Dharma 3B - Practical Hindu Wisdom for Kids

2018-2019

Class Information -

This class covers: Instructive narratives from Panchatantra, the Puranas, Hitopadesha, Jain scriptures etc. to teach them some practical wisdom and Hindu etiquette. Use the game ‘Snakes and Ladders’. Learn the general Shlokas used in the Temple Liturgy.

Ages: 6-7 / Grade: 1-2

Download PDF copy of book: CLICK HERE

Classroom: Large Store (Big) Room

Teachers -

Teachers:

Debbie Mukherjee
Srinivasa Mallapadi

EMAIL teachers: CLICK HERE

Teenage Volunteers:

Ria Mittal
Rani Mukherjee

Class & Homework-

May 12

Lights! Camera!! Action!!!

It's here! Get your videos and cameras ready!! The final day is here, where your child will be able to showcase what they have learnt through the HATS school year in the form of two wonderful plays. We hope that they will win your hearts with their spectacular performance. Please bring your child dressed in Indian attire at 10:30 am on Sunday, May 19th, preferably in the color shared in the last update on the website. This would not have been possible without your contribution and dedication in sending your child to HATS every Sunday. Throughout the year, we have shared many laughs, stories, festivals, moments, events, and good times. It has been a wonderful school year and we hope the kids enjoyed it just as much as we did, teaching them. Kudos to the two teen volunteers - Riya and Rani for their sincerity and cooperation. They not only helped make it a fun learning environment with their Hangman games, handing out candy rewards, and helping with root beer floats, but also correcting tests, and consistently providing weekly class updates.

Again, thank you so much for sharing your kids for the hour. We had a great year and hope your child takes all the learnings into the next year.

We look forward to seeing you again at HATS.

With warmest regards and best wishes for a great summer,

May 5

Today we read two stories.

Story 81:

This is the story of an arrogant Indra. Indra believed he was the greatest king, and wanted the greatest palace. He asked Vishvakarma to make him a palace. Vishvakarma made Indra many palaces, but Indra was never satisfied and kept telling Vishvakarma to make a greater, grander palace. Finally Vishvakarma got frustrated and prayed to Lord Brahma. Lord Brahma said that Lord Vishnu can help, so the two went to Lord Vishnu for help who said he would. The next day Indra was walking, and he saw a little kid. Indra called the kid over and started showing him his palaces. To his surprise, the child commented Well, I must admit that this is the greatest than all the palaces that Indras before you have lived in. Indra was suprised that the child reacted this way, and was shocked that he said there were Indras before him. Indra said he was the greatest and only Indra. The child said that there were many universes with many Indras, and in esach universe's lifetime there will be multiple Indras. The child compared Indra to ants and these ants could have been Indras. Indra was confused, and claimed that was not possible and the child said Indra's brain was too small to understand this concept. The child said that when we have good karmas we will be reborn as a higher-life form, when we do bad karmas we will be reborn as a lower-life form, the child continued by saying that the ants could've had bad karmas when they were higher-life forms, causing them to become ants right now. the child then revelaed his true form as Vishnu, and Indra realized his vanity was pointless, and his pride vanished.

Moral: Do not be arrogant

Story 82:

Once when Guru Nanak was passing through the city of Lahore (now in Pakistan), a rich Hindu trader named Dhunichand invited the saint for a meal in his palatial mansion. Dhunichand was very proud of his wealth. Even while the Guru ate his meal, Dhunichand kept describing to him how rich he was, how much wealth he possessed and so on. After Guru Nanak had finished his meal, he gave a sewing needle to Dhunichand and said, “Please keep this needle safely and take it to heaven after your death. When we meet there, I’d like to get it back from you.” Dhunichand looked confused and he said, “But how can anyone take anything with us after we die? “ Guru Nanak smiled and said, “Yes, you cannot carry even a small needle with you after you die. Then do you think you can carry all your wealth with you upon your death? If not, then what are you so proud of? Why are you hoarding all this money instead of sharing it with the poor?” Dhunichand understood the message that one must not be proud of what we wear, what we eat, where we live. All our worldly possessions are left behind when we die. Dhunichand now became a changed man, and he devoted his wealth for constructing Dharamshalas (community places for worship, satsanga, weddings etc.) with his wealth.

