Beginning prayers
· 'om' chanting - 3 times
· 'om' chanting - 3 times
· Meditation
· sahanaavavatu
· gurustotram
Gitaa chanting
· bhagavadgItaa 12th adhyaaya 1 - 17 shlokas
Story time
· priyavrata ajaamiLa
· ajaamiLa
Ending prayers and pledge
· pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
· chinmaya aarati - in the auditorium
· om jaya jagadIsha hare - in the auditorium
· pledge - in the auditorium
Rashmi Aunty and Indira Aunty:
Today's class began with quite a few kids in a sleepy mode :), thanks to the spring forward time. But very quickly, the mood changed! We did the beginning routines as well as any day! The gItaa chanting is going on in full swing. We are up to the 17th shloka. The children are very excited about the competition. But not all of them are registered. Parents, please be reminded to register them :).
During story time, we heard the story of priyavrata, one of manu's sons. He was a very keen learner and because of his goodness, he got to learn from maharShI naarada himself. When they were in an in depth discussion about brahman, Lord viShNu himself appeared and gave him knowledge. He surrendered to the Lord and accepted everything as God's will. To understand that, we heard the story of the king who went with his minister, who said 'all that happens is for good and it is God's will'. The king understands with life experiences that the minister was right!
We also heard the story of ajaamiLa. He was an honest man, who was an ardent devotee, who prayed and did his yagnas, etc. But he fell in bad company and forgot all about his prior practices. He became the exact opposite. He was very sick and was about to die. Lord yama's men came to take his life. At that last minute, he being very fond of his youngest son, naaraayaNa, calls out for him. On hearing the name of the Lord, shrIman naaraayaNa's men come to protect him! An argument ensues between the men of yama and naaraayaNa. Having no choice, yama's men leave. ajaamiLa realizes his mistake and becomes pious again! On hearing this story, the children had a hoard of questions!! Mainly, how come he was protected by viShNu, even though he was being bad! For that, we spoke about a few examples regarding bad company. Just the way one rotten apple spoils the whole basket, bad company spoils even the best of us! We heard how Vinobha bhaave's father brought him two books of raamaayaNa and mahaabhaarata and told him that they would be his best companions! Given the time, our discussions would have continued for another half hour, but we had to finish with the ending prayers to go to the auditorium. But there is always next class to continue :).
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During story time, we heard the story of priyavrata, one of manu's sons. He was a very keen learner and because of his goodness, he got to learn from maharShI naarada himself. When they were in an in depth discussion about brahman, Lord viShNu himself appeared and gave him knowledge. He surrendered to the Lord and accepted everything as God's will. To understand that, we heard the story of the king who went with his minister, who said 'all that happens is for good and it is God's will'. The king understands with life experiences that the minister was right!
We also heard the story of ajaamiLa. He was an honest man, who was an ardent devotee, who prayed and did his yagnas, etc. But he fell in bad company and forgot all about his prior practices. He became the exact opposite. He was very sick and was about to die. Lord yama's men came to take his life. At that last minute, he being very fond of his youngest son, naaraayaNa, calls out for him. On hearing the name of the Lord, shrIman naaraayaNa's men come to protect him! An argument ensues between the men of yama and naaraayaNa. Having no choice, yama's men leave. ajaamiLa realizes his mistake and becomes pious again! On hearing this story, the children had a hoard of questions!! Mainly, how come he was protected by viShNu, even though he was being bad! For that, we spoke about a few examples regarding bad company. Just the way one rotten apple spoils the whole basket, bad company spoils even the best of us! We heard how Vinobha bhaave's father brought him two books of raamaayaNa and mahaabhaarata and told him that they would be his best companions! Given the time, our discussions would have continued for another half hour, but we had to finish with the ending prayers to go to the auditorium. But there is always next class to continue :).
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Alka Aunty and Prasad Uncle:
