Ramayana performances enrollment

Hare Krishna dear parents,

I hope you got information about the ramayana characters dress up for saturday. Please send email to enroll your kids. Please let me know about what you kid will be doing. You can combine with your friends kids and do a scene in Ramayana which I have posted in the previous blog. The last day for enrollment is March 31.

If you need any help in dressing up you kid please let me know.

EMAIL: nirmalas@gmail.com
Phone: 425 503 0443

Love and Regards
Nama Priya

Ramayana characters by our kids

Scene settings for the Ramayana characters

1. Three Queens introducing sons
Dialogue:
Kausalya – This is my son Ram (the girls can have a toy baby in her hand)
Keikeyi – This is my son Bharata
Sumitra – This is my twin sons Lakshman and Satruguna

2. Introducing the Four brothers and wife Sita
Dialogue:
Rama – I am Ram. I am first son of King Dasarath.
Bharatha– I am Bharatha. I am second son of King Dasarath.
Lakshman– I am Lakshman. I am third son of King Dasarath.
Satruguna – I am Satruguna. I am fourth son of King Dasarath.
Sita – I am Sita. I am here to serve Ram

3. Rama breaking the bow
Dialogue: No
Action: Offering prayers and pretending to life the bow and break it

4. Bharata calling Ram back to the palace
Dialogue:
Bharatha – Dear brother Ram, please come back to Ayodhya
Ram – I cannot come to Ayodhya because I need to listen to fathers words
Lakshman – I will stay with Ram
5. Rama, Ahilya, Lakshmana (Optional), Viswamitra (Optional)
Dialogue:
No dialogue
Action:
Ahilya sitting like a stone (kids would know this as freeze game) Rama touching Ahilya and she offers prayers

6. Janaka – Feeling sad that nobody is able to lift the bow
Dialogue:
Janaka - So many kings and princes are here. But no one could break the bow?

7. Keikeyi– Asking for two boons
Dialogue:
Keikeyi – I need two boons. I want Rama to go to forest and Bharata to be the king

8. Rama, Sita – talking to each other
Dialogue:
Rama – Sita please stay in the palace
Sita – I will come with you to the forest

9. Dasaratha – Feeling sad in seperation
Dialogue:
Dasaratha - How could I live without Ram?

10. Bharata feeling sad for his mom
Dialogue:
Bharata – Mom, what you did is wrong. Brother Rama should be the king
Keikeyi – I have done this because this is good for you

11. Rama Sita – Showing the beautiful dear
Dialogue:
Sita- Look over there, there is a golden dear. It is very beautiful. Can I have it?
Ram – Sure I will get it for you

12. Mareech – calling for help in Rama’s voice
Dialogue:
Mareech – Lakshmana please help

13. Hanuman, Rama, Lakshman – Meeting together
Dialogue:
Rama – Who are you?
Hanuman- I am hanuman, minister of Sugreeva
Lakshman – I see (optional)

14. Jambavan,– Revealing about Hanuman
Dialogue:
Jambavan- You can go over the sea, you have unique speed.

15. Hanuman – Firing Lanka
Dialogue:
Hanuman – They put fire in my tail. I am going to set fire to Lanka

16. Hanuman meeting Sita
Dialogue:
Sita – Who is it singing about Ram here
Hanuman – I am singing about Ram. I am his humble servant

17. Lava, Kusha
Dialogue:
Lav, Kusha – Jai sita ram, Jai sita ram

18. Hanuman meets Sita (Sita, Hanuman is optional)
Dialogue:
Sita - I am so happy to see you Hanuman. I am waiting for Lord Ram to come.

19. Sita in Ashoka Van
Dialogue:
Oh Lord Ram please come and take me from here

20. Sita talking to Ravana (sita, Ravana - Optional)
Dialogue:
Ravana - (The kid will be dressed up like a brahmana)
Mata, Can I have something to eat? I am hungry.
Sita - Sure, I cannot come out, you please come inside the line.

21. Lakshman talking to Sita
Dialogue:
Lakshman - Mata, please do not cross this line. I am going to find Ram
Sita - Ok I will not cross the line

Vatsasura story

Once, when Krsna and Balarama were playing on the bank of the Yamuna, a demon of the name Vatsasura assumed the shape of a calf and came there intending to kill the brothers. By taking the shape of a calf, the demon could mingle with other calves. Krsna, however, specifically noticed this, and He immediately told Balarama about the entrance of the demon. Both brothers then followed him and sneaked up upon him. Krsna caught hold of the demon-calf by the two hind legs and tail, whipped him around very forcibly and threw him up into a tree. The demon lost his life and fell down from the top of the tree to the ground. When the demon lay dead on the ground, all the playmates of Krsna congratulated Him, "Well done, well done," and the demigods in the sky began to shower flowers with great satisfaction. In this way, the maintainers of the complete creation, Krsna and Balarama, used to take care of the calves in the morning every day, and thus They enjoyed Their childhood pastimes as cowherd boys in Vrndavana.