Moral: Do not brag

April 28

Kids got their test results back and candy as a reward for all the hard work. We went through the questions and the answers. Kids that were not there last week also got an opportunity to take the test. All did very well. It was very endearing to see the responses received on what they liked the best about Dharma 3B. Here are some of the responses -

The best thing I liked about Sharma 3B class is reading stories about Bhagvan.
I loved learning new things and reading stories
We get to read lots of stories. We get to learn a lot about Bhagvan. We get to learn about history. That is why I love Dharma 3B class
What I liked about Dharma 3B class is that how we learn what is good, to be nice to anybody with love and devotion.
The stories. The play practice. Tests. Events.

After that we did a story on how Bhagwan is inside the beautiful and also Ugly. This is the story of Jagganatha of Puri.

Lastly we went over what to wear for the play. Below is a list of preferable colors. All kids must come in Indian clothes for the Annual day - May 19th. Please try to avoid T-shirts for the play when we are on stage. Dharma 3B is the first to go on stage after the Graduation ceremony. All kids must be backstage by 10:45 AM. Please let us know as soon as possible if you are unable to make it. The success of the play depends on each kid being there.

The Blue jackal

Samaira - Blue/Purple

Kavin - Grey

Maya - Black/White

Nandini - White/Yellow/Red/Orange

Aryaman - Yellow/Brown

Hansika - Yellow/Brown

Vidya - Yellow/Brown

Prisha - Brown

Sumana - White

Yesh - Grey

Arohi - Orange/White

Arjun - Orange/White

Adhrit - Yellow

Nia - Black/White

The Wedding of a Mouse

Aarna - Sparkly ghagra choli

Kartikeya - simple kurta Beige/White

Aria - simple churidar kurta

Sohum - Yellow/Orange

Jas - Grey/Black

Yuvraj - Blue/White

Viraj - Green/Brown

Gunnu - Flashy kurta/sherwani

April 21

Today in Dharma level 3B we took our test. All the kids did very well. Results will be handed out next week - April 28th.

Then we practiced the plays we will be presenting on annual day (May 19), the kids should know their roles and which play they are in by now.

April 14

We practiced the plays we will be presenting on Annual Day, May 19th. Please let us know as soon as possible if your child is unable to make it that day. They should all be clear on their roles at this point. We will be doing two plays from the Panchatantra tales and the kids will be wearing animal masks. Kids should wear Indian clothes (kurta-pajama/sherwani for the boys, salwar-kameez/ghagra-choli) in colors that closely resemble the animal they will be playing.

Then, we learned the morals of some of the Guru Teaches section from the book.

Story 70: Be like a tree, and share your belongings with others.

Story 71: Be like air, look at things but do not get attached or take them

Story 73: be like water, purify others, and adapt to your surroundings but don’t lose your identities.

The students are encouraged to read the stories associated to these morals at home in preparation for the test next week.

April 7

We read two stories in class today, which are summarized below.

Story #16: This story is about Ramayana that the kids will learn in the next level. King Dasharatha ruled Ayodhya, and had three wives - Queen Kaushalya, Queen Sumitra and Queen Kaikeyi . Queen Kaushalya’s son was Rama, Queen Sumitra’s sons were Lakshmana and Shatrughna, and Queen Kaikeyi’s son was Bharat. Rama was the oldest, and all of his younger brothers respected him very much. When King Dasharatha was getting old, he decided to make Rama the King of Ayodhya. But Queen Kaikeyi’s maid, Manthara, poisoned Kaikeyi’s mind, and made her invoke the boons King Dasharatha gave her a long time ago to make Bharat the King, and to exile Rama for 14 years. She asked King Dasharatha for the boons while Bharat was away, and the King had to grant them. Rama was not very upset when he learned about his exile, and his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana decided to join him. When Bharat came back, he was extremely upset to learn about what his mother had done. He asked Rama to come back and when Rama said he couldn’t as he had to honor his fathers promise, Bharat asked him for a pair of his sandals. He placed them on the royal throne saying, he will only rule as Rama’s regent, until Rama himself came back.

Moral: Be there for your family at good and bad times.

Story 67a: We did two witty stories.

One day, the Sultan of Bengal said that whoever measured the size of the Earth would get a bag of 100 gold coins. When Gopal heard the announcement, he asked the Sultan for 100 gold coins in three months advance. He then spent the money on partying, and told some men to write numbers in notebooks. After three months, he told the Sultan he needed more time, and 100 more gold coins. The Sultan agreed, but Gopal did the same thing! After the second three months, the Sultan summoned Gopal again. Gopal came with the notebooks, and told him that if he added the numbers in the book he would have his answer. And if the Sultan wanted him to add the numbers then he would need another 100 gold coins. The Sultan was tired of spending money on Gopal, and told him that he trusted him. Thus, Gopal tricked his way into getting free money and having a good time with his friends.

