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HARI OM!!

Happy summer break to all!! See you in September at the ashram premises, for a new balavihar year!

Check the thumbnail on the left for the video and stills from the play.

Grade 6 teachers.

The Journey of grade 6.......boarding Pandavas,Kauravas, Dronacharya, Drupada, and the great Ekalavya, and Karna

Section: 1                                                                                     October 20, 2012

Hari Om,

We started our class with opening prayers. We reviewed last week’s story until Pandu married Kunti and Madri. We began with the birth of the Kauravas.

            Dhritarashtra and Gandhari had 100 sons and one daughter.  Duryodhana, the first son, brayed like a donkey when he was born causing many bad things to happen in the kingdom like fires randomly starting, and more.  Vidura predicted Duryodhana would cause much destruction to the world and told Dhritarashtra to sacrifice him.  But he was too attached to his first son and kept him despite Vidura’s warnings.

            Meanwhile Pandu went hunting one day, and saw a deer and a doe. Naturally, he killed them.  They were actually humans in disguise and the father of the deer was a Rishi.  He cursed Pandu saying that if he went near his wives, he would die.  Pandu sadly retreated into the forest with his wives and stayed there. There, Kunti taught Madri used the mantra to bear children and they both had children, Madri had two and Kunti had three.  Kunti called upon Yama, god of death and received Yudishtira or Dharmaraja.  Next, she requested the wind god, Vayu, and received the almighty Bhima. Last, she consulted Indra, and received Arjuna. Madri called upon the Ashwinikumars, the heavenly doctors, and received handsome twins, Nakula and Sahadeva.  These 5 sons became the Pandavas.  Many years later when Madri and Pandu were together, the curse came into effect and Pandu died. During the funeral pyre, Madri jumped in feeling that Pandu had died because of her.  Kunti, who was lost and confused, returned to Hastinapura to Bheeshma.  Yudishtira was 16 at the time.  

            Kripacharya taught the Pandavas and the Kauravas fighting skills. After the first few lessons, Duryodhana realized Bhima was a suitable enemy for the throne. He began scheming for a way to get rid of his competitor.  He invited everyone to a picnic on the banks of the Ganges.  He poisoned Bhima’s food, tied Bhima up (who had fell asleep), and threw him into the river which had spikes on the bottom. Bhima, very luckily, missed the spikes by an inch.  He instead fell into a pit of poisonous snakes. The poison of the snakes was like an antidote to the poison he had previously eaten. Bhima emerged from the river 8000 times stronger than he originally was.  After the rest of the Pandavas found out this incident, they told Vidura in secret.

            Drona was the son of Rishi Bharadwaja.  He was very poor.  Drona and Drupada, son of King Panchala, went to Gurukula together and became good friends. Drupada used to joke saying that when he grew older he would give Drona half of his kingdom.  Many years later, Drona went to King Drupada seeking alms. Drupada had grown arrogant and said he could only be friends with kings and immediately sent away Drona.  Drona was humiliated, angry, and seething with vengeance.

            The Pandavas and Kauravas were playing when their ball fell in a well.  They had many failed attempts but couldn’t get the ball.  When they were starting to get very frustrated, they heard an old man laughing behind them.  This man was none other than Drona.  Yudishtira challenged Drona to get his ring and the ball out of the well, he will give dinner at his guru’s house. Drona agreed and quickly constructed a rope of reeds and arrows and retrieved the ball and ring.  Bheeshma saw this and requested Drona to be the teacher.  He accepted on one condition which was that his disciplines had to accomplish everything he taught.  The Kauravas were silent, but the Pandavas readily agreed.  From the day on, he was called Dronacharya.  Arjuna practiced day and night and Drona promised him that he would be the best archer in the world.

