Hari OM Dear Families,
Here is this week's update.
Story -
Sugreeva celebrates his victory for several days. He has forgotten his promise to Rama. Finally, Lakshman arrives in Kishkinda to talk to Sugreeva. He reminds him of his promise and that Rama is waiting for Sugreeva's help to find Sita. Realizing his mistake, Sugreeva apologizes to Lord Rama. He immediately calls his vanara army. They are divided into four groups and head off in four directions to search for Sita. Hanuman, Angada, Jambavan and Neela head south with a group of vanaras. Rama gives Hanuman his ring to present to Sita if he finds her. If Jatayu's information was correct, then Hanuman's chances of finding her were good. The vanara army from the north (lead by shatabali),east (lead by Vinata) and west (lead by sushena) fail to find any trace of Sita. Now all hopes are on the group traveling south led by Hanuman.
The group of vanaras, led by Hanuman and travelling south, find themselves in a cave, stranded. Swayamprabha the ascetic who lives in the cave feeds the vanara with fruits and water and guides them towards the seashore. There was a huge ocean in front of them and they were very disappointed. As they were discussing what to do next, an old vulture named Sampati, brother of jatayu, spoke to them from the top of a tree. Once, when they were young, they had a competition to see who could fly the highest. They flew too close to the sun and Sampati's feathers caught fire. Having lost the ability to fly, Sampati spent all his life sitting and watching by the seashore. The vanaras narrated Rama's story, how Sita was taken away by Ravana and how Jatayu died trying to save her. Sampati felt very sad hearing the news of his brother. He then told the vanaras that a rakshasa clutching a weeping lady had flown across the sky in a chariot. He looked across the ocean with his keen vulture eyes. He told the vanaras of the fortress of Lanka. They were very excited to hear this but the problem was how to get to Lanka. Jambavan told Hanuman to use his divine strength to jump to Lanka. He reminded Hanuman that if they returned empty handed, Rama would be very disappointed. All the vanaras praised Hanuman and convinced him to perform the task. This is the end of the Kishkinda Kanda of the Ramayana story.
Next we continued to Sundara Kanda.
After taking Jambavan's blessings, Hanuman started increasing in stature. He then yelled "Jai Shri Ram!" and leaped across the ocean. As he was flying, Hanuman met a lot of obstacles. A mountain named Mainaka rose from the ocean and invited him to rest. Hanuman thanked the mountain but flew on. A sea monster, Surasa, rose from the ocean and tried to swallow him. Hanuman became as small as a fly and flew away quickly. Another rakshasi simhika swallowed him, but he ripped open her stomach and escaped. Finally, he arrives at Lanka and punches Lankini, the guard of the place. she was told, the day when a monkey hits her, that's the downfall for lanka. Hanuman begins searching for Sita.
Characters introduced- Jambhavan, Shatabali, Vinata, sushena, swayamprabha, mainaka, surasa, simhika, lankini.
Gita- We learned verse 16 from chapter 5.
Please play the videos and show it to the children, they can practice. The playlist is linked in the description box of our class whatsapp. We have to memorize verses until 16 for our grade level.
We were in two groups and practiced verses 1,2 & 3.
Next class on 2/9/2025 (please head to class, unless there is any message)
Children should bring their own copy of "My prayers" book, Ramayana coloring book (for coloring activity), Balavihar handbook (we provided on the first session) 9/15), pencils and erasers and crayons.
Children may bring their own "spill proof water bottles"
NO snacks please. Please give them a good breakfast before coming to Balavihar. Also make sure they use the bathroom before going into the class.
Please bring the children to balavihar a few minutes before 9.15. We want to promptly start by 9.15. Please make sure the student is not late and may come latest by 9.20 and not later than that.
Links and Reminders:
Please join the class WhatsApp group if you have not already-
https://chat.whatsapp.com/IAbzyq5I0ioF7FF6Cr85J0
