Feb 7, 2025 - Grade 5 (Friday)

Hari Om Parents,

We started our class by writing Likhitha jaapa (writing the name of any Ishta devata god's name), then followed by daily prayers (Page 11 of My Prayers book). The children lead daily prayers and Ganesha Panchratnam. We are happy to announce that the majority of kids are now comfortable in memorizing and reciting fluently, except a few who are still struggling. Please motivate your kids and help them learn the Daily Prayers, Ganesha Pancharatna, Bhagavad Gita slokas. We introduced Nirvana Shatakam slokas 1&2. 

We continued  with India the Sacred land and the topic was about great ancient inventors, astronomers, mathematicians, and spiritual leaders. Most of these leading personalities were pre-Muslim invasions. These were from all over from ancient Bharath that included modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc.

The ten personalities that we discussed are:

1. Panini ✨ Father of Linguistics Era: 4th Century BCE
2. Chanakya ✨ Master of Politics and Economics Era: 4th Century BCE
3. Gautama Buddha ✨ Prince Turned Spiritual Teacher Era: 5th to 4th Century BCE
4. Sushruta ✨ Father of Surgery Era: 6th Century BCE
5. Patanjali ✨ Father of Yoga Era: 2nd Century BCE
6. Aryabhata ✨ Mathematical Genius Era: 5th Century CE 
7. Kalidasa ✨ India's Greatest Poet Era: 4th to 5th Century CE 
8. Aryabhata ✨ Mathematical Genius Era: 5th Century CE  
9. Varahamihira ✨ Astrologer and Scientist Era: 6th Century CE  
10. Adi Shankaracharya ✨ Reviver of Hindu Philosophy Era: 8th Century CE 

As you can see from the list above, these were pioneers in their fields, visionary thinkers, and geniuses, and were never prosecuted or ostracized for their radical, out-of-the-box thinking and discoveries, unlike in Europe where Galelio was thrown into jail and blinded by the Church for stating the fact that earth was heliocentric, Giordano Bruno for stating that universe was infinite, Nicolaus Copernicus for proposing the heliocentric theory and many others. 

Adi Shankara, who is believed to be an incarnation of lord Shiva, was singularly responsible for reviving sanatana dharma and saving it from the negative influence of Buddhism. Born in Kaladi - modern-day Kerala, traveled the length and breadth of Bharath all the way to Kashmir in the north, Puri in the east, Dwaraka in the west, and established four mutts to sustain, preserve, and propagate Sanatana dharma. These four are:

• Sringeri Sharada Peetham (Karnataka) associated the very first and oldest veda - rig veda
  Founded in Sringeri, Karnataka, this was the first of the four mutts established by Adi Shankaracharya. The Sringeri Math is dedicated to Goddess Saraswati (Sharada), the deity of knowledge and learning. It is situated on the banks of the Tunga River and has been a center of Vedantic learning and spiritual practice for centuries. According to a legend, while walking along the banks of River Tunga, Shankaracharya saw a hooded cobra that was protecting a pregnant frog. He was so overwhelmed with the benevolence of these creatures that he decided to stay here and build the mutt there

• Dwaraka Peetham (Gujarat) associated with Yajurveda
  Located in Dwaraka, Gujarat, the Dwaraka Mutt is dedicated to Lord Krishna. This center plays an important role in the propagation of Advaita Vedanta in western India. The town of Dwaraka is historically significant, being associated with the legend of Lord Krishna, and it remains a major pilgrimage site.

• Puri Jagannath Mutt (Odisha) associated with Samaveda
  The Puri Mutt was established in Puri, Odisha, near the famous Jagannath Temple. This mutt is dedicated to Lord Jagannath, a form of Lord Vishnu, and is an important center for Vedantic learning and spiritual practices. There is an interesting legend about the idols of Lord Jagannath, Bhalabadra, and Subhadra. Please enagge your kids in discovering the legend

• Govardhan Mutt (Uttarakhand) Associated with Atharva veda
  The Govardhan Mutt is located in Joshimath, Uttarakhand, in the northern part of India. It is associated with the worship of Lord Badrinath, another incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The interesting legend about this temple is that the head priest is a nambudripad from Kerala, a tradition established by Adi Sankara himself. Talk about national integration and language barriers 1500/1600 years back .

Attached is the detailed deck with many more facts about the ancient indians that we went through in the class. Please share with them and encourage them to discover at least one other great India and a few facts about them

It was time for our Gita Chanting by Swami Ji, we learnt shlokas 19,20,21 

 from chapter 5. It was about time for Aarthi and Pledge so we went to the Prayer Hall.

Assignemt: We asked each kid to 

1. identify the state(s), 
2. language(s) that the parents speak at home, 
3. traditional dress of their native states, 
4. a famous delicacy 
5. We want the kids to write their names in the scripts of their parents' mother tongues, such as Telugu, Gujarati, Hindi, etc.

Few Links for learning to chant.

1.   Ganesha Panchratnam (Page 30 in My Prayers).

1.1. Link to rendition with lyrics in English https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4lZCKxeJFE or

1.2    Link: https://youtu.be/Oyo0FWP9fB8?si=ZaYVDepNkX0YWShI (play at lower speeds for kids to follow lyrics and hear clearly

2. Nirvana Shatakam (Printouts were shared)

2.1 https://youtu.be/rKx7K13OvQ4?si=lM6g_ZtX0kdF5Sfo - Uninterrupted Line Guided Chant - YouTube

3. Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5 (1-29 shlokas) is available in the 2024-25 year handbook. The link to Gita by our swamiji is as below.

https://youtu.be/1RnjJPiI9y0?si=_IeXKqpWjrPoqNbO

Please make sure to send the below to every Balavihar class.

1.  An empty notebook to write Likhitha jaapa and notes.

2.  Two sharpened pencils.

3.  Daily Prayers book.

4. Balavihar Handbook

 Please join the class WhatsApp group by using the link below

https://chat.whatsapp.com/E0cfUe3NUDYCBwYVKD7tyg

The WhatsApp group will be our primary medium of communication. Please feel free to reach us on our phones/ via WhatsApp or you can reply to this email as well.

 With Regards,

Shivram & Anuradha