Bala Gana Syllabus (Ages 9-12) December 2012

STORIES Discipline of Shakha Page 2 SV: Beginning of the Journey Page 4 SV: Meeting with Prince Mangal Singh Page 5 SV: Meeting with Maharaja of Khetri Page 7 SV: Maharaja of Mysore and Kanyakumari Page 8 SHLOKAS Shlokas Review Page 9 SUBHASHITAM/AMRITVACHAN Page 16 SANGH GEET Page 17

Discipline of Shakha

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Swami Vivekananda Stories Wandering Monk – Beginning of the Journey

After meeting pavahari baba at Ghazipur and learning meditation from him, narendra came back to Calcutta. Here he learnt of the illness of Balaram Bose, one of the early disciples of . He went to varanasi to see him. While at Ghazipur earlier, he had heard of Surendranath Mitra, another lay disciple of Ramakrishna was on death bed. All this news made Narendra very sad. Pramadadas , the sanskrit scholar and friend was surprised that a monk would have all these emotions. Narendra told him, “ Dont think that just because I'm a monk I don’t have feelings, we are not dry monks. We care about people”.

Soon both Balaram Bose and Surendranath mitra passed away. Narendra was determined to be focussed on his goal and there was lot of turbulence in him mind also. He was thinking about the status of hindus in india who were attracted by the materialism of the west. Every time narendra was focussed on attaining bliss (samadhi), he would hear the voices of people stuggling in poverty and ignorance. Gradually, Narendra came to realize that his life was not be a regular sadhu, interested in his own moksha. His thoughts were on what he could do to remove this ignorance and poverty.

Finally narendra decided to leave the monstray again. This time he was determined not to return, as he told his fellow disciple, “Until I gain the realization that my very touch will transform the man”. He met and obtained her blessings for his mission.

Swami accompanied narendra on his journey and the two followed the course of Ganga. They visited Bhagalpur, Varanasi and a few other places, before arriving at Nainital. Both of them wanted to visit Badrikashrama, in the heart of Himalayas. They decided to travel the whole way by foot and not to touch money. On the way, at Almora, both of them spent many hours in meditation. Here, we see from his notes, narendra realized the oneness of universe and man.

They could not go to Badrikashram since the government had closed the road due to famine. They proceed to hrishikesh and spend some time in the company of monks and ascetics. Then narendra moved to Meerut and stays there for 5 months. He spends his time in with some of his disciples and engage in meditation, bhajans and the like. Soon, he becomes restless and longs to free to travel without any attachment to his disciples.

Narendra , assumes the name of Swami Vividishananda in the later part of 1891 and went to delhi. His discpiles came to know of this and they followed him and this makes him angry. He tells them not to follow him at all and that he wants to wander across India.

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Swami Vivekananda Stories Wandering Monk – Meeting with Prince Mangal Singh – Idol worship

Swami, rather more respectful title Swamiji is how Narendra was addressed during his wanderings. Swamiji assumed many different names during this journey. He met many kings, officials, educated professors and ordinary people during this travel. He closely observed the unity of India and as well as the tragedy of infighting, poverty, materialism and misguided attraction of western ideals.

He taught and learnt by his interactions. One thing that stands out regarding Swamiji during this travel is his fearlessness.

In February of 1891, at Alwar in Rajputana (present day Rajastan province) he met the king of Alwar, Maharaja Mangal Singh. This maharaja was westernized in his views. He asked Swamiji, rather mockingly, as to why an able bodied young man and a scholar, he was leading a vagabond's life. Swamiji asked him curtly: “why does he spend time in the company of westerners and go on shooting excursions at the expense of royal duties”. Maharaja, though taken a back, replied “I cannot say why, but I like it”. Swamiji said, “That is the very reason I wander about as a monk”.

One day, the discussion with the maharaja turned towards idol worship. Maharaja, being westernized, did not believe in idol worship and he even ridiculed it. He told Swamiji, “I've no faith in idol worship. I cannot worship stone, wood, metal like other people. Does it mean that I shall fare worse in the life hereafter”. Swamiji, tried to reason with him and tried to explain to him that when Hindus worship idols they are not worshipping the stone, but God alone, which they see stone as a symbol, representation of God. Maharaja was not convinced.

