Balavihar Week 17 Section 2

04/03/13

We started class as usual by chanting 3 Oms, Sahaanaavavatu and going into five minutes of meditation. We continued with chanting the full Guru Stotram.

Next, we proceeded to practice our Bhagavad Gita Chanting, finishing up till Sloka 14. Everyone should keep up the good work in practicing, everyone is really shaping up well. We still have 6 slokas to complete! And please register your children in the Gita Chanting Competition ASAP!

During story time, we learned about Hiranyakasapu and Prahlada. Hiranyakasapu was the brother of Hiranyaksa, who had been killed by Lord Vishnu in the avatar of Varaha. Because of this, Hiranyakasapu hated Lord Vishnu. He did an immense amount of tapas and meditation and received a boon from Lord Brahma. The boon was that Hiranyakasapu could not be killed by God, man, animal or any inanimate things. Also, he could not be killed during the day or during the night, nor in the sky, nor on Earth, not indoors, or outdoors. With this boon, he began thinking of himself as God, immortal, forcking people to worship him. 

Hiranyakasapu's youngest son was named Prahlada, and ever since he was born, he was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu. Regardless of all the lessons the teachers tried to teach him about kingly duties, all Prahlada was interested in was chanting, singing, or telling stories of Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakasapu got angry at him, and tried to convince him to stop worshipping Vishnu. But this did not work and eventually he asked his men to kill Prahlada. However, Prahlada would always be chanting Vishnu's name, and all their attempts to kill him would fail. They tried to throw him from a cliff, poison him, crush him by an elephant, but nothing seemed to work. Hiranyakasaspu, now frustrated, told Prahlada to prove to him that Vishnu was omnipresent. He cut open a pillar, mocking that there was no way Vishnu could be inside it. However, once he cut the pillar, Vishnu came in the form of Narsimha, the half-man, half-lion avatar. He put Hiranyakasapu on his lap and tore open his chest with his nails, killing him. He then gave his blessings to Prahlada who never failed to worship him. 

Next Sunday we have Bhiksha with Swamiji at ashram. All third graders are welcome with parents, their siblings and grand parents. Please bring the food that you have signed up for!

See you next week!
~Indira Aunty and Sanjana Didi