Oct 4, 2026 - Grade 5 (Sunday AM)

Hari Om Parents,

Hope you all had a wonderful week!

We returned to our Mahabharata story. After fifteen peaceful years in the forest, tragedy struck: one beautiful spring day, with Kunti away at a nearby ashram with the five boys, Pandu was alone with Madri — and overcome by the fragrant spring air, he forgot himself for just a moment. The sage's curse took him instantly. Both Kunti and Madri were so heartbroken that they wanted to end their own lives too, but the forest sages insisted they stay to raise the five children. Madri felt it was her fault, and asked Kunti to raise all five boys as her own, including her twins Nakula and Sahadeva. She told the children, “Kunti is now your mother, and Yudhishthira, listen to him as you would your father,” and then chose to join Pandu. Everyone agreed: the five young princes must return to Hastinapura.

News reached the city, and Bhishma, Dhritarashtra, Vidura, and the whole royal family rushed out to receive them. The five princes were introduced by name for the first time: Yudhishthira (now fifteen), Bhima, Arjuna, and the twins Nakula and Sahadeva. The sages performed Pandu's funeral rites in the city — their long duty finally complete — and Kunti and her five sons were welcomed to live in Hastinapura.

The Pandavas and the 100 Kaurava sons now began growing up together in the palace. Bhima, incredibly strong even as a boy, loved teasing his cousins in their games, and Duryodhana — used to being the center of attention — burned with jealousy and resentment. His uncle Sakuni fanned the flames of this hatred, becoming Duryodhana's closest advisor.

That jealousy soon turned dangerous. Duryodhana mixed poison into Bhima's food, then pushed his sleeping body into the Ganga. Bhima sank all the way down to the kingdom of the Nagas, the serpent people — and remarkably, their bites actually helped flush the poison out of him! Their king, Vasuki, recognized him as Kunti's son and rewarded him with a magical strength-giving elixir, each bowl worth the strength of ten elephants. Bhima drank eight whole bowls! Eight days later, he returned home alive and even stronger than before — and Kunti made sure to keep the secret from the Kauravas.

We paused the story here to see what our next saint, Auvaiyar, would make of Duryodhana's plan backfiring so completely. At just four years old, she composed a verse that stumped the wisest elders in the court: “If you do a good deed, when will it give its results?” Her own answer became famous: “Don't doubt — the result will come, just like water poured at a coconut tree's roots, rising all the way up through its head.” As a young woman, wanting a life of devotion rather than marriage, she prayed to Lord Ganesha to turn her into an old woman right away — and he granted her wish! Later, when two kings, Thondaiman and Adhiyaman, were about to go to war, Auvaiyar cleverly praised Thondaiman's clean, unused weapons as a gentle warning not to fight the battle-hardened Adhiyaman — and helped prevent the war entirely. Her values: be positive, be steadfast, do good, and keep harmony. Her lesson — that our actions always bring results, often not the ones we expect — was the perfect way to make sense of what had just happened to Duryodhana's plan.

Then came a new arrival. One day, the princes' ball and a ring fell into a deep well while they were playing. A mysterious stranger offered to get both back in exchange for a meal — he strung blades of grass together like a chain, shooting them one by one with his arrows to fish out the ball, then used the same trick for the ring. Amazed, Yudhishthira asked who he was, but the stranger simply told them to go describe what they'd seen to their grandfather Bhishma. The moment they did, Bhishma instantly recognized the trick: it had to be Drona, a master of every weapon — and he appointed him royal teacher for all the princes, Pandavas and Kauravas alike.

We'll pick up right from there next class with Drona's own story — why a master of every weapon came to Hastinapura, and what he secretly wants from the princes in return for training them.

We also played the Geetha Chanting Primer video and chanted along as a class to get familiar with the pronunciation, to help us recite Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6.

Next session: Sunday, October 25, 2026. Happy Navratri and Dussehra to all!

Please reach out to us anytime with questions.

Regards,

Sai and Raji

Sep 27, 2026 - Grade 5 (Sunday AM)



Hari Om Parents,

We started our class with 3 OM's followed by Sahana Vavatu, Vakratunda, Saraswathi namasthubyam,  Bhudhir balam and Gurur Brahma. These will be our opening shlokas for the rest of the year and the goal is for the kids will memorize them as we continue practicing them. These shlokas are in our My Prayers book.

The Mahabharata continues - As Pandu now cannot sire children, he is extremely worried. He talks to Kunti about his predicament and she tells him about her boon from Sage Durvasa, which fills  Pandu with joy. On his instruction, she invokes the Lord of Dharma, and Yudhishtra, the one who is ever truthful and just, is born. One year later, Vayu is invoked and Bheema, who is extremely strong, is born. That same day, Duryodhana is born to Gandhari. Hastinapur witnesses many ill omens on his birth and Dhirtarashtra ignores advice to abandon the child. Later on, Kunti invokes Indra and Arjuna, who is an excellent archer, is born. Kunti teaches the mantra to Madri, who invokes the Ashwini Kumars. Nakul and Sahadeva, who are adept in horse riding, religion, administration, astrology, axe fighting are born. These are the 5 Pandavas. Duryodhana along with his 99 brothers and a sister are the Kauravas. 

A few years pass by, and the young princes get their education from the sages in the forest. One day, Pandu lovingly looks at Madri and is met with death. Madri also decides to jump into the fire as she considers herself to be blamed for Pandu’s death. Following this, Kunti decides to go back to Hastinapura along with the boys.

We then proceeded to the temple hall for our House Inaugural activities. We had a blissful activity of building a Rath with Lord Jagannath and taking the Tath around our temple accompanied by music, dance and chanting . It was a divine experience enjoyed by all!

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 with them. Please join our class Whatsapp group . This is the same group that was used by Sun Am grade 4 last year. The link is Sunday AM Grade 5 (2026-27) . This group will be used for specific communication regarding our class.

 

Please feel free to reach out to us if you need any clarifications. Have a great week and hope to see you all on 4th October for our next class!!

 

Regards,

Sai and Raji

Sep 20, 2026 - Grade 5 (Sunday AM)

Hari Om Parents,

We started our class with 3 OM's followed by Sahana Vavatu, Vakratunda, Saraswathi namasthubyam,  Bhudhir balam and Gurur Brahma. This will be our opening shlokas for the rest of the year. Hopefully the kids will memorize them as we continue practicing them . These shlokas are in our My Prayers book.

 

We caught up on a part of our curriculum we hadn't started yet: the Saints of India, which we're covering alongside the Mahabharata this year.

We began by talking about who a saint really is. "Sant" in Sanskrit means "one who knows the Truth" — and that's exactly what a saint is: someone who lives by Truth every day.

We then spent time on each of the four gurus in our own Guru Parampara:

Adi Shankaracharya was born in the small village of Kaladi, in Kerala. Even as a child he was extraordinary — he had written his very first book by age eight! He walked all the way across India on foot just to find his own Guru, Govindapada, and went on to write famous commentaries explaining the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads. By just 32 years old, he had already changed how people across the country understood their own philosophy. His values: be pious, be a missionary, be a preserver, be courageous.

Swami Tapovan Maharaj was born in 1889, and as a boy was known as Chippu Kutty. He lived an extremely simple life in a tiny mud hut high in the Himalayas. When his father once made him stop going to school, he said, "I never stopped learning" — and kept teaching himself anyway. He later became the guru of a young man named Balakrishna Menon, who would go on to become Swami Chinmayananda. His values: be pious, be truthful, keep your vows.

Swami Sivananda was born in 1887; his birth name was Kuppuswamy. He trained and worked as a doctor, treating poor patients in Malaysia for free. A book he happened to read changed the course of his life and drew him toward becoming a monk. He founded the Divine Life Society in 1936, starting from just one tiny hut caring for the sick — it grew into a worldwide organization that still exists today. He is the one who gave sannyasa to the young seeker who became our own Pujya Gurudev. His values: serve all, be devoted, meditate, love all and be compassionate.

Pujya Gurudev, Swami Chinmayananda worked as a journalist and was even arrested during India's freedom struggle. He went to meet Swami Sivananda planning to prove that saints were all frauds — and instead was convinced otherwise, becoming a monk himself. Over the years that followed, he started more than 600 centers around the world and personally wrote over 100,000 letters to people who needed his guidance. His values: be relentless, be loving, be disciplined, be punctual.

 

We then continued with Mahabharata - Adi Parva continues

Rejected by all, angry Amba proceeds to the forest, and the sages there are very disturbed by her presence. They approach her grandfather Hotravahana who agrees to speak to his good friend Bhargava (better known as Parashurama). Bhargava is Bhishma's Guru and is very sure that Bhishma will follow his command and marry Amba. But, Bhishma angers Bhargava by refusing, and Bhargava is ready to curse Bhishma or engage in a duel with him. Bhishma agrees to the latter and after a fierce battle, agrees to withdraw as it is not right to ask the Guru to surrender first. This wins over Bhargava and he accepts Bhishma's decision. Amba is infuriated and she decides to do severe penance. Lord Shanmukha is happy with her, presents her with a garland, and tells her that whoever wears it will kill Bhishma. Amba offers it to all the kings, who refuse it as they are wary of Bhishma. She asks Drupada, the king of the Panchalas, to accept it, but he refuses it as well. In anger, she throws the garland in the court and proceeds to the forest to do penance once again. This time Shiva is happy and promises her that she will take revenge in her next birth. To fulfill the revenge, she lights a huge fire and jumps into it. She is reborn as Shikhandini, Drupada's daughter. One day, she wears the garland which enrages her father. She tells him that she was reborn to take revenge on Bhishma. Drona is her Guru and she eventually becomes a man. He is called Shikhandi and is instrumental in Bhishma's death later on.