Story 67b: The children in the village Gopal lived in wanted to eat free Rasagullas (sweets). Gopal decided to help them. He waited until the sweet shopkeeper went to sleep, and left his son in charge of the shop. Then Gopal went and started eating the Rasagullas! The son told Gopal he couldn’t do that, but Gopal said that he had special permission to eat whatever he wanted. The son got confused, and went to ask his dad. Gopal told him to tell his father Makkhi (a fly) was eating the sweets. When the son told his dad, his dad got mad, and told him that Makkhi can eat all the sweets he wanted. The son came back and said “Okay, you can have as many sweets as you want.” Then Gopal left with sweets for the children after he had eaten his fill. When the shop owner came out, he was very distraught because all his sweets were gone!

Moral: It is not good to trick people for your own gain.

Afterwards, we practiced the plays which we will perform on the Annual Day, May 19th. Also, the kids will have an exam on April 21st, based off the stories we are reading in class.

Stay safe!

March 24

Today we read three stories then recited some Slokas

Story 69: Dattātreya said, “My first teacher was mother earth. Even though we hurt mother earth in many ways, she is very patient and forgiving. She does not hurt us back. Instead, she keeps being kind to us. She keeps giving gifts to us. From mother earth, I have learned that we should forgive others if they hurt us. We should return good for evil. And we should continue to help others even if they are mean to others.”

Do not hurt Mother Earth, Mother Earth gives us many gifts.

We also did the story of the Apple tree and the Boy: where when a small boy and his friends used to play under a big Apple tree in his yard as little kids. He and his friends used to swing from the branches, run around the tree and have ice cold lemonade under it, on really hot days. Then growing up he used to study under the shade of the Apple tree and eating the apples as he felt hungry. Many a times the Apple tree used to drop its best fruits for the boy, out of love. Then when he came back from college and started a family, he chopped down some of the branches of the Apple tree to use its wood and make room for his family as it expanded. He build a swing for his kids from the tree branches. Then he cut the Apple tree further when he needed to build a playhouse for his kids, leaving nothing but just the stump. When his kids went off to college and build a life of their own in the cities, the boy, who was now an old man used to go to the Apple tree which was now just a stump and sit on the stump and think of his childhood days. He thought fondly of when the tree used to be big, with lots of fruits and he and his friends used to hang from its branches, Lynn in its shade and look at the clouds rolling by. But now the Apple tree was just a stump, with no shades or fruits but still offering him comfort in whatever way it could. He then realized that all his life he just took from the Apple tree and the Apple tree just gave without asking anything in return. He then realized what a big mistake he had made.

Moral: Give back what you take.

Story 74: Dattātreya said, “My next teacher was moon. The moon shines when light from sun falls on it. Every day, the moon appears to grow in size or it appears to become smaller. But in reality, the moon does not change its size. It always remains the same. But a different portion of the moon is visible to us each day depending on how much sunlight falls on it. When the sunlight falls on the entire surface of the moon, we see a full moon. When no sunlight falls on the moon, we see no moon on that night. But the moon stays the same and it does not grow or become smaller.

From the example of the moon, I learned that even though my body changes with age, my ātmā that makes it alive does not change. I have the same ātmā (or soul) inside my body whether I am a baby, a kid, a teenager, a grown up adult, or an old person. And even after die, it is only my body that disappears. My ātmā is still there, and it goes and makes a new body alive. I learned that the different parts of my life are like the different phases of moon. And just as the moon does not itself change, my ātmā always stays the same.

Moral: Body changes but soul remains the same.

Story 24: The education of the Princes of Hastinapura was now almost over. Arjuna could shoot arrows not just with his right hand, but also with his left hand! The teacher Droṇāchārya decided to give them a final test. He announced that he wanted to find out who among his students was the best archer.

He placed a wooden sparrow on the branch of the tree. The eye of the sparrow was made of a sparkling gem. He told the princes that to pass the test, they should be able to shoot at the eye of the bird. First, he called Yudhisththira to take aim and asked him, “You have to shoot the eye of the bird. Take aim and tell me what you can see.” Yudhishthira replied, “Sir, I have taken aim and my arrow will

hit its mark. I can see you, my brothers and cousins, the trees and the bird.” Droṇāchārya was disappointed, “Step back, and let Duryodhana make an attempt.”

