: When our mind is full of worldly desires and when we pray to God for material gains, we become a rajasic devotee. When we pray with a shopping list, or for better grades or for any of our wants etc., are examples of rajasic type of devotion.
3) Sattvic Devotion: People who love God for the sake of love, not for anything have sattvic devotion. It is the highest kind of devotion. People who love God not for any gains or pleasures are sattvic devotees.
Likhita Japa
Writing names of God.
Gita Chanting: Chp 15
We learnt VS 15 & 16.
**Important Note for Parents**
Notebooks- 2 count
Likhita Japa books that were provided in BV.
Sharpened Pencil(s) & Eraser.
We kindly ask all children to please bring colors (crayons or colored pencils) every session.
My prayer book to Bala Vihar every session.
Please bring the children to balavihar a few minutes before 9.15 am. We want to promptly start by 9.15 am. Please make sure the student is not late and may come at the latest by 9.20 and not later than that.
No class on Nov 30th and Dec 7th. Next class is on 12/14/2025.
Dec 6th through Dec 13th : Srimad Bhagavat Saptah by Swami Shantananda ji
Join us for a spiritual journey with Swami Shantananda ji takes through the divine stories of Srimad Bhagavat
Kindly register and attend.
