.jpg)
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
No comments:
Post a Comment