He asked the same question to Duryodhana, who replied, “I have taken aim dear teacher. I can see you all, the tree, and also our hut behind the tree. I can also see the grass, sky and the birds flying over us.” Droṇāchārya replied, “Please step back, because you cannot hit the target.”

One by one, Droņāchārya called all princes but asked them to step back without allowing them to shoot at the target. Then, he called Arjuna and said, “Take aim, and tell me what you see.” Arjuna replied, “I see only the eye of the bird that I have to hit. I do not see anything else.” Droņāchārya was very pleased. He said, “My child, you alone of all princes have one‐pointed concentration. I am confident that you will hit your target successfully. Take aim and shoot!” Arjuna took aim, and his arrow pierced the eye of the wooden bird successfully. All the princes marveled at the marksmanship of Arjuna. In the course of time, as expected, Arjuna became the best archer of his times.

Moral: Focus on what you have to do.

March 17

Here is the update for Dharma 3B for the week of 3-17-19.

Welcome back after that long unplanned break! Please make sure your child is here on time for class at 10:00, as class has been extended to accommodate for the cancellations.

Today we read three stories, summarized below.

Number 54: Once there was a lion in the jungle who was very cruel. He killed animals for fun and food. One day the animals got fed up and decided to come up with a plan. They said that if he doesn’t stop killing everyday, they will leave and he won’t have anyone to rule over. However, they will send two animals every day for his meals. When it was the rabbits turn, he got very scared, and went to the lion very slowly. The lion was angry at the rabbit coming late, and yelled at him. The rabbit was clever, and told the lion that he got delayed because there was another lion that attacked him. The lion got mad, and asked where the other lion was hiding. The rabbit told him the other lion was in the well. When the lion went to the well and looked into he water, he saw his own face. Since the lion wasn’t very smart, he started yelling at his reflection, thinking it was the other lion. He jumped into the well to fight the other lion, and drowned because he couldn’t swim. Thus, the rabbit outsmarted the lion, and save all the animals of the jungle.

Moral: Use your brain at all times

Number 65 Part 1: One day King Akbar told his court, “Someone pulled my beard today. What punishment should I give to him?” Everyone told him answers such as put him in jail, have him beaten up, or kill him. Then Birbal said, “You should give him candy.” Everyone was surprised, so Birbal explained, saying that the only person that would dare pull a King’s beard is his grandson! King Akbar laughed and said that Birbal was correct.

Number 65 Part 2: One day a person told King Akbar that he had a gold necklace, but someone had stolen it. The person was unsure of who could’ve taken it, but one of his neighbors might’ve seen it and taken it on Diwali. King Akbar asked Birbal for help. Birbal said, “Capture every man in the building, and keep them in prison for two weeks. Do not let them shave, and bring them to court with beards on their faces.” King Akbar ordered the arrest of all of them, and after two weeks, they all had beards. Then Birbal told all of them that whoever stole the necklace has straw on his beard. All the men with beards looked at each other, but the man who had stolen the beard tried to get the straw out of his beard. Since there was only one man cleaning his beard, Birbal knew who had stolen the necklace.

Moral: Use your brain to solve problems.

Number 58: Margaret Noble was a school teacher in London, but when she heard Swami Vivekananda talking about Hindu Dharma, she decided she would live in Calcutta and became a Hindu and changed her name to Sister Nivedita. In 1899, a plague broke out in Calcutta, and it was caused by rats crawling around the dirty sewers. Sister Nivedita was pained to see the people dying, and tried to get others to clean the sewers and drains with her. Unfortunately, the other people considered that work beneath them, and wouldn’t help. As a result, Sister Nivedita cleaned them all alone. Eventually, some teenagers saw her and began helping. With their help, the city was free of plague, and people stopped dying.

Moral: No work is ever too dirty.

We ended the class by running the plays. Please make sure all the kids will be there on our presentation day - May 19th.

February 17

We read three stories

Story 51)

Kubera was the treasurer of all the Devas of Heaven. He was responsible for storing all of their gold, diamonds, silver, food, horses, electronics, cars and boats. He was very rich and lived in a beautiful palace. This palace was in a city called Alakaapuri.

Kubera was proud that he was very rich. One day, he hosted a lavish dinner party. He invited Shiva, Parvati and their children Ganesha and Karttikeya to the party. Ganesha was very hungry. He started eating food immediately. Ganesha ate so much food that no one else had anything left to eat. But, Ganesha was still hungry. So, after all the food was finished, Ganesha started to eat the utensils, the furniture and everything else in

the Palace.

