Hariom Students and Parents!
Good day you all! It was the day when the kids go to do Saarswathu pooja for the children. We discussed how many kids got to see golu for Navratri. We also talked about Sarswathi pooja to be done today. We started the class with our OMs and OM Sahana Vavatu prayers. Then we reviewed the first three verses of Guru Stostram. The Guru stotram verses are in Page 24 of the Vrindavan handbook, and it is also in the My Prayers book. Please help your child practice the first three verses. Next, we did some exercise activities to get energy out and also center ourselves. The kids tried their tree poses to see how long they are able to maintain their positions.
In today's class, we did a refresh of what was done last class with some quizzes and the kids participated with a lot of enthusiasm. We continued the story on Shaunaka Rishi's gurkula - which was visited by Sutaji - And we discussed what a yagna meant. For story time - below were the stories discussed
- Background: Shaunaka rishi lived with his disciples in Naimisharanya. Every morning they got up early to do yagna. One morning as they were getting ready to do yagna, Sutaji, a learned rishi, visited them. All students and teachers paid their respects to the rishi & sat around him to learn. Shaunaka rishi said," Please teach us how a person can become good and happy forever." Sutaji replied," It is given in a poem written by Shri Ved Vyaasa. This poem is called Bhagavatam, has 18,000 verses. The poem describes stories of God and how and why HE descended on earth as avatars to help." Sutaji said we also need to learn how this poem was written. We learned that Ved Vyas ji had his ashram near river Saraswati. We discussed how Sri Veda Vyasa ended up writing the Bala Bhagavatam. Naradaji visited VEda Vyasa ji and noticed that Vyasaji was sad and upset as he looked at the ripples of water in the back of river Saraswathi. Sage Naraaji suggested a remedy for Vyasaji's unrest - He asked him to sing the glories of the Lord.
- Story time on Who is Narada ji? - Sage Narada was a son of a servant lady who was working in an ashram. A group of saints came to the ashram. Narada was only five years old and was also helping his mother in serving the saints. The saints took a liking for the young boy, Narada. Everyday the saints were singing the glories of Narayana and Narada started enjoying singing the glories of Narayana. Sage Narada ji felt that, when he sang the glories of the Lord, HIS form came to his mind, and he can see the Lord all the time and that made him very happy. One night, Narada ji's mother was bitten by a snake and she died, leaving Narada all alone. Narada left the ashram and he kept on walking till he saw a nice and quiet place where he sat for meditation. Bhagwan blessed him and said that he will be born as the son of Brahma ji , the creator of the world. Few years later he died, and was reborn as the son of Brahma ji. Devas gave him a gift of Veena. It is said that even today, taking his Veena, he moves around singing the glories of the lord.
After story time, we talked about the next class where we will have a quiz on stories we read in this class. We wrapped up and got ready to go to the main assembly to do Sarawathi pooja. Each kid got a picture of Lord Saraswathi and they did slokas with the rest of the Bala Vihar children. We then wrapped up with Aarati and the pledge.
Thank you for sharing your children with us and we look forward to another sync
Best regards,
Your Grade 3 Sun AM Teachers
Aruna and Rajewari
