Lord Ram's Exile

Hare Krsna!!
Dear Parents,
It was wonderful to be back in the class and hear the kids chant the prayers enthusiastically. Thank you for bringing your wonderful kids to the class.

Last week,
Many kids recited 'he krsna karuna sindhu' and 'vancha kalpa ' prayers excellently.

Prayers: We revised the prayers that was previously taught.
rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan

nānāvatāram akarod bhuvaneṣu kintu

kṛṣṇaḥ svayaḿ samabhavat paramaḥ pumān yo

govindam ādi-puruṣaḿ tam ahaḿ bhajāmi

Translation: I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who manifested Himself personally as Krishna and the different avataras in the world in the forms of Rama, Nrisimha, Vamana, etc., as His subjective portions.

Audio Link: BrahmaSamhita: Verse 39

 

Story: We heard the story of how Lord Ram was sent to the forest.

King Dashratha prepared to coronate Lord Rama as the next king. The proposal was approved by his kingly priest Vashishtha and all the ministers. Kaikeyi got informed of coronation of Ram and she was misguided by her most faithful friend & servant Manthara. Mischievous Manthara told Kaikeyi that the king under a tricky and treacherous plan had sent Bharat to his maternal house and took decision of coronation of Ram with the convenience of Kaushalya without any knowledge of Kaikeyi. The plan of coronation was ill intended against Kaikeyi by the King and Kaushalya and it put black shadow on her future status and on future status of her son, Bharat. Kaikeyi got shocked and convinced by Manthra immediately prepared a strategy to stop coronation of Ram and send him to forest for fourteen years, to lead an sage life and Bharat should be called back from his maternal uncle's house for coronation.
When King Dashratha went to the palace of Kaikeyi to give this happy surprise of coronation of Ram, he found her weeping and sad. He consoled her that he was prepared to give anything on the happy occasion of Ram's coronation. Kaikeyi wanted the two benedictions that she has received earlier. Kaikeyi had received two gifts from King Dasarath when she saved his life in a previous battle. She asked assurance whether King Dasarath would keep his promise in the name of Ram. King Dasarath was happy to give anything to make his favorite queen happy and on the auspicious occasion of Lord Ram's coronation.
Now, she asked for the benedictions from King Dasharath : 1 )to have Lord Ram sent to the forest and 2) to have Bharat coronated as the next king. King Dasarath fell unconscious hearing this horrible benedictions. He tried to persuade Kaikeyi to ask for something rather than to send Ram to the forest. King Dasarath tried to convince her that he would crown Bharat but begged Kaikeyi to rescind the benediction of exiling Ram to the forest. But Kaikeyi would not be persuaded nor convinced nor withdraw but stood steadfast in her askance.
King Dasarath was a man of his word. He never went back on his words. But the boons asked by Kaikeyi was unimaginably cruel to him and felt the pain in his heart of his son Ram's imminent seperation.
Lord Ram was called to the Kaikeyi's apartments and saw his father in distress. Hearing all that had happened from Kaikeyi, Lord Ramachandra, in order to protect the word of honour of His father and upon hearing Kaikeyi’s request, Ram decided to live as an exile for 14 years in the forest. Lord Ram took the entire incident very graciously and nobly. There was not a slightest sign of sorrow on his face. He not only maintained tranquility of mind and heart rather pacified his remorsing father, shocked mother and entire family members, and affectionate subjects of Ayodhya. He sought mother Kaikeyi's blessing as well.　
Sitadevi would not be separated from Lord Ram and decided to go with Him to the forest. His younger brother Lakshmana, who was like a second soul to Ram would not be persuaded to stay in the palace of Ayodya and take care of their parents. So, Lord Ram along with His chaste wife Sitadevi and younger brother Lakshman went to reside in the forest.
Finally, we concluded the class with the coloring picture.

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

Sita Rama Kalayanam

Hare Krsna!!

Dear Parents,
Prayers: Radhika Mataji taught new prayers from Brahma Samhita.
rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan

nānāvatāram akarod bhuvaneṣu kintu

kṛṣṇaḥ svayaḿ samabhavat paramaḥ pumān yo

govindam ādi-puruṣaḿ tam ahaḿ bhajāmi

Translation: I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who manifested Himself personally as Krishna and the different avataras in the world in the forms of Rama, Nrisimha, Vamana, etc., as His subjective portions.

Audio Link: BrahmaSamhita: Verse 39

Story : Radhika Mataji narrated the story of Sita - Ram Kalayanam.