When nothing was left, Ganesha threatened to swallow Kubera himself. Now Kubera became very scared. He ran to Bhagavan Shiva and fell at his feet, asking for his help as Ganesha's hunger had no limit. Kubera

said that he was very sorry for being so proud of his riches. But now he had realized that all of his money was not enough to feed even a child! Kubera promised that in the future he will be more humble, and won’t boast of his riches anymore. Shiva then gave Ganesha a handful of roasted grain, which he ate hungrily.

Immediately, his hunger was gone. Ganesha was not hungry anymore!

Through this story, Bhagavan Ganesh wanted us to learn that children should eat whatever their parents give to them without complaining. The food that your parents give to you is much more satisfying and healthy than what you can get in fast food joints or

in other people’s homes. Also, we should be too proud of our wealth and possessions.

Ganesha also wanted us to learn that when we give food to others, we should do so with love and devotion. Not with pride. Kubera was very proud of his wealth. He made a big show of all his gold and silver. But, he could not give enough food to satisfy Ganesha’s hunger. If Kubera had given even a little food to Ganesha with love, Ganesha’s tummy would have become full.

The moral of the story is don’t be too proud

Story 26)

Several hundred years ago, there lived a child named Varadarāja. He was not a very intelligent child. He never understood anything that his teacher taught him. The other students in his class made fun of him and called him a dumb boy. One day, Varadarāja got so upset because of this constant teasing by his classmates that he decided to end his life. He wanted to drown

himself in the well on the way to his home.

Just as he was about to jump into the well, he noticed something. On the stone wall around the well, there was a deep, straight mark. The mark was caused by the rope that rubbed against

the stone when buckets of water were drawn up from the well.

Varadarāja thought to himself: “This stone is so hard, and the rope is so soft. But, when this rope keeps rubbing against the stone, it causes a mark even on the hard material of the stone. Likewise, if I keep practicing my teacher’s school lessons at home, my dumb mind may also become intelligent and I will start understanding everything one day!”

Varadarāja became very happy as he thought this. He decided not to jump into the well, and started studying hard at home every day after his school was over. Soon, Varadarāja became very intelligent and knowledgeable. In fact, after a few years, he became one of the greatest scholars of Sanskrit language, and wrote a grammar called ‘Laghusiddhānta Kaumudi’ which is studied by Sanskrit scholars even today.

The moral of the story is that we must never pity ourselves, and should also never run away from challenges. We should not think of ourselves as weak or unintelligent.

If you find a subject in your school too difficult, keep studying and ask your teachers and parents from help. After a lot of hard work, you will start understanding it and will no longer find it difficult.

The moral of the story is to think that you can not do it yet, stretch yourself

Story 72)

Krishna had grown up to be a little boy who could walk. So, he used to play with other children of his age outside his house. One day it so happened that Krishna, while playing, put some soil into his mouth, One of his play‐mates went up to Yashoda and told her about what Krishna had done.

Yashoda caught Krishna by the hand and brought him inside. She said, "My son! It is bad to put soil into the mouth. It leads to worms in the belly and soil‐eating children often fall ill. Have you eaten soil? Open your mouth and show it to me."

"No, mother; I haven't eaten soil at all retorted Krishna. "But Open your mouth and show me," Yashoda said again. Krishna opened his mouth wide and Yashoda was wonder‐struck to see the entire universe‐‐the sun, the moon, stars, the earth etc.‐‐inside Krishna's mouth.

Now Yashoda was fully convinced that her son was not an ordinary boy but God Himself. Seeing Yashoda amazed, Krishna made her forget this thought through his divine power. Yashoda began to fondle him with deep affection and Krishna began to smile.

This story indicates that the entire Universe

exists inside God, as if he is the abode or the home inside which we all live.

The moral of the story is that the whole universe is within you.

These are some important dates coming in the future to keep in mind:

April 21: test

May 19: Annual day

February 3

Hope you all stayed warm over the cold spell break.

Today we practiced the plays we will be performing on annual day, and went over each role the kids have.

Then we read story #4, summarized below.

