Sanskar Gurukul Weekly Update

Class Name: Kanwa Week# 15: January 19, 2014

General Assembly We started the GA with three Omkars followed by the Shanti Mantra.

We chanted some verses of the Shishya Anushasanam that the children learned last year.

After a quick recap of the story from last week, Aparna Auntie continued with the story of Adi Shankaracharya. His mother used to go to the river every day to take a bath. One day she was very sick and could not go. So through prayers, he made the river flow closer to their house so she could just take a short walk to take a bath.

One day he told his mother that he wanted to take up sanyas - renounce the world, get rid of all attachments, and devote himself full time to the pursuit of God. He had to get her permission, but she refused. After a few days, while he was taking a bath in the river, a crocodile got hold of his foot and did not let go. Adi Shankara asked her for permission to take up sanyas since he was going to die anyway. His mom agreed, and immediately after that the crocodile let go of the boy's foot. Adi Shankara then promised his mother that anytime she needed him, all she had to do was to think of him and he would be there to help her.

So he roamed across in search of a guru to help him achieve salvation. In a cave near the banks of the River Narmada, he saw a rishi and he asked him if he would be his guru in his quest. The rishi asked him "Who are you?" In response Adi Shankara composed the "Nirvana Shatakam". It starts off with "Neither I am the mind, nor Intelligence or Ego...and ends with "I am , the Ever Pure Blissful Conciousness"...... To be continued next GA.

Then we went through a guided meditation session. Today the purpose was for everybody to be able to sit still without moving for 3 mins.

Class

We started the class with 3 Omkars, and Shanti mantra. : Nearly, a year had passed since the tournament and Yudhishtira was crowned ‘yuvaraja’ much to ’s chagrin. was unable to convince his son that the kingdom first owed its glory to and now his sons since had conquered more kingdoms, including ’s half! He eventually fell prey to his

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Sanskar Gurukul Weekly Update

son’s emotional manipulation and agreed to send the away on a ‘vacation package’ for a year so Duryodhana can steal the hearts of elders and the subjects. Yudhishtira sought help from Bhishmacharya by indirectly cluing in to this friendly plot of hypocrisy from his uncle and Duryodhana. was clueless; however, the wise with the aid of ‘mleccha bhasha’ warned the Pandavas of imminent danger and fire.

A palace/house was built under the orders of Duryodhana and his evil uncle and mentor in a plot to kill the Pandavas along with their mother . The architect Purochana was employed in the building of Lakshagraha in the forest of Varnavrat. The house was meant to be a death trap, since lacquer is highly flammable. The plot itself was such that nobody would suspect foul play and the eventual death of the Pandavas would pass off as an accident.

However, an escape route was prepared for the Pandavas by a miner who was sent secretly by Vidura. He dug a tunnel for weeks under the residence and when the time was right, Kunti served a grand meal to Purochana’s family and when they fell asleep, set fire to the house and the Pandavas entered the secret tunnel and emerged at the banks of river . Another secret spy from Vidura greeted them in Mleccha bhasha and provided a boat for crossing the river to deep forest.

After some time, they were exhausted and Mother Kunti requested drinking water from Bhima. He found a lake and brought her some, and on his repeat journey to bring more for his brothers, he was spotted by a pair of , and his sister . Hidimba died in a fight with Bhima and Hidimbi married Bhima after seeking permission from Kunti. Hypocrisy was the order of the day in when Duryodhana expressed deep sorrow at the APPARENT death/loss of his cousins!

Homework

None

Announcements

Shailaja aunty and Vagdevi aunty.

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