 

The marriage of Vicheetraveerya with the two princesses is duly performed. They are extremely happy but fate strikes them and young Vicheetraveerya is found to suffer from a dreadful disease that no one can save him from, leading to his death. Satyawati is saddened by the calamity that has befallen her and the fact that the Kuru clan does not have an heir. She finally summons Bhishma and beseeches him to continue the Kuru clan with the wives of Vicheetraveerya. Bhishma is unruffled by the preposterous suggestion and refuses to break his vow. Satyawati doesn't give up and implores him to break the oath as otherwise, it will be the end of the race. Bhishma, finally taking pity on her, asks her to think of a worthy Brahmin who can give them an heir. Satyawati tells Bhishma about how she had borne a son to Parashara before her marriage with Shantanu. This son is Vyaasa. Satyawati thinks of her son and Vyaasa appears before her. Satyawati tells him everything.     

 

Vyaasa agrees to grant her heart's desire. He lays a condition wherein he says it is up to the wives to make him feel welcome and that they should not be scared of his dark complexion. Satyawati agrees to talk to the two princesses. It is a dark night and Ambika is in her room waiting for Vyaasa. His appearance is so terrible that she closes her eyes. In the morning, Vyaasa tells his mother that a strong and powerful son will be born to Ambika. But because she closed her eyes, the son will be born blind. Next, he goes to Ambaalika whose blood runs cold at the sight of Vyaasa. In the morning, he again tells his mother that a handsome and gentle natured son will be born, but he will be white and pale. Satyawati begs for forgiveness and asks him to visit Ambika once more. Vyaasa agrees and leaves Hastinapura. In due course, the two boys are born and are named as Dhritarashtra and Pandu. Vyaasa again comes to the capital. But Ambika is filled with horror and decides to send her maid instead of herself meeting Vyaasa. The maid is very attentive to every wish of Vyaasa. In the morning, he tells his mother that a son will be born and that he will be the incarnation of Dharma. But he tells his mother that the maid will bear the best of his children. Satyawati is shocked but Vyaasa refuses to grant her any more favors and goes away to the Himalayas. This child is named Vidura.

 

Again, Bhishma has to take up the task of raising the children and ruling the kingdom until Dhritarashtra and Pandu come of age. He teaches them everything considered essential for Kshatriya princes. Dhritarashtra is endowed with unusual strength. Pandu proves to be highly skilled in archery. Vidura is the wisest of them all. As Dhritarashtra is blind, he cannot rule the kingdom. Pandu rules in his name, with Vidura assisting him. Once again, Bhishma has to look for brides for the young men. He selects Gandhari, the daughter of king Subala, as the bride for Dhritarashtra. In the beginning the king is a little apprehensive as the groom is blind but Gandhari assures her father that she has no objection in marrying the Kuru prince. Her next action is a great deed of selflessness. She is convinced that she should not be better than her lord in anything. She therefore gets a piece of silk and covers her eyes, refusing to see the world which her husband cannot see. The marriage is celebrated in Hastinapura, in the presence of her brother Shakuni. Following this marriage, Kunti, the adopted daughter of the king of Kuntibhoja, selects Pandu as a husband in a swayamvara. Maadri, the princess of the Madra Kingdom, also chooses Pandu as her husband in a swayamvara. 

 

Kunti is the adopted daughter of Kuntibhoja. She is Vasudeva's (Krishna's father) sister. When she is a little girl, she impresses Sage Durvasa and he in turn teaches her a mantra by which she can invoke any God. The playful girl decides to test the mantra, invokes the Sun God and to her dismay and shock, is blessed with a baby boy born with kavacha (armor) and kundala (earrings). In desperation, she wraps the baby in a silk cloth and lets the baby float in the river with the hope that someone accepts the baby as their own.

 

After the three marriages, years go by as the Kuru dynasty conquers several kingdoms. Pandu and his wives decide to spend some time in the forest. Pandu, by mistake shoots a male deer, who is actually a sage who has taken the form of a deer. The sage was embracing his wife and because Pandu committed a sin, the deer, in his human voice, curses Pandu that he shall die as well when he looks lovingly at his wife. This jolts Pandu and he renounces his material possessions and decides to live in the forest. 

 

We have our House Inaugural Assembly this Sunday. Our grade belongs to Arjuna's Arrows and our house color is Green. Please have the kids wear Indian clothes with some green in it to show our house spirit. We need parent volunteers to help us with the activities. Please do join us at 9:45. 

Thank you and excited to see you all on Sunday, September 27th at our House Inaugural Assembly!!

 

Regards,

Raji and Sai. 

 

Sep 13, 2026 - Grade 5 (Sunday AM)

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

Welcome to Gr 5 - Sunday AM Session

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