            One afternoon a boy walked up to Drona and eagerly requested him to be his archery teacher. His name was Ekalavya and he was the prince of the forest tribal’s.  Dronacharya declined saying that he could only teach kshtriya prince.  Ekalavya went back to the forest, slightly discouraged, but nevertheless constructed a statue of Dronacharya and practiced in front of him.  Many years later, the Pandavas went for hunting and found their dog with many arrows lodged in its tongue.  Arjuna wanted the archer who did this amazing feat.  He began to question that was he really the best archer in the world.  They found Ekalavya and questioned on how he could shoot so well, who was his teacher?   He replied that he was a student of Dronacharya and told his story.  Arjuna immediately questioned Dronacharya about the skillful archer Ekalavya.  Dronacharya went to Ekalavya and requested Gurudakshina. He asked for Ekalvya’s right thunb which was needed for archery.  Ekalavya cheerfully sliced off his thumb and presented it to Dronacharya.   Arjuna was very pleased.

            Drona decided to test the boys at the end of their education with him.  He hid a bird in a tree and told his students to shoot the eye of the bird.  He asked Bhima what he saw.  He replied, “I see the sky, a tree, and all of you.” The rest of the Pandavas and Kauravas replied in the same way.  When Drona asked Arjuna what he saw, Arjuna said “I only see the eye of the bird.”  Drona was very pleased and told him to shoot. The bird’s head was on the ground the next second.   Another time, Dronacharya was bathing in the Ganges when a crocodile bit him on the thigh.  Although he could have easily freed himself, he called for help.  With only five arrows,  Arjuna killed the crocodile. 

Dronacharya still wanted to take revenge on King Drupada.  He asked Karna and Duryodhana to capture him, but they both failed. When he asked Arjuna, he returned with King Drupada captured alive.  Dronacharya said to him, “I have conquered you which mean I have conquered your kingdom as well.  When we were kids, I told you I would give you half of my kingdom.  So take it as a charity.”  Drupada was freed as an angry and humiliated man. He did tapas and asked for a boon that he would be given a son to kill Drona (Dhrishtadyma) and a daughter to marry Arjuna (Drupadi).  Duryodhana began to recognize Arjuna as a suitable match for the throne.

            Dronacharya held a ceremony displaying all the prince's talents.  Throughout the ceremony, the people singled out Arjuna as the best.  Suddenly, a boy named Karna said he was better than Arjuna. Whatever was hard for Arjuna,  Karna did with ease.  Finally, he challenged Arjuna to a duel.  Kunti, in the audience, recognized Karna as her first son from the Sun god.  She fainted to see her two sons fighting and was carried away.  Meanwhile, Kripacharya introduced Arjuna to the crowd as the prince of Hastinapura. . But Karna had nothing to say when it came his turn.  His “father”, who was an old charioteer, came out to the crowd saying, “Oh my son, you are doing such a great job!”  The people laughed at him and Karna was embarrassed.  But Duryodhana, seeing this as a perfect time to beat Arjuna,  made him King of Anga.  Karna than pledged loyalty to Duryodhana.  Soon after the duel, Indra went to Karna’s house in the disguise of a Brahmin begging for alms. He requested Karna’s kavacha and kundalas. Karna,  without a second thought, he gave it in.  This is how he got his name, Karna, which means “cutter“.  

At the very end, we got the crossword puzzle with a word bank and clues for homework. It helps us to reinforce and remember all the characters and stories we have learned so far from Mahabharata.

We were reminded to register for the upcoming CORD Walkathon to support our fellow folks, who are deprived of their basic needs.

We will get together as a class at Mercer County Park and walk for a worthy cause, next Sunday, Oct 28,2012 at 10:00 AM.
See ya!

