Hari Om Parents,
A warm welcome to our 5th grade class. We were super excited on meeting your kids. It seems we have an enthusiastic group and we were especially impressed with the intelligent questions they asked whilst our Mahabharata story was being discussed. As stated in our welcome email, our curriculum for this year is Mahabharata upto Virata Parva and Saints of India. Our plan is on doing both simultaneously.
We started our discussion with Veda Vyasa who narrated it to Ganesha. Ganesha has a condition to pen it, and he tells Veda Vyasa that he can do so if Veda Vyasa can narrate it without a pause. However, Veda Vyasa smartly counters this by telling Ganesha he cannot write something he does not understand. Both agree and write the epic Jaya (the Mahabharata's original name), which ends up with 125000 shlokas. The Mahabharata is also referred to as the 5th Veda. We spoke about the connection in the narration between the Mahabharata and the Bhagvatham.
After this introduction, we jump forward to King Shantanu. He sees Ganga in her human form and is captivated by her and asks her to marry him. She agrees but on certain conditions that neither he nor anybody else can ask about her background and should not question any of her actions. If he acts otherwise, she will leave him. The infatuated king agrees. They get married and live a happy life. She gives birth to 7 children, and after each one is born, she drowns the baby in the river. King Shantanu is filled with horror and anguish but suffers in silence, mindful of the promise he had made. When the eighth child is born and Ganga is about to throw the child, the king cannot stop himself and restrains her. She replies sadly that he has broken his promise. She reveals her identity and says that the 8 children were Vasus in their previous birth and had to be born on earth because of a curse. The eighth child will have to live and she promises to bring him up with all qualities befitting a king. We also went into details of the reason for the curse.
This boy is Devavrata who is endowed with the form and beauty of Devendra. He dazzles his father, who is unaware of his identity, with his mighty power. Then, Ganga introduces him to the King, who is extremely proud and crowns him as heir apparent. Four years go by, and one day as Shantanu is wandering along the banks of Yamuna, the air is filled with a fragrant smell. He traces it to a lovely maiden, who he asks to be his wife. The lady says her name is Satyawati and that she is a fisherwoman. She asks Shantanu to ask her father for her hand, but the fisherman was an astute man and asks for a promise that Satyawati's child should become the king. Shantanu cannot agree to this condition and leaves dejectedly. But, he is not able to hide his sorrow from Devarata. The wise Devarata finds out from King Shantanu’s charioteer about the meeting with the fisherman, and he approaches the fisherman who puts forth the same condition. Devarata promises him that the son shall be the king and that he renounces his right as the yuvaraja. This does not appease the fisherman. He says that he has full faith that Devarata will honor the promise but is not sure of Devarata’s sons who might want the throne for themselves. On hearing this , Devarata vows to never marry and dedicate himself to the service of whosoever sits on the throne of his father. As he uttered these words, the Gods showered flowers on his head and cries of Bhishma resounded in the air, which became his new name. The fisherman is completely satisfied, and the son of Ganga leads Satyawati to his father.
Shantanu and Satyawati get married and have 2 sons, Chitrangada and Vichetraveerya. Shantanu eventually passes away and the young Chitrangada becomes the king, under the watchful eye of his older brother Bhishma. There is a Gandharva, also by the name of Chitrangada, who is not happy that there is a mortal with his name. The 2 Chitrangadas engage in a fight in which Satyawati’s son Chitrangada is killed. Hastinapur is again without a king and with Vichetraveerya being a minor, Bhishma rules the kingdom on his behalf. When Vichetraveerya is finally of marriageable age, Bhishma hears of a swayamwara to be conducted by the king of Kashi to marry off his 3 daughters, Amba, Ambika and Ambaalika. Bhishma engages in a fight with the other kings, including the king of Salva, and defeats them all. He brings the 3 daughters to Hastinapura.
Amba, the eldest, then speaks of her love for the king of Salva. Vichhetraveerya refuses to marry her. Bhishma and Satyawati agree with him and arrangements are made to escort her back to Salva. But this king refuses to accept her as she was rightfully won by Bhishma. Amba again implores Bhishma to marry her, but Bhishma refuses her because of his vow of celibacy.
As mentioned in the earlier email, the kids should come to class with a composition book, a few sharpened pencils and My Prayers book. Please make sure they have no other story books etc with them.
Please feel free to reach out to us if you need any clarifications. Have a great week and hope to see you all on 20th September for our next class!!
Regards,
Sai and Raji
