Sanskar Gurukul Weekly Update

Class Name: Kapila Week# 6: November 4th, 2012

General Assembly Sridhar Uncle started the GA with three Omkars followed by the Shanti Mantra, prayer before studies and the Gurustotram.

Upanishads are the essence of the vedas and were passed on from Lord Brahma to the sages and then on down through generations from guru to student (Shishya). In the olden says, students used to spend 10-15 years in the gurukul with their gurus, learning, everything from math to science and above all learning about the God within us. There are 108 upanishads - Rig Veda has 10 upanishads, Yajur has 50, Sama has 16 and Atharva has 32. The Bhagvad Gita is considered one of the upanishads.

The Taitirriya upanishad is part of the Yajur veda and was taught by a guru to his shisyas before they "graduated" from gurukul. Following this would help them as they left the gurukul to lead a life in the outside world. Then Sridhar Uncle did a lead and follow of the Shishya Anushasanam shloka of the Taitirriya upanishad. It is important that the chanting is done in a certain manner - the way and tone in which you chant it is as important as the words. Here is the essence of this shloka

• Always speak the truth • Follow the path of dharma and always do the right thing. • Learn about the God within you and the strength and power that comes from that. It will give you a chance to be great and influence a lot of people around you. Any one of us can become great if we choose to learn about the God within us

Class We continued our discussion on Prakruti and Vikruti. We read some paragraphs from the book and discuss what it mean.

Homework None

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