Origin of Radha-kund and Syama kund

Hare Krsna!!!

Dear Parents,
Thank you for bringing your kids regularly to Sunday Gopala class.

This week,
PRAYERS : We sang Guru prayer thanking him for giving us knowledge, Lord Shri Krsna and Srimati Radharani seeking their blessings and guidance to become knowledgeable good devotees of the Lord.

SLOKA : Radhika Mataji taught the Bhagavad-Gita Sloka from Chapter 4: verse 11

ye yatha mam prapadyante
tāms tathaiva bhajāmy aham
mama vartmānu vartante
manusyah partha sarvasah

TRANSLATION : As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Prtha.

Audio Link: http://kids.iskcondesiretree.info/Audio/03_-_Sloka_recitation_by_5_year_old_Samhita/Bhagavad_Gita_108_Important/Ch%204TranscendentalKnowledge/BG4.11.MP3

Bhagavad-Gita Link : If you would like to know more about this verse and its purport, please visit http://vedabase.net/bg/4/11/en
(Note: Please refer to the previous posts for the prayers and their translations.)

Game Time: Monika Mataji conducted “ Krsna says” game which all the kids enjoyed very much.

STORY TIME: We heard the slaying of Aristasura and the origin of Radha-kund and Syama-kund.

Slaying of Aristasura: The demon Aristasura came to Vrindavan in the form of a bull, making the earth tremble with his hooves. Ariṣṭāsura bellowed very harshly and pawed the ground and began to tear up everything with the tips of his horns. When the gopas and gopis saw the demon, they were very terrified. Everyone including the animals cried ‘Krsna, Krsna!’ for help.
When the Supreme Lord saw everyone being scared, He calmed them, saying, "Don't be afraid." He slapped His arms with His palms making a loud sound which angered Aristasura. The Lord then put His arm over the shoulder of a friend and stood facing the demon. The demon charged towards Lord Krsna, but the Supreme Lord Krsna caught Ariṣṭāsura by the horns and threw him back. Aristasura got up breathing hard and sweating, again charged the Lord. As Aristasura attacked, Lord Krsna seized him by the horns and knocked him to the ground with His foot. Finally, He yanked out one of the demon's horns and struck him with it until the demon died.
The demigods honored Lord Krsna by showering flowers upon Him.

Origin of Radha-kund and Syama-Kund:
Radha and other young gopīs said to Lord Krsna that even though Aristasura was a terrible demon, he was a male cow, so now Lord Krsna has to purify Himself by visiting every single holy place.
Lord Krsna said that He would bring all the holy places there and take His bath, so He struck His heel on the ground. There formed a pond and when the supreme Lord called, all the holy places came to the pond. There were ocean of milk, Sindhu, Sona, Tamraparni, Sarasvati, Godavari, Yamuna, Ganga and many others.
After bathing in the holy waters, Lord Hari said to the gopis that they must now purify themselves by taking bath in the holy water. But Radharani said that she is going to create an even more beautiful pond and started digging where Aristsura’s hooves had made a ditch. When Lord Krsna saw that a beautiful pond has been created, he told the gopis that they now have to fill the pond with waters from His pond. But Radharani replied that Krsna’s pond is contaminated by His bath, so they are going to fill their lake with the pure water of Ganga.
Lord Krsna then gestured to the representative of all the holy places. That person rose up out of Krsna’s pond and bowed down to Radharani saying that they came to Krsna’s pond on His order and they would feel satisfied if Radharani would make their wish come true. Hearing this prayer by the representative of all the holy places, Radharani asked them to tell their wish. They told Her that their desire is to come to Radharani’s pond. Smiling, Radharani pleased all the holy places by asking them to come to Her pond.
Lord Hari then said to Radharani that Her pond would be more famous than His and He would come to Radha-kund to take bath and to enjoy His pastimes. He also said that Radha’s pond would be as dear to Him as Radharani
Herself.
Radharani replied that she would also go to bathe in Krsna’s pond and whoever takes bath or stays there would become very dear to Her.

Practical Application:
1. Let’s visit these holy places when we go to India to get the blessings of Srimati Radharani and Shri Krsna.
2. Let’s all develop love for the Supreme Lord by listening to His pastimes and visiting His holy places.

SrimadBhagavatam Book link: Slaying of Arista http://vedabase.net/sb/10/36/en

Finally, we concluded the class with coloring pictures. All the kids were happy to show their colorful pictures.

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