Sanskar Gurukul Weekly Update

Class Name: Prahlada Week# 09: November 17th, 2013

General Assembly

We started with 3 Oms and Shanti Mantra. The year book committee of Yuva Sevaks was introduced as they will take photos throughout the year. The announcement details are below.

Before we started chanting Hanuman Chalisa, we discussed following questions: Who wrote Hanuman Chalisa? Sage Tulsidasa

What is the first verse of Hanuman Chalisa mean? Given in prayer book.

What is mirror of mind mean? · Cleaning of the mind from other thoughts · Clearing the reflection of mind · Happy version of mind

How does Tulsidasaji intend to clear the mind? · From the dust of lotus feet of Guru – meaning knowledge received from Guru. · Paying respect to Guru

By touching the physically at the feet of a person, we are paying respect to the person in our mind.

We pay respect to our Guru in Hanuman Chalisa and Gurustotrum.

We ended GA with meditation.

Announcement:

Yearbook Art Submissions · drawing/painting/collage/coloring - 2nd grade and below can color existing drawings, 3rd grade and above should be original pieces · art should be of Lakshmi Devi or a representation of her (we aren't doing traits this year) · older classes can choose to write a piece or a poem about Lakshmi Devi as well · make sure colors are bold and pencil marks are dark and are on printer paper (A4 size) · DEADLINE: December 8th! · Do not write your name on the front!!! Only on the back please!!

Sanskar Academy 1 Sanskar Gurukul Weekly Update

Class

We started with an intentionally unannounced quiet time. Students waited in total silence trying to determine the cause of silence. This exercise demonstrated that the children are fully capable of maintaining silence, as is expected of them during guided meditation in GA.

We continued our discussion of the Kurukshetra war. On day 7, fighting continued between Kauravas and Pandavas. Day 8 of the war saw Iravan, Arjuna’s son from Ulupi, killed by Alambusa using maya tactics. That night Duryodhana approached Bhishma and asked him to fight and kill the Pandavas or to give up his position of commander-in-chief. A deeply hurt Bhishma responded that he would do everything in his power to destroy the Pandava army but he would not kill the Pandavas.

On day 9 of the war, Bhishma unleashed fury upon the Pandava army. Pandavas tried in vain to control the resulting damage. Lord Krishna urged an unwilling Arjuna to kill Bhishma. Arjuna’s attack on Bhishma was a gentle one. This angered Lord Krishna, who decided to kill Bhishma himself. Arjuna begged him to stop, reminding him of his promise to not directly kill anyone during the war.

Students were asked “Why did Arjuna stop Lord Krishna from killing Bhishma?” Some of the responses were “Arjuna was reminding Lord Krishna of his vow”, “So people would not judge Lord Krishna about breaking his vow later on”. Arjuna was performing his duty in stopping Lord Krishna so the world would not doubt Lord Krishna’s words and actions.

On the ninth night of war, Pandavas and Lord Krishna met with Bhishma to ask him for his help in killing him. Bhishma said that if Sikhandi were in front of him, he would not fight back.

On the tenth day, Arjuna and Sikhandi rode together to mount an assault on Bhishma, resulting in Bhishma being wounded. Just as a wounded Bhishma was about the hit the ground, Arjuna showered arrows on the ground to make a bed for his body to rest. Bhishma requested water. Arjuna shot an arrow on the ground, enabling a water spring to rise out of the ground and reach straight to Bhishma’s mouth. Since Bhishma could choose the time of his death, he requested everyone to leave him alone as he waited for uttarayana to leave his body. This marks the end of Bhishma Parva.

Students were asked about what they thought was the most striking part of Bhishma Parva. Some responses were “Bhishma didn’t die”, “Arjuna shot an arrow on the ground to get a spring of water for Bhishma”, “Arjuna had to stop Lord Krishna twice to keep his word to not kill anyone”, “Lord Krishna tried to kill Bhishma twice.”

We will continue our discussion of the war with Drona Parva.

Homework

Hear and memorize Hanuman Chalisa. This homework will not be graded.

Announcements

1. Be on time. The reporting time for Session 3 is 10:55 AM. 2. Read updates every week 3. Session 3 students should keep quiet while they are waiting in the foyer, because Session 2 students are still having their class.

Sanskar Academy 2