SECTION 1 & 2- ( 10/13/13 BALVIHAR WEEK :5)
Beginning prayers
- Sahanaavavatu
- Meditation for 5 minutes
- Gurustotram verses 1-6 and 14th verse
Gita chanting
- Chapter 14 - 1st and 2nd verse
- Raadhe Raadhe Raadhe - 1-3 stanza
- Dashaavataram Stotram - 1-4 stanza
- The Curse
- Pariksit meets Sukhadeva
Likhita Japa
- Writing ‘Om’
Ending prayers and pledge
- sarve bhavantu sukhinah
- puurnamadah purnamidam
- arati
- Pledge
Bhagvatam Time:
We did the recap of the chapters we did so far.
Tale: The Curse
One day, King Pariksit had gone hunting in the forest. The hunt grew so exciting that he went deep inside the dense forest. After sometime he felt very hungry and thirsty. He wandered around looking for water and he came across an ashram. It was sage Samika's ashram. The king felt very happy and went inside and saw a sage sitting in deep meditation. The king went to him and asked for water. But the sage deeply absorbed in meditation didn't even hear the king's request. The King asked again but still the sage remained motionless and unaware of what's going on. The King thought the sage was pretending and wanted to test him. So he picked up a dead snake and put it around the sage's neck. Yet the sage didn't move and sat deeply engrossed in meditation. After few minutes Sringi, sage Samika's son walked in seeing the scene and got very angry. Sringi immediately on that anger cursed the king saying that on the seventh day he'll be bitten by the snake, Thakshaka. When sage Samika was done with the meditation he was surprised to see his son crying and lamenting over what he did. Sage Samika scolded his son, Sringi for his deeds. He advised him that one wrong deed cannot be set right by another. The king returned to his kingdom and was sorry for his act that resulted from frustration, hunger and anger. But the sage didn't have any hard feelings on the king. His heart was full of divine love.
Moral we get from the tale:
One wrong cannot be set right by another wrong act. Wise people act like the rishi.
Brainstorming: A Question
Why a good king like Pariksit, did a bad act of putting a snake around the sage's neck?
The king lost his mind momentarily and couldnot discriminate right from wrong. In this ignorance, he placed the snake around the rishi's neck. When we are not alert, we get carried away and say or do wrong things.
Game Time: Red Light/Green Light
Tale: Pariksit Meets Sukhadeva
Pariksit felt sorry for what he did. He handed over the kingdom to his son and decided to meet his death peacefully on the banks of river Ganges. Many holy sages visited Pariksit. Vyasa's son, Sukhadeva had also come to see the king. The king gave all the sages due respect. Pariksit asked Sukhadeva to teach him how to attain freedom from the cycle of birth and death. Sukhadeva smiled and advised him on how to meditate. Then, he narrated the story of the Lord's divine play in the universe. Next class onwards, we'll learn all stories that were narrated by Sukhadeva ji to Pariksit. Listening to the stories made Pariksit totally happy.
We wound up our class with Aarti and Pledge in class. See you all next week.
Note: Likhita Japa books can be taken from the front desk.
Warm Regards,
Deepthy Aunty & Rama Aunty (Section 1)
Indira Aunty & Shrinivas Uncle (Section 2)