In Thiruninravur, Tamil Nadu, a man named Poosalar was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. He wanted to construct a mandir for Shiva, but was not able to get enough money to pay for its construction. One day, he decided to build the temple, piece by piece, in his own heart. over time, he completed it, and set a date to inaugurate the temple. On that date, he invited Shiva to come and live in the Shiva Linga he had installed in his heart. By chance, the King of the country also build the grandest temple for Shiva, and set the inauguration date for the same day. Shiva thought that the King was becoming too proud, and decided to teach him a lesson. He came to the King in his dreams and told him that he would not be able to go to the inauguration date for his temple because he was going to Poosalar's temple. The king was stunned, and wondered who could've built a temple that is greater than mine. He went around and asked for the location of Poosalar's temple, but no one knew where it was. Finally, a man told him to ask Poosalar, who lived in the town. The King went in and asked him where his temple was. Poosalar asked him to put his ears on his heart, and inside, the King could hear temple bells ringing. The King learned his lesson, and realized that Shiva liked Poosalar's temple because it was made with love and devotion. He then promised Poosalar that he would build Poosalar's temple, and not inaugurate his own until Poosalar's was finished. The temple still exists in Tamil Nadu today.

Moral: Whatever you do, do with love and devotion (Bhakti)

January 13

In dharma level 3B we read two stories.

Story #2 - Bhagavan is the greatest King

This story is about King Akbar and Birbal. One day the King invited his friends and Birbal to a dinner, and at the the dinner he said that he was the greatest king. He said that he was even greater than god. All of the King's friends stayed quiet. They didn’t want to make the King mad by telling him that nobody can be greater than god. Birbal stood up and said "yes, you are greater than god". The King then asked Birbal why he thought that. Birbal replied that "you can banish anyone from your kingdom, but god cannot banish anyone from his kingdom. You must be greater than god because you can do something he can’t". The King all of a sudden felt ashamed because he realized that god cannot banish anyone from his kingdom because god is the emperor of the whole universe. No matter where anyone goes they will still be inside god's kingdom.

Moral: nobody is greater than God because he cares about everyone.

Story #50 - Do not show off

This story is about a peacock that was very arrogant about his feathers. He would walk around everywhere and show off his feathers to everyone. One day he saw a crane next to the river. The peacock went next to the crane and said to him "hello Mr. Crane, look at my beautiful feathers, don’t you wish you had beautiful feathers like mine instead of plain white feathers?". The crane then replied "Mr. Peacock your feathers are very beautiful, but with my plain white feathers I can fly, whereas your feathers are just showy". The peacock then felt very ashamed. He promised from that day that he would not show off his feathers.

Moral: everyone has unique qualities

December 16

Today we had the parent-teacher conferences. We enjoyed meeting all the parents and seeing how involved they were with what the kids are learning in the Dharma class. We spoke of topics covered to date, our way of teaching and how they can help the kids with continuing on the conversation with the kids beyond the drive in and from HATS. We also spoke about our plans for the Annual Day - May 19th 2019.

We also handed over the test results from the Dec 9th test. Kids did well and were rewarded with treats for their hard work. After the excitement settled down,we read three stories in class, summarized below.

Story #21- Krishna had a friend whose name was Sudama. When Krishna grew up, coming from a wealthy family, he became very rich and powerful. But Sudama who came from a poor family became really poor and sometimes didn't have enough food to feed his family. One day, his wife told him to ask Krishna for help since they used to be friends. Sudama was very hesitant but with a lot of requesting form his wife, finally agreed to meet Krishna. Sudama although very poor had a big heart and didnt want to go empty handed to meet his friend after so many years. He remembered Krishna used to love poha, so took some poha with him and left for Dwarka. On reaching there when the guards told Krishna that a poor man named Sudama had come to meet him, Krishna ran to the palace gates to welcome his best friend. He greeted him with love and respect, washed his feet because he noticed now tired Sudama was having walked all the way from the village to the palace. With the love being showered to Sudama, he forgot to give the gift of poha to Krishna. Krishna, the know it all, asked him about what was in the small bag. When Sudama, embarrassingly offered his modest gift, Krishna jumped up in joy and ate all the poha, Sudama's wife had made. Sudama stayed there for a day but couldn't bring himself to ask Krishna for help and left. When he reached home, he saw that his mud house had magically transformed to a mansion and his wife and kids were no longer wearing tattered clothes and looking happy and healthy. He then realized that Krishna had performed his magic without him asking for help.

Moral: Between friends, there is no asking for help. All friends are equal.

Story # 31 - In this story we read about King Shveta who despite being a good king and giving away many things to charity, never shared food with anyone. He loved to eat and but kept all the food to himself. Thus even though he went to heaven for his good deeds, he never got anything to eat and was cursed to come down to earth to eat garbage. He never gave any food in charity and finished all the delicious things to eat without sharing them. During one such visits to earth he ran into Rishi Agastya and told him to share how he regrets his mistake - if we dont share any particular thing with others, that very thing will not be given to us in the future. Sage Agastya then blessed him and freed him of the curse.

