Hari Om! Parents,
We started our class with the beginning prayers followed by chanting of Nama Ramayanam.
We continued with our story from the Ramayana. We are now in Kishkinda Kanda. Here Rama and Lakshmana meet with Hanuman and Sugriva.
Kishkinda's king Vali, ill-treated his brother Sugriva. Sugriva is always on the run. On Rama's request Sugriva agrees to help Rama find Sita. Rama also agrees to help Sugriva from the clutches of Vali.
Sugriva tells Rama, dome Vanaras had seen a demon carrying Sita and going towards the southern direction. But first they decided to destroy Vali. Sugriva challenged Vali to a fight. While they were fighting Rama would kill Vali. The brothers looked alike so Rama could not kill Vali. So Sugriva called Vali again for a fight. This time he was wearing a flower garland. Rama could distinguish between the brothers and killed the evil Vali. Vali begged for forgiveness from Rama and Sugriva. The Lord forgave him, and Sugriva was made king. He promised Vali to take care of Vali's wife, Tara, and his son Angada. The brave Hanuman was made minister of Sugriva.
The search began for Sita. Sugriva formed 4 groups of his Vanara army to find Sita. Finally, the Vanaras led by Hanuman, Angad, Jambavan with the help of Sampati found out that Sita was in Lanka. Hanuman was the 'chosen one' to help find Sita in Lanka.
Thus ends the Kishkinda Kand.
Then we entered the famous Sundara Kanda, which contains the glories of Lord Hanuman and the search for Sita in Lanka. Hanuman crosses the mighty ocean and faces many obstacles using his intelligence. He lands in Lanka.
He admired the city of Lanka and its beauty. Hanuman had eight siddhis. He shrank into a little monkey so that he would not be spotted. He finally meets Vibhishana, Ravan's brother who was a devotee of Lord Rama. Vibhishana gives Hanuman the whereabouts of Sita and promises to help with the destruction of Ravana.
Meanwhile Hanuman reaches a beautiful garden called Ashoka Vatika. He sees a pale and sad Sitaji under a tree guarded by rakshasis. When they were asleep, he meets Sitaji. He gives the ring Rama had given. Sita is in tears and Hanuman promises her Rama would soon come to Lanka and destroy the evil Ravana and rescue her.
Hanuman also meets Vibhishana, brother of Ravana who is a devotee of Shri Rama. Vibhishana is unhappy with Ravana's actions and joins the Lord to destroy the evil Ravana. Hanuman comes back to Kishkinda and gives everyone the news about Sita. They started planning to construct a bridge to reach Lanka. Thus ends Sundara Kanda
We now enter Lanka Kanda where Rama and his Vanara army gets ready to battle Ravana. Ravana is given another chance to surrender by Angada, the brave son of Vali and the future king of Kishkinda. But Ravana with his strong ego refuses to surrender. We then enter Yuddha Kanda, the final chapter. Rama gives the signal to the Vanaras to fight. It was very fierce and many of Ravana's generals and all his sons were killed. Kumbhakarna the brave brother of Ravana also joins the fight. He puts up a brave fight but finally is killed by Rama.
Indrajit, son of Ravana who had defeated Indra earlier, comes to fight and is finally killed by Lakshmana with the Indra Astra.
Now only Ravana remained. Lanka was in an awful state. A terrible battle began between Ravana and the Lord. Ravana fought bravely but was finally killed. Lanka mourned his death and Vibhishana was crowned king of Lanka. The war was over. Dharma finally prevailed.
Hanuman was sent to fetch Sita. She had to pass a fire test to prove her purity. Agni devata and all the devas appeared to bless Sita. She was united with the Lord.
Rama, Lakshmana and Sitaji reached Ayodhya. Bharat was waiting for them eagerly. Rama was coronated as king. All the gurus blessed them.
Goodness and virtue prevailed and Rama Rajya, an age of supreme contentment, had taken birth.
Jai Sri Ram 🙏
We discussed some values as a class discussion
Vibhishana- Living in a land of demons, he chose to follow dharma
Discussed about making right choice in our lives
Discussed Hanumanji's character with the dhyana shloka, buddhir balam.... talked about the all the eight values focusing on right speech and devotion.
Finally, learning so many qualities from Sri Rama's life- righteousness, dharrma. Children talked about their dharma as students.
Discussed the characters of Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Vibhishina focussing on their gunas and their actions being associated with the evil Ravana.
Discussed the values of compassion from Sri Rama's life
We learned a lot from this great story of Lord Rama. The whole of March we practiced for our play on Viveka using the characters of Kaikeyi and Vibhishana. The children did a great job, and we had a small celebration last week.
Our next class is on April 11th. We will start the book Keys to Success based on Vibhishana Gita
Pranams
Nirmala and Mythili
