Hari Om,
Today we had a great Balavihar class! We started the Mahabharata. Let me tell you what we covered today.
We began by discussing the importance of learning about our Epics. The Mahabharata teaches us how to lead a Dharmic life. We also learnt that the 'Bhagavad Gita' , teachings of Yoga and Dharma form the Lord himself, is an integral part of Mahabharata and hence is invaluable. It essentially contains all the knowledge of the Vedas, but in the form of a story, so it is easy for us to understand.
In the first chapter sage Vyasa wanted the entire universe to know about the Mahabharata but he didn't know anybody who could fully and speedily take down his dictation of the epic,so he prayed to Lord Bramha. Lord Bramha appeared and said request Lord Ganesha to be your writer. So sage Vyasa meditated on Lord Ganesha who appeared before him. Sage Vyasa requested Lord Ganesha to be his scribe. Lord Ganesha said alright but on one condition, you must dictate continuously, you stop at any moment I will go away. Sage Vyasa agreed but he also put a condition to Lord Ganesha that he had to understand what he was writing. Lord Ganesha agreed to the terms. Lord Ganesha began writing very fast forcing sage Vyasa to compose very fast. But sage Vyasa sometimes needed a little extra time to compose so he would then make the words in a verse very complicated so that Lord Ganesha would take time to understand. In that time he would make more verses in his mind. After a lot of time the Mahabharata was written. It consisted of 100,000 shlokas and is divided into 12 sections.
Shantanu the king of Hastinapura was very famous for his bravery and wisdom. He inspired many to follow the path of Dharma. One day he went hunting and saw a very beautiful woman. He approached her and asked to marry her. The woman introduced herself as Ganga and said that she would be his wife but on some conditions. "You will not ask any questions about me and will not interfere with what I do and neither will you be unkind to me. If you put up with these conditions I will live with you". The king agreed to all the conditions and married her. Many years went by and 7 children were born to them. But everytime a child was born, the queen Ganga would throw the baby into the river. Finally, when the 8th child was born king Shantanu asked "why do you kill your own children who are you really"? "I am Ganga. These 8 sons are the 8 Vasus who were cursed to be born as humans on earth. Now I shall bring up this child till he reaches adulthood and then return him to you. He will be called Gangadutta the gift of Ganga".
Today was an exciting class and we learned a lot about the Mahabharata.
Sincerely,
AS
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