Bakasura story

All the cowherd boys would daily go to the bank of the river Yamuna to water their calves. Usually, when the calves drank water from the Yamuna, the boys also drank. One day, after drinking, when they were sitting on the bank of the river, they saw a huge animal which looked something like a duck and was as big as a hill. Its top was as strong as a thunderbolt. When they saw that unusual animal, they became afraid of it. The name of this beast was Bakasura, and he was a friend of Kamsa's. He appeared on the scene suddenly and immediately attacked Krsna with his pointed, sharp beaks and quickly swallowed Him up. When Krsna was thus swallowed, all the boys, headed by Balarama, became almost breathless, as if they had died. But when the Bakasura demon was swallowing up Krsna, he felt a burning fiery sensation in his throat. This was due to the glowing effulgence of Krsna. The demon quickly threw Krsna up and tried to kill Him by pinching Him in his beaks. Bakasura did not know that although Krsna was playing the part of a child of Nanda Maharaja, He was still the original father of Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe. The child of mother Yasoda, who is the reservoir of pleasure for the demigods and who is the maintainer of saintly persons, caught hold of the beaks of the great gigantic duck and, before His cowherd boy friends, bifurcated his mouth, just as a child very easily splits a blade of grass. From the sky, the denizens of the heavenly planets showered flowers like the cameli, the most fragrant of all flowers, as a token of their congratulations. Accompanying the showers of flowers was a vibration of bugles, drums and conchshells.

When the boys saw the showering of flowers and heard the celestial sounds, they became struck with wonder. When they saw Krsna, they all, including Balarama, were so pleased that it seemed as if they had regained their very source of life. As soon as they saw Krsna coming towards them, they one after another embraced the son of Nanda and held Him to their chests. After this, they assembled all the calves under their charge and began to return home.

When they arrived home, they began to speak of the wonderful activities of the son of Nanda. When the gopis and cowherd men all heard the story from the boys, they felt great happiness because naturally they loved Krsna, and hearing about His glories and victorious activities, they became still more affectionate toward Him. Thinking that the child Krsna was saved from the mouth of death, they began to see His face with great love and affection. They were full of anxieties, but they could not turn their faces from the vision of Krsna. The gopis and the men began to converse amongst themselves about how the child Krsna was attacked in so many ways and so many times by so many demons, and yet the demons were killed and Krsna was uninjured. They continued to converse amongst themselves about how so many great demons in such fierce bodies attacked Krsna to kill Him, but by the grace of Hari, they could not cause even a slight injury. Rather, they died like small flies in a fire. Thus they remembered the words of Garga Muni who foretold, by dint of his vast knowledge of the Vedas and astrology, that this boy would be attacked by many demons. Now they actually saw that this was coming true, word for word.

All the elderly cowherd men, including Nanda Maharaja, used to talk of the wonderful activities of Lord Krsna and Balarama, and they were always so much absorbed in those talks that they forgot the threefold miseries of this material existence. This is the effect of Krsna consciousness. What was enjoyed five thousand years ago by Nanda Maharaja can still be enjoyed by persons who are in Krsna consciousness simply by talking about the transcendental pastimes of Krsna and His associates.

Bakasura and Vatsasura

Dear parents,
Hare Krishna

We had lots of kids turning around these days in the class. I am having so much fun teaching them. The best part is the kids are able to recollect what they heard so far.

We revised the first sloka of Bhagavad Gita and Radhae jaya jaya madhava dayite. We will repeat the same sloka and finish up the radhae jaya jaya madhava dayite song.

We introduced mahabaratha story little bit, and we will continue more of Lord Krishna's appearance in Mahabharata.

Please come next week, I have an important announcement for kids program during Rama Navami.

Love and Regards
Nama Priya DD

Chapter 1 Text 1 of Bhagavad Gita

Next week we will go through the details of the verses and introduce some characters in Mahabharata.

Verse:

dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca
dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre
samavetā yuyutsavaḥ
māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāś caiva
kim akurvata sañjaya

Translation:

Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: O Sañjaya, after my sons and the sons of Pāṇḍu assembled in the place of pilgrimage at Kurukṣetra, desiring to fight, what did they do?

Story of Ekadesi

WHO IS EKADASI ?

In the Satya-yuga there once lived an amazing fearsome demon called Mura.
Always very angry, he terrified all the demigods, defeating even Indra, the king of heaven; Vivasvan, the sun-god; the eight Vasus; Lord Brahma; Vayu, the wind-god; and Agni, the fire-god.
With his terrible power he brought them all under his control.

Then the demigods approached Lord Visnu, and prayed to Him for help.
Hearing the prayers and request from Indra, Lord Visnu became very angry and said:
"O powerful demigods, all together you may now advance on Mura's capital city of Candravati."

Encouraged thus, the assembled demigods proceeded to Candravati with Lord Hari leading the way.
Then there was a big fight between the soldiers of Mura and the demigods.
Many hundreds of demons were killed by the Lord's hand.
At last the chief demon, Mura, began fighting with the Lord, first with weapons, then with bare hands.
The Lord wrested with Mura for one thousand celestial years and then, apparently fatigued, left for Badarika-asrama.
There He entered a very beautiful cave, named Himavati, to rest.

