The Journey of Grade 6...Boarding: the heroine of the Mahabharata - Draupadi, and Arjuna's marriage to Subhadra

Section 1   

                                                                             Nov 18, 2012

Hari Om,

The class of Sunday, November 18^th was one of the many jubilant classes with stories, discussions, and fun activities.    As usual we started off with our deep breathing and three OM’s followed by our daily prayers. We skipped right into our journey through Bhagavad Geeta Chanting and have learned verses 4-6! 

In our voyage through Mahabharata we’ve been learning about the heroine of the story-Draupadi, daughter of king Drupada king of Panchala. He had organized a Swayamvara, or an event  of choosing a husband where many prince’s  of various kingdom, or kshatriyas have to complete various tasks or missions that are assigned to take the daughters hand in marriage. When she garlands the prince they immediately get married, Drupada’s challenge to the princes was to hit a clay fish fixed to a long pole balancing on a revolving disc with a hole.  Whoever hits five arrows in a row through the hole and hits the eye of the fish causing it to drop to the ground wins her as their wife. Many had tried but no one succeeded. Even mighty Duryodhana attempted to shoot the fish but even with his great strength he couldn’t lift the bow. Next Karna came and everyone thought they had finally found the prince but, Draupudi called out "you are a sutaputhra( a charioteers son) I will never marry you. Leave the palace immediately! ". 

A brahmana (Arjuna,Spoiler Alert!) came up, lifted the bow and arrows, shot the five arrows into the disc and made the fish clattered to the ground. Draupudi put the garland around Arjuna’s neck and Arjuna brought her home.  Kunti, his mother had heard from his son Arjuna that he had brought her a gift but mistakenly she had said to share it equally amongst the rest of the Pandavas. Kunti was surprised to see it was a woman, how could she say to share this? And back then in this time period a mother’s word was final and so all the Pandavas were bound to marry Draupudi! 

Lord Krishna and Balarama arrived shortly to bless them. Dhrishtadyumna, Draupudi’s brother followed them hearing the fact that his own sister was married to five Pandavas. A Sage named Veda Vyasa advised King Drupada that in Draupudi’s last birth she had prayed to Lord Shiva asking him for good husbands, With the qualities of: Just and Truthfulness, Strength and Might, An Excellent Archer, and Incredibly Handsome. Lord Shiva’s way of granting this wish was by giving her a boon in her next life (the one she is living now) of having five husbands with each specialized in each qualities: Yudhisthira is Just and Truthful, Bhima is strong and Mighty, Arjuna the incredibly skilled archer,Nakula and Suhadeva were split for the boon of Handsomeness. The king was delighted and gave each of his five son in-laws gifts. 

Later the Pandavas were invited to Dwaraka for a celebration. There Arjuna reconnected with his friends Krishna and Balarama. Arjuna also met Krishna’s sister Subadhra for the first time. Arjuna fell in love at first sight. He immediately  seeked Krishna’s help for his sister hand in marriage. Krishna gave him two options (1) to either be at her Swayamvara or(2) carry her away in a chariot. Arjuna was informed that she was visiting a temple one day and so he planned to whisk her away to Hastinapura that very day in a chariot! Once he took her away everyone tried to attack the couple from leaving but no one can beat the mighty Arjuna. Even Balarama was about to go after them but Krishna calmed him down and changed his point of view! After that Arjuna finally got married to Subadhra and she gave birth to a son named Abimanyu. 

This was the end of this week’s story but not the end of class. After the story there was a lot of excitement through the classroom. We were playing Mahabharata Charades. We were allowed to draw or act out a character we’ve met so far in the story. For example one of the students got the character Karna and took of their earrings and jackets to represent taking off kavachas (armor) and kundalas (earrings). Another student drew a picture of a person falling into a fire representing the character Amba. And another student had covered her eyes with a scarf to represent Gandhari who blindfolded herself for her husband who was blind. It was interesting to see these creative ways to reenact and show these characters with simple jesters and drawings. We look forward to our next class on December 2^nd. Enjoy your Thanksgiving break and see you soon

- Shivani Iyer

Journey of Grade 6: Wax Palace and Story of Bakasura

                                                                         
Section: 1                          November 11, 2012      

(Continued from the last post)    

Hari Om!    