Hari Om,
Anjali Akula

Dronacharya, Karna, Bakasura


Hari Om!
We started our class by saying OM three times. We then said our daily prayers and created peaceful environment for starting our class. First off, we reviewed last class’s lesson, and started with a story.
We heard the ‘Well Story’ where the Kauravas and Pandavas lose their favorite ball. They tried getting it out by putting a stone in the well, and doing other things, with no avail. They couldn’t get the ball out! But then, a mysterious man came and said that he could take the ball out. He wanted a favor inreturn though. He took a blade of grass and pierced it into the ball. The man then took more grass andmade a rope out of them. He got the ball out with that rope. Meanwhile, the mysterious man put hisring inside the well too. He shot it with an arrow so well, that the arrow got the ring and took it out too.
Bheeshma, who was with the princes was amazed, and asked the man to teach the princes. We then talked about the flashback that the man had.
The man was actually Dronacharya, the son of Sage Bharadwaja. He married Kripacharya’s sister, and their child was Ashwatthaama. Dronacharya and the soon-to-be-king of Panchala (Drupada),were such good friends that Drupada, agreed to give Dronacharya half of his kingdom when he became king. Years down the lane, Dronacharya became really poor. Then he remembered what his friend hadtold him years ago. He went to the king of Panchala and asked for half the kingdom. The king said noand disgraced him. Dronacharya then went to Hastinapur looking for work and saw these princes. We also listened to the story of Ekalavya.
We also learnt that when you look at a target, you should be extremely focused. You should only keep your eye on the goal. We learnt this through the story of the bird.
Dronacharya once called all the princes for a test. He pointed to something and asked, “What do you see?” Everyone talked about the surroundings of the where Drona pointed, except for Arjuna. He said he saw a bird’s head. That’s how we learnt that moral.
The second to last thing we talked about was when Kunti recognizes Karna and faints. She then talks to him privately and tells him to join the Pandavas. Karna was already indebted to Duryodhana because he earned Karna a good status, so he made up his mind and told his real mom that he is with the Kauravas.
The last thing we talked about was Lakshagruha, the wax palace. We listened about the wisdom of Vidura and the evil plan of Duryodhana (Tried to kill the Pandavas). The Pandavas escaped and defeated Bhakasura, and continued on their journey.
To end our class, we meditated, and some of us felt sleepy, which was good because your mind was getting calmer.
CORD Walkathon – October 28th
Our teachers told us not to forget about the CORD Walkathon, and that everyone
should  register. If you have not registered, please REGISTER!
A separate email was sent out to the 6th grade parents about instructions for CORD registration and the walkathon last week. Please contact the teachers if you have any questions.
GITA Chanting – 13th Chapter
We also started off with the 13th chapter of Bhagavad Gita. Below is the link to practice:
The 6th graders are required to learn 25 shlokas for the Gita Chanting Competition.
We did our ending prayers, and couldn’t WAIT for next class.

Hari Om,
NK

The Journey of grade 6.....boarding Sikhandi, Dhritarashtra, Pandu, and Vidura....October 14, 2012

Section 1:                                                                                   


      
Family tree drafted by Brinda Suresh,  

Hari Om,

      We started our class with opening prayers. After that, we reviewed last class's story about Satyavati and how Gangadatta became known as Bhishma. Today we continued the story starting with the birth of Chitragandha and Vichitravirya. After Chitragandha died, Vichitravirya became king. Vichitravirya married Ambika and Ambalika. 

Amba wanted to marry King Salva who was defeated by Bhishma. King Salva was dishonored by Bhishma and could not take Amba's hand in marriage. Amba was infuriated at Bhishma and she made a vow to kill Bhishma. After severe tapas and penance Amba jumped into a sacrificial flame and was reborn as Sikhandi.

      Vichitrarvirya died before Ambika and Ambalika gave birth to any children, so, Satyavati prayed to Sage Veda Vyasa and Ambika, Ambalika, and Ambalika's friend were all blessed with one child each.  Ambika gave birth to Dhritarashtra, Ambalika gave birth to Pandu, and Ambalika's friend gave birth to Vidura. Dhritharashtra, even though being the eldest, was born blind, so Pandu was given the throne. Dhritarashtra married Gandhari, who was given a boon to have 100 sons and one daughter. Pandu married Kunti and Madri.