Soon after Sita was found, King Seeradhwaja Janaka was blessed with another daughter by the name of Urmila.Sita and Urmila frew up playing with with their paternal cousins Mandavi and Sruthakeerthi. One day while they played, the ball slipped from Sita's hands and rolled along the passageway into Janaka's pooja room. Sita saw a huge wooden decorated box on the floor and the ball wedged between the box and the wall. The royal maids came rushing to the scene to find out what was bothering Sita. On finding the reason, they tried to explain to Sita that the box held the Siva Dhanush and required atleast 5000 strong men to move the box. They quickly brought another ball for her to play. Sita's mind was set only on her lucky ball with which she always won. With one effortless movement with her left hand, she moved the box out of its way. The maids, totally stunned ran to tell King Janaka. On learning this, King Janaka went into deep thought whether he would be able to find a groom who would be equal in match to Sita. All the kings were summoned for sita' swayamvara. An announcement was made that the groom would to be selected based on his ability to lift the Siva Dhanush.

On the day of the Swayamara, the great bow was brought forth upon an eight-wheeled cart drawn by five thousand tall men. Viswamithra arrived in Mithila bringing Rama and Lakshmana with him. 

Many Kings and princes failed to lift the bow and seeing them fail, all the other kings and princes who were present slowly withdrew from the competition.

Rama lifted the bow efforlessly and strove to bend it. It broke in two. Sita's marriage was fixed with Rama, who had the blue color of the sky, just like Her father Padmakshan had promised. 

Along with their marriage, the marriages of Urmila, Mandavi and Sruthakkerthi were fixed with Lakshmana, Bharatha and Shatrugna.

King Dasaratha performed the vrathas for his sons. He had invited all the people from Ayodhya to Mithila for the marriage. Next morning, Dasaratha having finished his morning duties , reached the marriage hall , next to the yagasala, surrounded by his relatives, ministers, maharishis and others.

His four sons, dressed in shiny clothes and donned with ornaments, finished the vedic rituals prior to marriage. They sat next to their father preceded by Vasishta and other maharishis, sadhus and bhaktas. 

Janaka maharaja gently guided Sita in front of Rama. Sita was dressed in a red color sari and adorned with precious jewels.

He addressed Rama and said, "Sita is named so because she was found on the Earth. I have brought her up as my daughter with great love. I have taught her all the dharmas. She will follow the dharma that you wish to observe. Please accept her as you wife. May You be blessed with all the prosperity. Please take her hand. She will be a great pathivrata, your shadow , never to leave you". Thus saying he let holy water in his hand. Devas and Maharishis blessed the couple. Flowers rained from the sky. Divine instruments were heard playing auspicious music.

Then Janaka conducted the marriage of Lakshmana with Urmila, Bharatha with Mandavi and Shatrugna with Sruthakeerthi.

The four princes wed the princesses with the blessings of Vasishta. Then they circumambulated the fire, seeking the blessings of all elders. 

At that time, the devas rained flowers, played dhundhubi and bheri instruments. Gandharvas and apsaras sang melodiously and danced merrily. These joyous activities occured during the marriage of the princes. 

The princes went around the agni three times and retired to their palaces with the princesses. Dasaratha joyously followed them with his relatives, friends and maharishis.

The class was concluded with the coloring picture.

Looking forward to seeing all of you in the next class.

Haribol!!

Gopala Class Teachers

Radhika Mataji

Amutha

Lord Ram slays Taataka and Subahu

Hare Krsna!!

Dear Parents,
We would like to inform you that kids from Sunday school will be putting on a show for Lord Ram's pleasure on April 21st (sunday) after arati. We kindly request all of you to attend and enjoy and encourage the kids.

Last week,
Prayers: Radhika Mataji revised the prayer about Lord Ram taught last week.
'Sri Rama Rama Rameti
Rame Rame Manorame;
Sahasra nama tattulyam
Rama nama varanane!’
Translation: Lord Shiva addressed Devi PArvati: “O Varanana (lovely-faced woman), I chant the holy name of Rama, Rama, Rama and thus constantly enjoy this beautiful sound. This holy name of Ramacandra is equal to one thousand holy names of Lord Vishnu (Vishnu-sahasra-nama-stotram).
AudioLink: Sri Rama Rama Rameti Mantra