We started the class with opening prayers. We sang a Ganesha and a saraswati bajan because, because we were starting the Gita that class. We had a little ceremony by putting a little bit kum kum on our Gita sheet of paper. 

Then before we started our Gita we talk about the story last class when Arjuna had to shoot an arrow at the birds eye to pass Dhronacharya's test! After that we did an activity to experience how it was to be in Arjuna's shoes. We did this by throwing darts at a dart board to try to hit the target. Only three of us managed to hit the board showing that we did not have Arjuna's excellent focus.

Next we learned the first 3 versus of Bagvat Gita chapter 13 & we also learned the versus's meanings After that we talked about last weeks' story and we began to learn the next story. Next we discussed the story about Dhuryodhana and how he became jealous of the Pandavas and sent them to a far away land by praising its' beauty. But the trick was when Dhuryodhana ordered the people to build the palace he made sure that the palace was made entirely out of flamible objects and things. Dhuryodhana's was to set the entire palace on fire, one year after the Pandavas arrived. But the Pandavas friend and advisor Vidura immediately saw through the plan and began constructing an escape route for his friends. Vidura had managed to build a huge network of tunnels leading away from the place just when Beema accidentally set fire to the entire palace!!! After they escaped Dhuryodhana made it look as if they had all accidentally burned in the fire. The Pandavas afraid that the people in Hastinapura would believe that they were ghost that had rose from the dead immediately fled to a faraway village where they disguised themselves as Brahmins and begged for food. One day, Kunti learned from the owner of the house where they lived that there was an asura named Bakasura who was terrorizing the village and the village had an agreement to send a cart load of food and one person to drive the cart who the demon can eat. Kunti immediately agreed to help the family and sent Bheema with the cartload of food. Bheema went to the edge of the village, finished eating all the food and then killed the asura too. All the people in the village rejoiced. 

- Tejas B

Rajasuya Yagna, Pandavas in Exile

Hari Om!!

In this week's class, we continued with Geeta Chanting , chapter 13. We recited 6 verses together in class. Listening to the audio everyday will help in memorizing. You can do so at:

 http://www.geetachanting.net/bvg13v01-10/

 

 Mahabharata

This week's balavihar lesson was focused on the Rajasuya Yagna, Shakuni's game of dice, and the Pandavas' exile.

Rajasuya Yagna

We started with the Rajasuya Yagna. It was performed for Yudhisthra to be the king of all kings. It was the highest level of yagna and was conducted in the presence of  Vedavyasa. Soon came the part where Yudhisthra had to pay respects to the gathering of kings there. As tradition would have it, he had to start with the greatest king of all. And who was that but Lord Krishna, king of Dwaraka!
As Krishna moved forward, the King of Chedi, Shishupala stood up. He had an objection. He called Krishna a mere cowherd, and a killer of women (Putana) and bulls (a rakshasa)........
Flashback: The previous King of Chedi had a son. He was horribly deformed with 3 eyes and 4 arms. His name was Shishupala. The king was very scared and he wanted to get rid of the baby. But he heard an "Aakash Vaani", saying that when he sat on the lap of the king who would kill him, his eye and extra arms would fall off. So the king invited all kings to come give the baby blessings but nothing happened. When he reached Krishna-lo and behold!-his eye and 2 arms fell off. The queen, who was Krishna's cousin, pleaded Krishna to not kill him, no matter what. Krishna told her he couldn't do that but he would forgive Shishupala 100 times.
As the years went on, Krishna kept counting every insult that Shisupala said. As it would happen, the day he would cross the limit would be at Yudhishtra's Rajasuya Yagna. Krishna took out his Sudarshan Chakra and killed Shishupala. Yudhishtra became king of kings.