      Kunti served Sage Durvasa for many years, Durvasa, being pleased by Kunti's service, gave Kunti a special boon that would grant Kunti a divine child with the features of which deity she was thinking of. Kunti immediately wanted to try out her new boon, so looking at the blazing Sun, she recited the mantra, Surya, the Sun god then appeared before her. Kunti now knowing that the mantra worked, tried to dismiss the Sun god. Surya, said that it was his duty to give Kunti a son because of the mantra, so gave her a child with natural kavacham (armor) and kundalam (earrings).  Kunti placed the child in a basket and let him float down the river. A charioteer named Athiratha found the basket. Having prayed to god for a child, he thought that the god had answered his prayers after finding the boy in the basket. He took the boy and raised him as his own child. 

That is where we ended the story.

At 11:00 a.m, we went to the auditorium for the presentation on CORD by the volunteers who had been to CORD villages and served the needy.  We heard and saw the visuals, moved by their plight, understood the importance of the upcoming CORD Walkathon. 

 Each drop in the river counts and each brick in the building counts. Let's all walk to support our CORD folks!

 We had a great time and we are looking forward to next class

Hari Om,
Sreyus and Brinda

Amba and Bheeshma, introducing Pandavas and Kauravas


We had a short class today as we had to be in the auditorium at 11am for a presentation of CORD (Chinmaya org for Rural Development). The CORD walkathon is on October 28th at Mercer County Park. Please register online at http://www.cord.dojiggy.com/ and participate on the 28th.
Today in Balvihar class we started off with a chapter 2 review about Bheeshma’s terrible vow.  After that we started talking about Amba and how she was rejected by all the princes. She got so mad that she went up to Bheeshma and told him,'Since nobody will marry me you will have to'. Bheeshma  could’nt break his vow so he told her he was very sorry but he could'nt since he took a vow saying he will never get married and have kids. So Amba tries again to persuade king Shalua to marry her but he wont. She goes to the forest and meditates so she can get a boon. Finally Lord Shiva gives her a boon saying in your next life you will kill bheeshma. She could'nt wait that long so she lit a fire and just walked in it. She was reborn to King Dhrupada. She saw the garland she put on the gate in her previous life and she is starting to remember she wants to kill bheeshma for the pain he has brought her. Her parents became aware that she wanted to do bad things so they kept a close eye on her. One day she escaped to the forest and started meditating. Lord Shiva again comes down and gives her boon. She turned in to a male named Shikhandi.
Prince Vichitravirya had 3 sons through Ambika and Ambalika named Dhritrashtra, Pandu and Vidhura. Dhritrashtra was an able warrior but was born blind. He married Gandhari and had 100 sons and 1 daughter. They were called the Kauravas. Pandu married Kunti and Madri and had 5 sons called the Pandavas. Kunti also had a son Karna with the blessings of the sun God, when she was testing a secret mantra given to her by Sage Durvasa. Karna was brought up by a charioteer.
We extended our family tree and added Kauravas and Pandavas.

The Journey of grade 6....Oct 7, 2012.....boarding Satyavati and Bheeshma



Hari Om! 

I hope everybody enjoyed the break.  Our class got to work immediately. We started with three OM's and morning prayers. Here's a fun fact!  You know how balavihar teachers are always requesting us to pray loudly?  Well there is an explanation, or a truth behind their words. Let's say you're a devotee of lord Vishnu. You pray to him loudly every day for hours.  Then one day you some how get into trouble.  Then you would call lord Vishnu for help, right?  Then he would hear your plead for help, and recognizing your resonant voice, he would come to help you.  But lets say you never sang loudly when you prayed.  When you cried out,  he will think, Who is this new person calling for help?  I do not recognize him.  It must be an asura(demon...fake voice) imitating one of my devotees.  Therefore, we should always pray loudly so God will always answer our calls.  Moving on, we sang our usual prayers and morning bhajans. We sang Ganesha Sharanam,  the Daily Prayers,  Gurusthotram and 4 verses of Dashavatarasthotram,  

We did a small worksheet with the Word of the Day.  The sheet quizzed us on what we learned last class and we had to fill in the blanks with the answers.  Certain dashes were circled.  After we filled all of the answers, we had to take all of the letters from the circled dashes and unscramble them to get the secret word.  The secret word was "Bheeshma". 


