Hari Om! Parents,
Attendees: 2 out of 7.
Absent - Ryan R, Ryan S, Shreeya, Lakshiv, Ritvik
One concern is on attendance. We request all of you to encourage your kids to attend the class. We had only 2 kids today and would love to see more participation.
We began our classes with where kids write their favorite deity's name
Highlights of the class
Mahabharata – Revision of chapters 5 and 6.
We then covered chapter 7 and 8. Stories of Rajasuya yagna and Jarasandha were elaborated upon.
Chapter 8 is the root cause of the entire Mahabharata - The Game of Dice and the insult of Draupadi.
This is a very heavy topic for 5th graders and so do talk to them to ensure they are ok.
This is also one of the most debated topics in many forums on why Yudhishthira, the Dharmaraja, didnt stop the game earlier.
There were many factors that contributed to this terrible outcome:
1. Yudhishthira's fondness for the game of dice and his lack of self control while playing it
2. Yudhisthira's principle of always obeying the elders. He couldn't refuse Dhritarashtra's invitation as a result.
3. Kshatriya dharma of not backing out of a challenge lest you be called a coward
4. The principles of the other pandavas of their duty of obeying their older brother regardless of whether they agree with it or not.
5. The cunningness of Shakuni and evil nature of Duryodhana
6. The putra moha of Dhritarashtra that led him to support all the wrongdoings of his son and ignore the pleadings of Vidura, his own son Vikarna and even Draupadi.
7. The inability of all other elders (Bhishma, Drona, etc) to stop the heinous act with a confused sense of dharma
and many more other reasons..
Gurus – None
Chanting: We chanted and reflected on select verses of Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15Fun - Kids did some stretches in the middle of the class. We do this to encourage some physical activity and also get a fun element in so that they pay attention in the second half of the class too.
Reminders
Please send a notebook and pen for likitha japa in class. Encourage 5 minutes of writing practice at bedtime.
Review the 2 ślokas practiced in class.
Jan 24 - Story telling competition please register .
Warm regards,
- Sunil Nadig and Sangeetha Srikanth
