Hari Om Parents,
Welcome to our Grade 4 class, a quick recap of what was covered in class today. Today was the 4th Session of our class.
We all met in our classroom -- "Madhava" and we started the session with
Opening Prayers: We all sat straight, criss cross, hands folded, chanted together 3 Oms, then Sahana Vavatu, Ganesha Slokha -Vakra Tunda, Saraswathi Slokha- Saraswathi Namasthubayam, and Guru Slokha - Guru Brahma . Everyone nicely chanted together and concentrated well.
Sloka time: We learnt the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra and repeated it 3 times
and then we learnt KrishnAshtakam and repeated it. The youtube video which has the Sloka meaning and lyrics will be shared in the whatsapp group. Please make kids practice, some kids know it already
Then we discussed the below stories from Bala Bhagavatham.
Bala Bhagavatam - Mother Earth in distress : Mother Earth was deeply hurt seeing the sins being committed by people on earth and by the increasing number of Asuras troubling everyone. Then Lord Narayana promised Mother Earth that he will come to the Earth as the son of Devaki and Vasudeva and cleanse the Earth of Sins and Sinners.
Prophecy: Devaki 's marriage with Vasudev in Mathura, Kamsa hears the divine prophecy that the eighth child of Devaki and Vasudev will kill him.
Kamsa shattered by the divine Prophecy. An angry Kamsa puts Devaki and Vasudev in prison and vows to kill the eighth child. He mercilessly kills all of the seven babies of Devaki and Vasudeva. And also puts his father Ugrasena in prison and takes over the throne.
Sri Krishna's birth: Soon Devaki is pregnant with her eighth child. Lord Narayana appears in front of the dejected Devaki and Vasudev and informs them that he himself will be born as their child and after his birth Vasudev should take the baby and go to Gokul and exchange the baby with his friend Nandakumar's baby girl and bring her come back to Mathura.
And at midnight which is the darkest hour of the night, Lord Sri Krishna was born. Devaki and Vasudev were mesmerized by the beauty of baby Krishna.
Then Vasudev took the baby in a basket and carried the basket over his head, while SeshNag was protecting Sri Krishna with his hood and River Yamuna bowed in reverence to the Lord and made way for Vasudev to cross over. Vasudev crossed river Yamuna and went to Gokul and entered Nandakumar's house, kept baby Krishna beside Yashoda, who had given birth to a baby girl and took the baby girl and carried her back to Mathura and kept her bedside Devaki. Hearing the newborn baby's cries Kamsa comes rushing and tries to kill her, when the baby girl takes the form of Goddess and says No one can protect him now and he cannot escape God's wrath as the baby is born and will surely kill him. Kamsa is in shock and is in deep thought.
Bala Bhagavatam - We discussed the Limbs of Sri Vishnu : Brahmins, Vedas, Cows, Austerity, Truth, Physical & Mental Disciplines, Faith, and Forbearance (which means Patience & Tolerance)
My 24 Gurus - First Guru: Mother Earth Through a riddle - Kids guessed the first guru as Mother Earth - who always gives us everything and still Forgives the wrong things we do to her.
Forgiveness: Through the Story of the Mango and the little boy, we learnt that Forgiveness is a great quality to have, no matter who we are.
Story: The Giving Tree: Through the Story of the Giving Tree, we learnt that we should not be selfish, and keep taking from them always, but instead we need to show our love, affection, gratitude and appreciation to our parents, our well wishers and be kind to all always.
Brainstorming: Steadfast like a Thumb: We discussed why the Thumb is away from other fingers thru a small story, and shared that sometimes you need to hold steadfast to your principles, and do the right thing, by Sticking to our values, beliefs and culture even if you alone are doing it.
My 24 Gurus - Next 2 Gurus- Air
We learnt that Air is the teacher who teaches us not to get attached to anything, Flows freely everywhere, teaches us to mingle with everyone without losing sight of our goal.
After this attendance was taken.
Geetha Chanting Primer Video: was played, and we all chanted some of the words to help us get familiar with it to help recite BG Ch 6 in the next classes.
And then we briefly discussed Ganesh Chathurthi and how it's celebrated, next week is the House Inaugural, so kids will get to do some fun stuff related to Lord Ganesha.
and then we all went to the prayer hall for Assembly, for Aarthi and Pledge.
Next session: Sunday, 10/25/2026. Happy Navratri and Dussehra Celebrations to all !!!!
Pranaams
Mahalakshmi Arcot
Indira Bhaskar
