Balagokulam Guide Name: ___________________________________________ City, State: ___________________________________________ Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) PREFACE We are extremely joyful to provide the balagokulam guide for all HSS karyakartas who are engaged in conducting weekly shakhas all over US. They have been putting considerable amount of their time to determine the bouddhik program and find or develop suitable bouddhik material for their respective shakhas. We hope that this guide will be a good resource for them and it will also reduce the amount of time and energy they have been investing in finding or developing bouddhik material. The balagokulam guide is a result of immeasurable efforts of many individuals. It has contents that are good enough for at least two years. It covers shloka, subhashita, amrutvachan and hundreds of articles divided in different categories such as festivals and stories. It has been reviewed and perfected by erudite individuals. However, it is possible that you may find any discrepancy. In that case, feel free to contact us and we will be happy to rectify it when the guide is published next time. Credits: Kalpita Abhyankar Santosh Prabhu Sabitha Patel Smita Gadre Shyam Gokhale Dr. Shambhu Shastri Madhumita Narayan Sampath Kumar and many other swayam-sevaks and sevikas..... Table of Contents Shloka, Subhashita, Amrutvachan, Sayings .....................................A Utsav (Festivals) .............................................................................................. B Makara Samkranti .................................................................................... B1 Sri Shiva (Mahashivaratri) ....................................................................... B4 Yugadi ........................................................................................................ B7 Hanuman Jayanti ..................................................................................... B10 Hindu Sanghatan Diwas ......................................................................... B13 Guru Poornima ........................................................................................ B15 Raksha Bandhan ...................................................................................... B17 Krishna Janmashtami .............................................................................. B19 Ganesha Chaturthi ................................................................................... B22 Vijayadashami .......................................................................................... B26 Navaratri ................................................................................................... B29 Deepavali .................................................................................................. B31 Gita Jayanti .............................................................................................. B34 Traditions, Cultures and Customs .............................................. C What is Hindu Dharma? .......................................................................... C1 God or Gods? .............................................................................................. C3 Various names of Sri Ganesha ................................................................ C6 Celebrating a birth-day ............................................................................. C9 Traditional Hindu diet ............................................................................ C12 Prominent religious places of Bharat .................................................. C14 The holy men of Hindu dharma ............................................................ C16 Bharateeya Nritya .................................................................................... C18 Classical dances of Bharat ...................................................................... C20 Symbols in Hinduism ............................................................................. C23 Branches of Hindu dharma .................................................................... C26 Introduction to Hindu scriptures .......................................................... C29 Rituals and their meaning ...................................................................... C32 Hindu values ............................................................................................ C39 Gurukul and Guru-shishya Parampara ............................................... C41 Goddesses ................................................................................................. C44 Ideal Hindu home .................................................................................... C47 The Holy River Ganga ............................................................................ C50 The Great Poet Kalidasa ......................................................................... C52 The concise story of Mahabharata ......................................................... C54 Bharatiya Languages ............................................................................... C58 Bharatiya Languages and their Literature ........................................... C60 Great Personalities .......................................................................D Young Narendra .......................................................................................D1 Parivrajaka Swami Vivekananda ............................................................D4 Shree Guruji Golwalkar ...........................................................................D7 Shree Guruji - Pioneer of the Sangh ......................................................D10 Stories of Dr. Hedgewar .........................................................................D13 Shri Rama ................................................................................................D16 Shri Rama - A role model .......................................................................D18 Veer Savarkar ...........................................................................................D22 The life of the Buddha .............................................................................D25 Vandaneeya Mausiji ................................................................................D27 Shivaji - A Legendary King ....................................................................D32 Unique Features of Shivaji The Great ...................................................D35 Chanakya ..................................................................................................D37 Stories and General Information .................................................E Shibi, The compassionate king ............................................................... E1 Stories of Doctorji ...................................................................................... E3 Story of Bhageerath .................................................................................. E5 Story of Nachiketa ..................................................................................... E7 Valiant Abhimanyu ................................................................................... E9 Dhruv - The Pole Star ............................................................................. E11 Story of Guru Nanak Dev ji .................................................................... E13 Story of Mahatma Gandhi ...................................................................... E16 Dadhichi’s Worthy Donation ................................................................. E18 Dhaumya Rishi and his disciples .......................................................... E20 Gargi - A Renowned Philosopher ......................................................... E23 Bhakta (devotee) Prahlad ....................................................................... E24 Stories of Swami Vivekananda .............................................................. E27 Story of Ahalya ........................................................................................ E31 Story of Shravan Kumar ......................................................................... E32 Story of Krishna and Narakasura .......................................................... E34 Stories on Raksha Bandhan .................................................................... E36 Devavrata’s terrible vows ....................................................................... E38 Slaying of the demon Kamsa ................................................................. E40 Maharana Pratap - A Model of Valor ................................................... E42 Story of the great king Bharat ................................................................ E44 Story of Adi-Shankaracharya ................................................................. E46 Hindu Calendar ....................................................................................... E49 Krishna-Devaraya .................................................................................... E52 The great dynesty - Raja Raja Chola ..................................................... E54 Qualities of swayamsevak or sevika ..................................................... E56 Freedom Struggle .................................................................................... E58 Shabari - A Devoted Woman ................................................................. E61 Narvir Tanaji ...........................................................................................