Moral: Never hesitate to share what you have with others.

Story #3: This story teaches us how even simple things may appear, they have a deeper meaning to their existence. Its a story of a traveler who sat in the shade of a huge banyan tree with his huge branches and strong hanging roots supporting the big tree. He reveled a the size of the tree but wondered why the fruit was so small. Just then a fruit fell from the tree and that's when he realized that if the fruit had been big too, its falling would have hurt anyone sitting under the tree. People would not be able to enjoy its shade as they do now.

We discussed other things that doesn't make sense when you first look at it, but you get the meaning of it later on. Like the hard shell on an Armadillo, or a snail or tortoise.

Moral: Bhagvan always thinks for us.

We ended the class looking forward to Winter Break!

January 6

We began the class for the new year going over the plan for the Annual Day. Kids were assigned their roles and the stories were shared. Over the next few weeks we will spend a few minutes every day to practice for the Annual Day. The Annual Day is May 19th. Please let us know if you are not able to make it, so that we can assign the role to other kids.

Next we did the two stories below

Story # 35: Do not get angry very quickly

The story is about a saint, Pundarasa who was a devotee but had a bad temper. He got angry at his disciple, Appanna when Appanna got late serving him a glass of water he had asked for on a hot summer day. When he sipped the water and found it warm, he hit Appanna on the cheek. When he had cooled down he went to apologize but Appanna said that he did not recall serving the saint any water. Pundarasa got confused and went to bed.The next day when he went to the temple, he noticed that the cheek of the god was swollen. That's when he realized that it was none other than Bhagvan who had come as Appanna and served him warm water. Bhagvan had taken the blow from Pundarasa so that Pundarasa would realize his mistake and learn to control his anger. Since then he vowed to always be patient with people and try to understand them.

We also read the story of why Balaji has a white mark on his chin. When Balaji dressed as a little boy was helping Saint Annanthacharya's wife in the garden, the Saint got angry and chased the boy who tripped and cut his chin. The boy ran into the temple and disappeared. The next day when the Saint entered the temple, he noticed Balaji's chin bleeding. That is when he realized that Balaji had come as the little boy to teach him to control his anger. Even till today, you will see Balaji's chin has some white paste made of Camphor known for its medicinal healing properties.

Moral: Manage your temper and think before you act.

Story # 27: Even Bhagvan will not help you if you do not want to study.

This story was of Topudutt 's son who was very foolish and didn't want to work hard. He wanted to get all the knowledge in the world without working for it. Topudutt told his son to leave the house and not come back unless he got an education. The boy did not want to study so started meditating and worshiping to ask God to give him all the knowledge. Indra saw him and decided to teach him a lesson. He came dressed as a sage and started throwing handful of sand into the river. When asked, he told the boy that he was building a bridge. To which the boy laughed. That's when the sage replied that if the boy could expect to become wise, without education, why couldn't he build a bridge with handfuls of sand. He told the boy that nothing can be gained without hard work and good education. Since then the boy focused on getting a good education and he returned home as an educated and wise person like his dad.

Moral: To be successful in life you must study and work hard.

December 9

Today the kids took a test, and all of them scored very high. We will discuss scores next week during parent-teacher conferences, and the kids will receive treats.

After the test, we read 2 stories summarized below.

Story #40- One day an astrologer told a rich man that he will see all of his loved ones day. The rich man got upset and had the astrologer beaten up and thrown out of his house. The astrologer went to Birbal and asked him what he did wrong. Birbal told him that even though what he said was right, he could have phrased it differently because no one want to see their loved ones die. The astrologer went back to the rich man and told him that he will live really long and will be the longest living in his social circles. Satisfied, the rich man sent the astrologer away with a few gold coins. The astrologer then realized that even though he said the same thing both times, since he worded it differently, it was reacted to differently.

Moral: truth hurts sometimes so say it gently.

Story #39- One day a boy was herding his sheep and felt bored. He decided to pull a prank, and started yelling “Wolf! Wolf!” The villagers rushed to go help him, but there was no wolf since the boy was joking. The boy did the same thing a couple times, and after awhile, the villagers stopped believing him. Then one time a wolf actually did come. The boy cried “Wolf! Wolf!” but no one believed him since he had lied so any times before. The wolf ate all of the boys’ sheep.

Moral: honesty means telling the truth.

December 2

We read 3 stories

Story number 32, 64, 78.