Story: King Dasarath enjoyed watching his sons Rama, Lakshmana, Bharath and Satrughna grow before his eyes. He did not say it in so many words, but he did have a special place in his heart for Rama.
One day the sage, or wise man, Vishvamitra came to Ayodhya to see the king. The king had great respect for him and welcomed him.
"Greetings, oh, wise one. What brings you to my kingdom?"
The sage said, "I have come to ask you a favor."
"How can I help? No wish is too great to ask," the king responded.
"It pleases me to hear those words from you, " said Vishwamitra.
I have been trying to perform an important sacred rite which is again and again being interrupted by Ravana's demons. My vows prevent me personally from fighting these demons."
The king listened intently.
"I pray, Dasaratha, that you allow me to take Rama with me to protect my sacred rite."
"But Rama is only a child. He is but sixteen years of age. I shall send you my armies to battle these demons. I will even accompany you. I shall fight these demons with my own hands. But please do not take Rama. Without Rama I cannot live even a few minutes."
The king began to weep.
Vishwamitra understood the king's pain. But the sage also had no choice and he was getting angry. Sage Vasishta advised King Dasarath to send Rama with Vishwamitra. Then, the king told Rama about Vishwamitra's request. Rama understood and willingly went with the sage.
"I shall go, too, father," declared Lakshmana. The king did not protest.
Rama and Lakshmana, weapons slung over their shoulders, and followed the sage along the Sarayu River bank.
The journey was a long one. Whenever the three stopped to rest, the sage took the time to teach the boys how to use the powerful weapons of the gods to fight the demons. They journeyed until they reached the foot of a frightening forest. They paused. The sage said, "This was once a beautiful and prosperous country. Now the terrible she-demon, Tataka, lives here. She attacks and kills anyone who enters."
Neither Rama nor Lakshmana were afraid.
The sage turned to Rama and said, "Now it is up to you to rid this forest of these demons. By doing so, you will restore the land to the prosperity and the peace it once enjoyed."
Rama clutched his bow and removed arrows from his quiver. Rama and Lakshmana followed Vishwamitra into the forest. They heard many strange and frightening sounds. Each step they took brought them deeper into the forest.
Suddenly there was an unearthly roar. The three men stopped. From nowhere a huge rock came hurling out of the sky heading straight for Rama. He slipped an arrow in place and drew his bow. He fired just as the rock was about to hit him. The arrow split the rock in two. The pieces fell harmlessly to earth.
Then appearing out of between two trees, Rama saw a horrible sight. It was the hideous form of the demoness, Taataka. She was enormous. She had sharp claws on her hands. She looked at Rama and made a growling noise. Lakshmana decided to wait no longer. He fired his arrow and gravely wounded the demoness. A strange look came over her face as she felt the arrow pierce her flesh. Placing her hand to the wound she moaned. Then taking careful aim, Rama fired his arrow into Taataka's heart killing her.
No sooner had the she-demon died, than the gods in heaven rained lotus blossoms down on Rama blessing him. The three continued on their journey deeper into the forest. Along the way, Rama and Lakshmana killed many demons.
Vishwamitra delighted with Rama presents Him with several astras and sastras (divine weapons) that will be of use to him in the future, and Rama masters the knowledge of all the weapons and their uses. Vishwamitra then tells Rama and Lakshmana that soon, he along with some of his disciples, will perform a yagna for seven days and nights that will be of great benefit to the world, and the two princes must keep close watch for the two sons of Taataka, Maricha and Subahu, who will try to defile the yagna at all costs. The princes therefore keep a strong vigil for all of the days, and on the seventh day they spot Maricha and Subahu coming with a whole host of Raakshasas ready to pour bones and blood into the fire. Rama points his bow at the two, and with one arrow kills Subahu, and with the other arrow flings Mareecha thousands of miles away into the ocean. Lakshmana deals with the rest of the demons. The yagna is completed successfully.

Finally, the class was concluded with coloring pictures.

Haribol!!
Gopala Class Teachers,
Radhika Mataji

 

 

Birth of Lord Rama

Hare Krsna!!

Dear Parents,
We sincerely appreciate your effort in bringing your kids to Sunday Class during Spring break. Thank you!!

Last week,
We started hearing the pasttimes of Lord Rama as we are approaching Rama Navami. Rama Navami celebrations will be held on April 19, 20 and 21st.


Prayers: Radhika Mataji taught a new prayer about Lord Ram.
'Sri Rama Rama Rameti
Rame Rame Manorame;
Sahasra nama tattulyam
Rama nama varanane!’
Translation: Lord Shiva addressed Devi PArvati: “O Varanana (lovely-faced woman), I chant the holy name of Rama, Rama, Rama and thus constantly enjoy this beautiful sound. This holy name of Ramacandra is equal to one thousand holy names of Lord Vishnu (Vishnu-sahasra-nama-stotram).
AudioLink: Sri Rama Rama Rameti Mantra