We continued with the Mahabharata story.  We were told the story of how Gangadatta was returned to Shantanu by Ganga, the story of how Shantanu fell for Satyavati, the story of the fisherman and his outrageous conditions,  the story of how Gangadatta negotiated with the fisherman, and the story of how Gangadatta became 
Bheeshma one who makes terrible vows.  We ended the stories with Bheeshma's boon. 

Things that provoked our thinking:  We discussed that Gangadatta or Bheeshma was 20 years old when he went, and asked for Satyavati for his father Shantanu.  Shantanu,  instead of getting his son married and  not controlling his own desire to marry a young girl,  fell in prey for it.  He should have stepped back after listening to the fisherman's selfish demands. On the other hand, Bheeshma sacrificed his life. There's clearly a huge contrast between these characters.

On the contrary, if Bheeshma got married, how would the Mahabharata have turned out to be?  Perhaps everything has a reason behind it and things are destined to be certain way. 

Towards the end of class, we began to discuss CORD and the CORD Walkathon. We talked about how our lives were posh and luxurious, and how the lives of rural children associated with CORD are poor and needy. We compared our lives to theirs and we also did a fun activity.  Our teachers randomly chose a student, and she was asked to serve life saver mints and Oreos to some kids and nothing to the other kids. When we opened our eyes, and looked to the next person, they either had both treats or none of them.  The kids with none were the CORD kids, and the kids with two treats cookies and candies were us.  We discussed how we felt about it and what can be done to make it fair ?  So we figured out that if we wanted to be equal, we had to share all of the treats equally. 


We ended our class with closing prayers


We all had a great class and we are looking forward to next Sunday! 


Hari Om,
-BKS

Devavrata becoming Bheeshma




We moved on with the story of Mahabharatha. King Shantanu of Hastinapur , in one of his strolls, met and fell in love with a fisherman’s daughter named Satyavathi, and wanted to marry her. The fisherman puts a condition that his daughter’s son must be the king. Shantanu returns in dejection. Devavrata, the “Yuvaraja”, seeing his father so sad and depressed asks, “what happened?” .  Devavrata, after hearing what Shantanu said goes to the fisherman and gives up the throne of Hastinapur, so that his father could marry the fisherman’s daughter. But still the fisherman was not convinced. Devrarata, then promises and vows to the fisherman that he will never marry. Upon this vow the devas showered flowers and his name becomes ‘Bheeshma’.
Bheeshma means one “who keeps a terrible vow”. After hearing this Shantanu is rejoiced and decides to marry Satyavati. Together they have 2 children Chitrangada and Vichitraviriya.
Chitrangada goes to war with Vichitravirya against a neighbouring kingdom and gets killed.
As the throne’s heir Vichitraviriya becomes king of Hastinapur and rules along with his advisor Bheeshma.
Vocabulary: Vansha—is lineage.
One day Bheeshma looked for a suitable bride for Vichitravirya . Bheeshma then finds the three daughters of the king of Kashi appealing. In his impatience, Bheeshma kidnaps the three daughters of the king of Kashi.
On the way to the kingdom, Bheeshma encounters the king of Shalua. The king of Shalua and Amba had decided to marry each other, so he stops Bheeshma and asks for Amba. They both fight and Bheeshma leaves Shalua unconscious. Amba then confesses that they both are in love and wanted to marry each other. Bheeshma asks for forgiveness and sends Amba back to King Shalua. The King of Shalua refuses to marry Amba and she returns to Hastinapur. Vichitraviriya also refuses to marry Amba and marries Ambika and Ambalika. Amba gets really angry with Bheeshma, for ruining her life.

-We started drawing the family tree of King Shantanu’s family.
-We also made a note of all the characters we encountered so far, some good and noble, some selfish etc.
-Binder check next week.
-CORD registration is next week. There will be a CORD meeting/demo in the auditorium on the 14th. 6th grade and above classes will attend.