The Games of Dice

Duryodhana was very angry at this chain of events. He called his uncle Shakuni. Shakuni was an evil genius. He called the Pandavas for a game of dice. Shakuni had a pair of "baised dice" that was made of the bones of his father. He used those to play the game. Yudhisthra's weakness was gambling. He wagered everything starting small and ending with himself, his brothers and Draupadi. Draupadi was called to the palace. Dushasana, Duryodhana's brother, disrobed her in front of everyone. But she prayed to Krishna who saved her by making her sari infinite. Bhima was extremely angry, He made two vows. One was he would rip open Dushasana's chest and drink his blood. The other was he would break Duryodhana's thigh where he made Draupadi sit. This whole time, Dhritarashtra was watching. He called off all the bets and everyone went back to their old lives. But Duryodhana and Shakuni were not done yet. In the second game of dice,the same thing happened but they did not lose themselves. The last wager was if he won he would get everything back. But if he lost he had to go to the forest in exile for 12 years and be incognito for 1. If they were found out that last year, they had to do it all over again. Yudhisthra lost and they went into exile.

The Journey of Grade 6........boarding Bhagavad Geeta

Section: 1                                    November 11, 2012

Hari Om!    
                                        

Our class discussion:

Why do we learn to chant or study Geeta ?

An introduction: 

The Bhagavad Geeta is one of the Lord’s divine song or prayers in the form of a shlokha, on the battlefields of Kurukshetra.  It is the climax of Mahabharata.  Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, was explaining the need to fight against the Kaurava's army to Arjuna.  Arjuna was refusing to fight because the opposing army consisted of his beloved friends, family members, and gurus. The god directs and guides the dejected, depressed, and helpless archer along the right path. He has various questions on the principles of good devotees and the best path for a man to reach the Lord.  Krishna repeatedly explains these concepts through 18 chapters of devotional Sanskrit verses.

We are a dual personality of good and bad, almost like a salad.  No normal salad has only one ingredients in it. But not all of the ingredients has equal nutrition value. The various ingredients are representing our various qualities.  We must try to conquer the evil and cultivate the good attributes in us. How? If you are annoyed at your friend and you want to smack him hard in the face, you may raise your hand ...but …pause a moment…and remember what Geeta teaches…if you can recollect the values and principles it encourages.  By shaking hands with him, you can not only make him stop annoying you, but you can also make peace with him, which is what Geeta encouraging you to do.  This had been the philosophy of many great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi,

Arjuna feels sad at the prospect of fighting against his kith and kin.  Arjuna, feeling extremely depressed,  threw down his bow and arrow and sank on to the seat in the chariot in utter dejection.

When you feel that an injustice has been done against you, and want to hit it back.  You loose the strength to avenge; the consequent feeling of helplessness which causes to loose your balance is called dejection.

It is to such Partha (Arjuna) that Lord Krishna advises the entire Geeta. Geeta gives us a plan and a technique by which we too can successfully come out of our own Arjuna-mood whenever we are in it.

The Lord’s song contains a secret cure for this dejection in life, which we may call as “the Krishna-medicine for the Arjuna disease";) . Arjuna in Geeta represents all of us with tons of doubts and confusion.  Even though you may not understand the meaning of Geeta, it is still good to learn since the chanting itself clears the mind.

Our teachers handed out the sheets of Geeta verses of chapter 13, and sheet protectors after we chanted Vakrathunda Mahakaya (Ganesha Prayer) and Saraswati Namasthubyam, and then we put a kumkum mark on the sheet as a mark of respect.  We then slid them into the sheet protectors and learned to chant. 

Last class we discussed the meaning of the first three verses and we memorized them as well.  In brief I'll tell you the meaning.   First, Arjuna asked the meaning of 6 words: prakitim,  purushah, kshetram, kshetrajña, jñanam, and jñeyum. 

Then, Krishna proceeds to answer in the next 34 verses. 

The class lesson of Mahabharata will be continued soon, please tune in.