Story: Radhika Mataji narrated the story of the Birth of Lord Rama.
On the banks of the Sarayu River stood the beautiful city of Ayodhya, the capital of Kosala. In the city there were magnificent palaces decorated with precious stones. Spires of great temples rose above the city as if to touch the sky. For protection, the city was surrounded by a great moat. The people of Ayodhya were peace loving and happy. No one was ignorant or poor. Everyone had faith in God and read the scriptures daily. Even thoughDasharatha had everything that he desired, he wasvery sad at heart; he had no children.
At the same moment many of the demigods were growing more and more angry with Ravana, the ruler of the rakshasas, or demons. Ravana was no ordinary looking demon. He had ten heads and twenty arms. Years ago Ravana was granted a boon, or promise. This boon protected him from demigods and demons. But he was using his power to prevent the demigods and holy men from performing sacred rituals. All the demigods went to Bramha who gave the boon to Ravana. Bramha took them to Vishnu and all of them offered prayers to Vishnu. Vishnu assured them that he will take care of them.Vishnu thought, "Ravana, in his arrogance, protected himself only from those beings whom he thought could hurt him. He failed to protect himself from humans and monkeys."
Vishnu decided to be born as a human who could kill Ravana. The demigods and holy men were pleased with his decision.
The childless Dasharatha was advised by his family priest Vashishtha to perform a fire sacrifice ceremony to seek the blessings of God for children. Vishnu, the preserver of the universe, decided to manifest himself as the eldest son of Dasharatha in order to kill Ravana. While performing the fire worship ceremony, a majestic figure rose from the sacrificial fire and handed to Dasharatha a bowl of　rice pudding, saying, "God is pleased with you and has asked you to distribute this rice pudding(payasa) to your wives - they will soon bear your children."
The king received the gift joyfully and distributed the payasa to his three queens,Kausalya, Kaikeyi, and Sumitra. Kausalya, the eldest queen, gave birth to the eldest son Rama. Bharata, the second son was born to Kaikeyi and Sumitra gave birth to the twins Lakshmana and Shatrughna.

Finally, the class was concluded with the coloring picture.

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

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

Parikshit Maharaj

Hare Krsna!!!

Dear Parents,
Last week, we started the class with prayers and we revised the previous sloka.
[Note: Please visit the older posts for the prayers and the sloka]

Story: We heard the story of Parikshit Maharaj.

Maharaj Parikshit was the son of Abhimanyu, who was the son of Arjuna. Arjuna was one of the five Pandavas and was the best friend of Krishna. During the battle of Kurukshetra, Parikshit was still in the womb of his mother, Uttara. At the end of the war, Asvatthama, the son of Dronacarya, tried to kill the child in the womb by throwing a weapon called brahmastra. The Supreme Lord Krishna saved Parikshit by entering into the womb of his mother.

After the Pandavas left this material world, Maharaj Parikshit became the ruler of the entire planet. He was a just king. There were no social problems, no crime, no poverty and no disease in his kingdom.

Once when Maharaj Parikshit went into the forest for hunting, he became very tired and thirsty. He entered the hermitage of sage Shamika Rishi who was meditating at that time. The king again and again requested for water but the rishi deep in meditation did not hear him. This enraged the king and he completely lost his intelligence. In his anger, the king picked up a dead snake and placed it on the shoulder of the sage.
The rishi’s son Shringi came to know about this incident and angrily cursed the king. He cursed that on the seventh day from that day, a snake-bird would bite Parikshit Maharaj. When Shamika Rishi came to know about the curse, he chastised his son. When king Parikshit received the news of his death, he accepted this curse as good news. 
Maharaj Parikshit was a great devotee of the Supreme Lord Krishna. He had full faith in the protection of the Lord. He did not try to make any arrangements to protect himself. Instead he immediately gave up his royal duties and went to the banks of the Ganges.
He knew that one who engages in hearing the transcendental pastimes of the Supreme Lord gets liberated from the cycle of birth and death. He desired to associate with great saintly devotees who could speak to him about Krishna. By the arrangement of the Lord, many great saintly devotees also came to the banks of the river Ganges. The great sage Sukhdev Goswami, the son of Vyasadev appeared on the scene. Maharaj Parikshit accepted him as his spiritual master and requested him to narrate the transcendental, glorious pastimes of the Lord.
Being very pleased by the submissive and devotional attitude of the king, Sukhdev Goswami then narrated the nectarean pastimes of the Lord and His various expansions. These are recalled in the book Srimad Bhagavatam. 
Maharaj Parikshit was completely absorbed in hearing about the transcendental pastimes of the Lord. Anyone who regularly hears Hari Katha becomes eligible to get liberated from the cycle of birth and death. After hearing the katha for seven days and nights without sleeping, eating or drinking, Parikshit Maharaj fixed his mind on the Lord and meditated on Him. The snake-bird Takshaka bit the king. The body of the kind immediately burst into flames and burned to ashes due to the fire of the snake-bird’s poison.
Parikshit Maharaj went back home, back to Godhead by perfecting his life by hearing the transcendental glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Thus all of us can perfect our life by regularly hearing and reading about the beautiful and transcendental pastimes of Lord Krishna and His different avatars.

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