Mahaprabhu's Lila withTwo thieves

Hare Krsna!!
Dear Parents,
Please prepare your kids for sloka/ story recitation in the next class. Story telling need not to be so elaborate, maybe just few lines. [Note: Please find the stories and slokas in the older posts]
Please mark your calendar for Easter Egg Hunt on March 31st @ 6 PM in the Temple.

Last week,
Prayers: We are happy to see kids voluntarily leading the class in prayers. HARIBOL!!!
Bhajan: We started learning few lines of bhajan " Sri Nama Sankirtan"

hari haraye namaḥ kṛṣṇa yādavāya namaḥ
yādavāya mādhavāya keśavāya namaḥ

Translation: Hari! Obeisances to Lord Hari, unto Krsna, and Yadava. Obeisances to Lord of the Yadus, Madhava, Kesava.

Audio link: Hari Haraye Namah

 

Sloka: Radhika Mataji taught the second verse  of Siksashtakam.

nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis
tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ
etādṛśī tava kṛpā bhagavan mamāpi
durdaivam īdṛśam ihājani nānurāgaḥ

Translation:  O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benediction to living beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of names, like Krsna and Govinda. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names. O my Lord, out of kindness You enable us to easily approach You by Your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for them.

Audio Link: Sikshastakam-second-verse

 

Story: We heard another wonderful childhood pasttimes of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
When Caitanya Mahaprabhu was a child, He was called Nimai and His mom Saci mata would beautifully decorate Him with gold ornaments. Once, when the Lord was playing outside His house, two thieves saw the Lord with all the gold ornaments and thought to rob Him. So, they took Him on their shoulders giving Him some sweets. The thieves thought that they would carry the child to the forest and take away the ornaments. The Lord, however knew their minds and showed His power so that instead of carrying Him to the forest, they came right back in front of His house and had fun ride at the same time. When the theives came before Nimai's house, they saw that everyone was busy searching for the child. So the thieves being afraid to be caught, left Nimai and ran away. Then the child was taken inside the house and given to mother Saci, who was very happy to see Nimai unharmed.

We concluded the class with the coloring picture of the above story.

Eagerly, looking forward to the next class.

Haribol!!
Gopala Class Teachers
Radhika Mataji
Amutha

 

Caitanya Mahaprabhu's Childhood Pasttimes

Hare Krsna!!!

Dear Parents,
As we are approaching Gaura Poornima on March 26th, we started hearing stories about Caitanya Mahaprabhu who is Krna Himself and we will continue hearing about the pasttimes of merciful Mahaprabhu.

Sloka: We learned the few lines of first verse of Shiksastakam.
ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaḿ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaḿ
śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaḿ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam
ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaḿ prati-padaḿ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaḿ
sarvātma-snapanaḿ paraḿ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-sańkīrtanam
Translation: Glory to the sri-krsna-sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious.
Audio: Sikshastakam-First-Verse
Video Link: http://www.iskcondesiretree.net/video/sri-krishna-caitanya-siksastakam-bhajan-music

Story: We heard the pasttime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu as a little boy stealing the offerings of a brahmana.
 A brahmana who was touring all over the country, traveling from one place of pilgrimage to another, reached Navadvipa and became a guest in the house of Jagannatha Misra. Jagannatha Misra gave him all ingredients for cooking, and the brahmana prepared his food. When the brahmana was offering the food to Lord Vishnu in meditation, child Nimai came before him and began to eat it, and because of this the brahmana thought the whole offering had been spoiled. Therefore by the request of Jagannatha Misra he cooked for a second time, but when he was meditating the child again came before him and began to eat the food, again spoiling the offering. By the request of Jagannatha Misra the brahmana cooked for a third time, but for a third time the Lord came before him and began to eat the food, although the child had been locked within a room and everyone was sleeping because it was late at night. Thus, thinking that on that day Lord Vishnu was not willing to accept his food and that he was therefore ordained to fast, the brahmana became greatly agitated and cried aloud. When Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu saw the brahmana in that agitated state, "I am very much pleased by your devotion. Therefore I am eating the food you have prepared." Understanding the favor offered to him by the Lord, the brahmana was greatly pleased, and he was overwhelmed with love of Krishna. He was thankful to the Lord, for he felt himself greatly fortunate.

Finally, we concluded the class with the story's coloring picture.

Looking forward to seeing all of you in the next class.
Haribol!!
Gopala Class Teachers
Radhika Mataji
Amutha