Swamiji, asked the Prime Minister (Dewan) who was present, to take down the picture of Maharaja that was hanging on the wall. He asked the dewan, “Whose picture is this?” The Dewan answered, “It is our Maharaja's picture, Swamiji”. Swamiji commanded Dewan that he should spit on the picture.

Dewan was trembling and he glanced from the maharaja to the monk and from Monk to the Maharaja, not knowing what to do. Swamiji would not let him away, he urged him to spit on the picture because as maharaja put it, it is just a piece of paper. Dewan, finally cried out loud, “Swamiji, how can you ask me to do this? This is picture of our beloved Maharaja. How can I spit on his picture”.

Swamiji said, “Your Maharaja is in front of you in flesh. He is not present in this picture in person. This picture does not move, speak or behave the way Maharaja does. Yet you refuse to spit on this picture because it you see shadow of Maharaja's form/figure. Indeed, you consider spitting on the picture is insulting the prince himself”.

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He turned to the maharaja and continued, “Maharaja, See your Dewan's behavior. He knows that you are not there physically in the picture. Yet your likeness in the picture brings the same feeling of respect to the picture that they have for you. That's why he could not spit on the picture. It is the same with devotees who worship stone, metal or wood pieces. There is likeness of their god and the image brings them close to their god and they are not worshipping the stone or wood as such.

Maharaja understood Swamiji’s point and with folded hands he told, “I must admit that according the light you have thrown on image worship, I have not met anyone who worshipped the stone or wood or metal. I did not understand the meaning till now, you have opened my eyes”.

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Swami Vivekananda Stories Wandering Monk – Meeting with Maharaja of Khetri

Swamiji went to Jaipur, Ajmer, Mount Abu in the western part of India. In Mt. Abu he accepted the hospitality of a Muslim official. Some of his Hindu friends/hosts in the city frowned on this behavior. Swamiji told them that as a sansyasi belonging to highest order of paramahamsas, he is above caste. His conduct in dining with Muslims is not in conflict with any Hindu scriptures.

There are many such instances that Swamiji spoke his mind with total frankness and without fear. Swamiji also learnt from everyone, even from the lowliest and the lost.

At Mt. Abu, he also met Maharaja of Khetri, Ajit Singh Bahadur. He became one of his devoted disciple and greatest supporter. Majaraja accompanied Swamiji to Jaipur. While in Jaipur, maharaja was being entertained one evening by a professional dancer. Swamiji was in his own room when the music started.

Maharaja sent a word to Swamiji to join him for the music and dance program. Swamiji replied saying that as a sanyasi he could not agree to such a request. The singer was deeply hurt by this and she sang of Suradas, great saint and devotee of Vishnu. This was as if that singer was inviting Swamiji with devotion.

Swamiji was completely overwhelmed. The woman and the her meaningful song reminded him that same divinity dwells in every one, high and low, rich and poor- in the entire creation. He could no longer ignore the request and he entered the hall where the music was being played and took his seat.

Later on, speaking of the incident, Swamiji said, ' that incident removed the veil from my eyes. Seeing that all is manifestation of One, I could no longer condemn anybody'.

Swamiji spend considerable time in the Gujarat. He visited Ahmedabad and refreshed his knowledge of Jainism. He met Babu Haridas Viharis das the prime minister of Junagadh and he emphasized the need for preaching the message of Hinduism in the entire world. He spent eleven months in Porbandar, and especially enjoyed the company of the Prime Minister Pandit Sankar Pandurang. Prime Minister was a Sanskrit scholar and was engaged in translation of Vedas. He was impressed by the knowledge and enthusiasm of Swamiji and encouraged Swamiji to visit the west. He told Swamiji, “You ought go west. There people will understand you and your work. You can give them an enlightening interpretation of Hinduism”. He also encouraged Swamiji to continue the study of French since it might be useful in future work.

Swamiji, by this time, was already thinking about visiting the west. He thought, appreciation of India's spiritual heritage by the powerful and prosperous west, might give the Hindus confidence in their own heritage.