The demon followed Him into the cave, and, seeing Him asleep, started thinking within his heart:
"Today I will kill this slayer of all demons, Hari."

While the wicked demon Mura was making plans in this way, from Lord Visnu's body there manifested a young girl who had a very bright complexion.
Mura saw that she was equipped with various brilliant weapons and was ready to fight.
Challenged by that female to do battle, Mura prepared himself and then fought with her, but he became very astonished when he saw that she fought with him without cessation.
The king of demons then said: "Who has created this angry, fearsome girl who is fighting me so powerfully, just like a thunderbolt falling upon me?"
After saying this, the demon continued to fight with the girl.

Suddenly that effulgent goddess shattered all of Mura's weapons and in a moment deprived him of his chariot.
He ran toward her to attack her with his bare hands, but when she saw him coming she angrily cut off his head.
Thus the demon at once fell to the ground and went to the abode of Yamaraja.

Then the Supreme Lord woke up and saw the dead demon before Him, as well as the maiden bowing down to Him with joined palms.
The Lord, being pleased with the girl, offered to give her a boon.
The maiden said: "O Lord, if You are pleased with me and wish to give me a boon, then give me the power to deliver from the greatest sins that person who fasts on this day.
I wish that half the pious credit obtained by one who fasts will acrue to one who eats only in the evening [abstaining from grains and beans], and that half of *this* pious credit will be earned by one who eats only at midday.
Also, one who strictly observes a complete fast on my appearance day, with controlled senses, goes to the abode of Lord Visnu for one billion kalpas after he has enjoyed all kinds of pleasures in this world.
This is the boon I desire to attain by Your mercy, my Lord.
O Lord, whether a person observes complete fasting, eats only in the evening, or eats only at midday, please grant him a religious attitude, wealth, and at last liberation."

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said:
"O most pious lady, what you have requested is granted.
All My devotees in this world will surely fast on your day, and thus they will become famous throughout the three worlds and finally come and stay with Me in My abode.
Because you, My transcendental potency, have appeared on the eleventh day of the waning moon, let your name be Ekadasi.
If a person fasts on Ekadasi, I will burn up all his sins and bestow upon him My transcendental abode."

Introducing very first verse of Bagavad Gita

Dear parents,

There were lots of items taught to the kids yesterday. We were revising few and got introduced to new ones.

Next week we will concentrate on memorizing them.

We started with narashinga arati, went through Radhae jaya jaya (http://namapriya.blogspot.com/2009/02/radhae-jaya-jaya-madhava-dhayite.html) and the first verse of Bagavad Gita.

We did couple of short stories about ekadesi and the benefits of following ekadesi.
There are different stories about Ekadesi and there are scientific reasons why we should not eat grains during that day.I will post one story of ekadesi in the next blog.

Love and Regards,
Nama Priya DD

Panchatta tattva maha abhishek

Hare Krishna dear parents,

This is the video of pancha tattva maha abhishek.

It is so beautiful, I showed to few kids they were excited to see the ceremony.



Love and Regards
Nama Priya DD

Sesha and Nimai story

Dear parents,

We started with Narashinga prayers and radhae jaya jaya madhava dayite.
Radhae song is pretty tough for kids but this is just to push the kids to next level of bajans. But they are doing pretty good so far.
We also did another small bajan

"Nitai gauranga, Nitai gauranga, Nitai gauranga, gaura hari
Jaya sachi nandana, Jaya sachi nandana,Jaya sachi nandana, gaura hari"

We will practice again this week.

We also talked about how little Nimai was sleeping on sesha nag. Sesha nag wanted to serve little Nimai, because he knows that little Nimai is Lord Krishna himself. All of them in the heavenly planets wanted to server him in some way or the other. But Sesha nag was in more seperation. But when sachi mata and Jaganath misra saw Nimai sleeping on sesha nag, they all cried in distress. All the neighbours were also distressed. So Sesha nag felt so unhappy by making every one sad, he left the place.

See you all next week

Nama Priya DD

Introducing Nimai pandit

Dear parents,

We revised radhae jaya jaya madhava dhaiyete song. The kids are familiar with first four lines. We will continue again this week end to thorough these lines and introduce another 2 lines.

In the story time we talked about Nimai pandit and how he is the yuga avatar for Kali yuga. He is Krishna himself who came to spread the sankirtan movement.

We explained this using a story happened in Nimai childhood pastimes.

A brahmana visits Nimai pandits house and Jaganath misra is Nimai's father wanted to host the brahmana in his house. But the brahmana cooks and offers to Gopal all the time before he eats. He makes the offering but little Nimai comes and eats all the bhoga. He did this three times but the brahmana wanted to go hungry. Then Nimai pandit shows his transcendental form.

We did color Krishna pictures later, which the kids always get excited :)