-BKS

All Aboard The CORD Express

HARI OM!                  Section 1 and 2                                          October 28, 2012

After registering for the CORD walkathon and collecting our T-Shirts, the sixth grade class met at the assigned location of the Mercer County Park. We warmed up with a few stretches. It happened to be a rather chilly autumn morning before the walkathon. We chatted as the kids were joining in and we took a nice class picture. 


The class chanted a brief set of opening prayers. Then, we played a MAHABHARATA quiz game which was quite fun, actually. We divided up into two teams, the Pandavas:) and the Kauravas:(.  Team Pandavas had 5 kids and Team Kauravas had the rest(BTW, that was kind of Unfair. I was kind of living in the Pandava shoes). The teachers took turns asking questions like: Who was Amba reborn as and who was her father? How many days did the War last ? etc.,  The quiz ended in a tie. 

After that we dispersed for the walk to support our friends in rural India.  The weather got slightly warmer during the walk. After we had a nice walk admiring the colorful fall foliage around the park with friends, we came back and had delicious samosas, sandwiches, Vadapav, Bananas, Parle glucose biscuits, chips, and mango juice. 

The temperature suddenly dropped about one septillion degrees Fahrenheit: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 degrees! That is how it felt. We then rushed home, staying clear of our new guest, Sandy:) and I hope everyone stays safe.

-BKS

Draupadi Swayamvara, Story of Jarasandha

Hari Om! 11/11/12
Class Summary:
Today we started our class with three Om’s and we did our prayers. We then learned that the five Pandavas are alive. We also learned that Draupadi marries the five Pandavas who are, Yudhisthira; Bheema; Arjuna; Nakula; and Sahadeva. Also, we learned that King Brihadratha who was married to twin daughters of the King of Kashi didn’t have children for a long time.
Remember that Diwali is on Tuesday!
Story of Jarasandha:
King Brihadratha and his 2 queens who were childless, meet a Sage named Chanda – Kausika. The king then asked for a son and the Sage gave him a mango blessed with mantras as prasad. The king knew the two queens would fight over the juicy fruit, so he decided to cut the fruit in half, and gave to his wives. The two queens gave birth, but were in shock because one queen gave birth to one half body of a child. The queens then put the babies into the stream. But then a Rakshasi called ‘Jara’ saw the half bodies during her wandering, and wanted to eat them because she saw two pieces of meat. The woman then picked the two babies up and kept them together. All of a sudden the half babies combined and became one healthy child. The queens head this great news and wanted to claim the child, taking him back to their palace. The king heard this story and named the child ‘Jarasandha’. Jarasandha grew up to be a very powerful king and ruled Magadha.
Draupadi’s Swayamvara:
The whole time the people thought that the Pandavas were missing or they thought the Pandavas was dead. The people were very sad and wanted them to return. King Drupada of Panchala was having the swayamvara of his daughter Draupadi. The Pandavas went to Pancala and attended the swayamvara disguised as Brahmanas. Nobody recognized the five Pandavas except Krishna and Balarama. Arjuna passes the test put forth by the king to win Draupadi. He shot the “fish target” by sending 5 successive arrows through the rotating disc below the target. None of the other princes were able to do this except Arjuna. Arjuna then goes to his mother and told her that he wants got her a gift. Kunti tells her son to share it with all the brothers. Unable to go against his mother’s wishes, all five brothers agree to marry Draupadi. Draupadi was okay with this because in the previous life she got a boon from Lord Shiva, which she could marry someone that had all good qualities, and the Pandavas had the good qualities she wanted.
When the Pandavas and Draupadi were talking Dhrishtadyumna who had secretly followed them, overheard them. Dhrishtadyumna was then overjoyed to hear the news and raced to tell everyone the delightful news, that the Pandavas were alive. When Dhuryodhana heard the news he was mad and upset that they were alive. He thought they would be gone for good.
Arjuna marries Subhadra:
When Arjuna wants to marry Krishna’s sister Subhadra, Krishna reads his mind. Later Arjuna brings a chariot and carries away Subhadra with him. Soon people find out she’s missing and try to find her. Krishna knows who took Subhadra and informs them. The people found Subhadra and Arjuna and brought them back. Soon then they got married.