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Swami Vivekananda Stories Wandering Monk – Meeting Maharaja of Mysore and Meditation at Kanyakumari

Wandering Monk: Meeting Maharaja of Mysore Swamiji's travels throughout India took him to many cities in the west and southern part of India. He went to Bombay, Poona, Kolhapur, Belgaum and then to Bangalore. In Bangalore he met the Maharaja of Mysore. Maharaja's Prime minister (Dewan) described the young monk as the one destined to leave his mark on this history of this country. Maharaja himself was impressed by the brilliance, character, learning and in depth religious insight of Swamiji and he asked be to be his guest and stay with him for several weeks.

Swamiji addressed meeting of Sanskrit scholars and gained their appreciation. He also discussed finer details of western music with the Austrian musician in the Maharaja's court. He also discussed the idea of going to America with the Maharaja. Maharaja immediately offered to pay for all the expenses. But Swamiji had different idea. He told the Maharaja to wait since he had to visit Rameshwaram before taking final decision in this matter.

Wandering monk: Meditation at Kanyakumari - Vision of Life Mission Swamiji went southwards from Bangalore, for his destination was Rameshwaram. He travelled to State of Travancore and met the many people at Trivendrum, the capital city of Travancore. His discussions/talks in Trivendrum covered wide variety of topics such as Shakespeare, Shankaracharya, Kalidasa, Darwin and Patanjali. Amongst the people he met were college professors, state officials and in general educated people of the city. He explained the limitation of physical sciences and failure of western psychology to understand the super-conscious aspect of human nature.

From Trivendrum he went to Kanyakumari (Cape Camorin) and then to Rameshwaram. He met the Raja of Ramnad, Bhaskara Setupati at Rameshwaram. He discussed many of his idea regarding education of Indian masses with the Prince. Raja urged Swamiji to represent India at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago and promised help in this venture. All the wanderings upto this point had a great educational value for him. It opened up opportunities for original thought and observation. The most striking element of all this was his search for unity in the world of Indian ideals. It was in Kanyakumari that Swamiji meditated and got clear direction as to the future direction of his work. He worshipped the mother at the seashore temple at Kanyakumari.

Then, he swam across the ocean, about 400 yards and reached the farthest of the rocks that formed the southernmost tip of India. There he sat in meditation and all that he saw during his travels went through his mind. He saw India's past, present and its future. It was clear to him that India's strengh lies in its religion and spirituality. He had a task before him to uplift the poor and indigent of India.

So he would cross the ocean and go west which had that is needed in India. He would offer ancient wisdom of India and bring back science and technology from the west.

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Shlokas This month we will review all the shlokas from third quarter. Not just reciting all the shlokas, but we can also ask one kid to lead, others repeat as well as quiz them on the meaning. If certain shlokas were not covered, you might choose to teach them now as well.

Guru Stotram

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Ganesha Pancharatnam

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Subhaashitam and Amritvachan

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Sangh Geet Var Do Var Do He Bhagavan

var do var do he bhagavan hum baalak hai nipaT ajaan bhar do hum me aisa gyaan jag me jisase bane mahaan ||

roop manohar nahi chaahiye dhan vilaasata nahi chaahiye hame chaahiye aisa gyaan laa de jag me naval vihaan ||1||

kabhi na kashTo se ghabaraaye bhoo par sukh dhaaraa barasaaye bhaarat kaa chamakaaye naam hit ke sabhi Karen hum kaam ||2||

sundar sukhakar kaam hamaare jaise nabh ke chaand sitaare aaye yadi bheeshan toofaan unko bhi kar de aasaan ||3||

Meaning

O God, please give us innocent children boons and give us knowledge with which we can accomplish great things in this world.

We don’t need external beauty nor do we want great wealth and luxuries. We want knowledge through which we can bring a new beginning to the world.

We should never be scared of difficulties. Let us bring happiness to this world, brighten the name of Bhaarat (India), and do things that are beneficial to others.

Just as the moon and stars adorn the sky, our work is wonderful and brings happiness to others. Even if there is a huge storm, we will face it with ease.

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