Mar 15, 2026 - Kindergarten (Sunday AM)

Hari OM Dear Families,

Here is this week's update.

 

Week : 17

15th Mar 2026 / 9:15AM

Shlokas-

We all chanted OM 3 times followed by  shloka

"Om Saha Navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book) 

"Sarawathi namasthubhyam" (page 12 in My Prayers book)

"Guru Brahma" (page 61 in My Prayers book)

X for Excellence. This is doing something outstandingly well. Practice, dedication and perseverance is needed to excel in every field.

Excellence means something is Very,Very Very Good and that can come only with Practice. To get good at sports, school, we have to practice to excel. Practice makes perfect.

We started with each child talking about what they think they were good at. 

How did you get good at it?

Children were sure that it was sheer practice that got them to be really good at each of those activities

Always remember to do the best and leave the rest to God. Bhagavad gita says the same, "Do your duty, Don't expect the result"

STORY- Edison was a prolific inventor with over 1,000 patents.  It took Edison a long years to come up with the invention. When asked by a reporter about how he felt with the number of failed attempts with the light bulb, Edison replied, :Fail? I haven't failed at all. I now know a thousand ways not to make an electric light bulb." It is this attitude and perseverance that led Edison to excel and be successful.

X for Explore-  something to learn more about. As we explore, we excel. In the same Edison story, he tried a 1000 ways how not to make the electric bulb is nothing but he explored so many times. Exploringmeans looking out for a better way to solve any issue, or even better or even better, until the issue is solved.

 Y- for Yajna. This is a fire ritual performed to please God. The Yajna Spirit is when we all work together with dedication, sacrifice and service.

The priests  used to sit around the fire kund (Homa kundam) and chant some special mantras while making offerings of ghee and herbs into the fire.  Everyone would come together - some bring flowers, some prasad, some people help with decorations etc... and work together in the Yagna Spirit. When we participate in Yagna with Yagna Spirit, we cure ourselves of the disease of Selfishness

This yagna was always for the wellbeing of all the people and all the people would help in preparing for the ceremony. This kind of yagna pleased the gods and they showered blessings and good luck on the people.

 In today's age, there are not many fire kund based Yagnas like earlier times. Do we still have the Yagna Spirit? Children said emphatic YES! We spoke about various events which happen around our Vrindavan. where everything is done with the YAgna Spirit. Akhandaramayan, Gita Yagna, the Radha Kalyanam etc.. At the end of each aarti , we sing the closing prayers. 

Why should we pray for other people? Working in unity and remembering Brotherhood.

How it makes one sad if others around are sick or sad. 

Story:

There was once a race for differently abled children. At the start point everyone was ready. Once the countdown began the race started, one child fell down. All the other children got back to the start point, helped the child to stand and all held hands together and walked to the finish line, each of them winning the race. This is the spirit of working things together. Everyone's a winner.

God is very powerful. and if he is so powerful, why should i ask so little just for me! I can ask for the well-being of Everyone!  

We will be happy when others around us are happy.

Yagna spirit story of devas and asuras - Once God arranged a huge feast for devas and asuras. He told everyone to enjoy the food but eat without bending the elbows. The asuras couldn't figure it out but devas started to feed the next person sitting, so they all could eat without bending their elbows!

Why should we think of other people? We learnt the African word called "UBUNTU". It means everyone is interconnected and I am because we are! What if one child keeps making noise in a library that would disturb everyone there, or when one person throws something on the road and the road is dirty for everyone.

Story time : We shared the story of how young children of Africa , taught a foreigner visiting their land the true meaning of Ubuntu. Foreigners drew a circle around the tree , put a box of candy in it and said that whoever got in first gets all the candy and they are not allowed to share! The children held hands to form a circle around the tree and stepped into the circle together ! They won together and hence shared the candy. We'll only be happy when everyone else is also happy.

Y for yoga - is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices aimed at controlling body and mind to attain liberation. The one who practices sincerely and regularly is a yogi. They have a strong body and calm mind.

We practiced some yoga poses. Thoppukaranam, Vriksasan, bhujangasan, veerabhadrasan and butterfly

Gita BG-CH12 V3-V4 we learned verses 3 and 4.

Please keep practicing the verses. The playlist is in the description of our whatsapp group. Also please find the verses in our handbook.

We proceeded to the temple hall where the entire chinmaya family  chanted chapter 15 purushottam yoga from our Holy Bhagavad Geeta and then finished the session with Arathi and the pledge.

Next balavihar class is Sunday 3/22/2026 and the kids can be dropped off in the class directly before 9.15 am. 

Please reach out to us with any questions or concerns you may have.

Hari OM

Veda Rajamony and Vidhya Aiyer