32) Do not hurt anyone

This is a story abotu how Ganesha went outside to play. He met a cat and wanted to play with him and be his teacher. He taught the cat many different things. He tried to teach it to dance on its two legs but the cat could not do it. Ganesha then scratched the cat in anger. The cat got scared, and ran away.

When Ganesha went home he was hungry, so he asked his mom, Parvati, for lunch. Parvati said that lunch was ready, but she had to bandage her wounds first. Ganesha got very worried and asked his mom who hurt her. She said that she is the Mother of the whole Universe. When Ganesha hurt the cat, he also hurt his own mother, Parvati.

Ganesha then promised his mom he would always Ahimsa, not hurting others.

Moral: Do not hurt anyone. Hurting others is hurting Bhagāvan.

64) Think of the consequences before doing anything. Use your common sense.

This is a story about four childhood friends. Three of them studied very hard in school and became very learned sholars. The fourth one was not that learned but he had a lot of wisdom and common sense. One day the four friends decided to go to the royal palace to get jobs. They had to go through a jungle, where they saw a pile of bones. They quickly realized that these bones belong to a lion. The first scholar put the bones of the lion together. Then the second scholar put blood, skin and muscles into the lion. Then the third scholar said that he could give the lion life. This made the two other scholars impressed, but the fourth friend (not a scholar) realized that the lion would eat all of them. He warned his scholar friends but they dismissed his ideas saying that he was not scholarly enough. The fourth friend climbed up a tree and hid while the three scholars brang the lion to life and got eaten by it.

Moral: You don't have to be a scholar to use common sense. Think before you act, think of the consequences.

78) Guru Fish: Keep your tongue under control

This is a short story about how a fisherman throws bait to catch a fish with his fishing rod. Then the greedy fish bites at the bait because it likes to eat it. Then the fish is pulled out of the water.

Moral: Don't eat too much junk food. Eating too much junk food will cause health problems.

There will be a quiz next week based on these stories.

(these are the story numbers)

November 18

We started class off with morning prayers and a game of hangman as we waited for more kids to arrive. Then we read three stories, two of which had similar morals.

Story Number 33:

Kamadhenu, the Mother of all cows and bulls on Earth, went to heaven and started crying to Lord Indra. She told him that a farmer was beating one of her sons who was too weak to keep up with her other son while they were pulling a plough. Indra asked Her why She was only complaining about that one cow because many other cows were also getting beaten. Kamadhenu replied that Mothers are sad for all their children getting beaten, but especially for the younger ones who are to weak to handle it. That is why she only complained about the weak one.

We learnt that while it may seem unjust, sometimes one will get favored over the other for sake of equality. Likewise, while it may seem equal some cases it will be unjust.

Morals:

Help the weak.

Equality doesn't mean justice.

Story Number 66a:

One day, King Krishna Deva Raya announced a competition for Diwali, offering a prize of gold coins to whichever home was the brightest. On the Diwali night, the King and Tenali Raman walked around the city to see which house was the brightest. They came across a house that was full of lights and beautiful flowers. King Krishna Deva Raya thought that this house should get the prize, but Tenali Raman told him to wait, and said that they should walk around for a little longer. They then came across a hut that was completely dark except for one faint light coming from inside. They went up to the door and knocked to see what was happening inside. They saw an old man teaching a class full of students who did not look very rich. The King looked at Tenali Raman and asked him if this was a joke, as the house had no lights on the outside and a single light inside. Tenali Raman simply asked the teacher what he was doing in the room. The man welcomed His Majesty and told him that all these kids come from poor families, and cannot learn properly. Therefore, when he has free time, he lets them come over and teaches them for free. Since today was a Diwali, he had a holiday, so offered the kids to come over and learn. Tenali Raman told the king that knowledge is the brightest light of all, and that he thinks they should get the prize money. The King agreed, and the teacher got the gold coins.

We learnt that brightness doesn’t always come from lights but from spreading knowledge and kindness. Showing love one can always brighten someone else’s day and/or life.

Story Number 66b:

One day King Krishna Deva Rava was feeling very sad. Jugglers, magicans, and dancers came from all around the world to try to cheer him up but nothing was working. His subjects then asked Tenali Raman for help. Tenali Raman asked the King if he can show him the most beautiful flowers on Earth, and the King agreed. When they went, they came across some children playing in the mud. The King thought about when he was a kid and played in the mud. He went and joined the kids in making villages out of clay. He was smiling and very happy! He told Tenali Raman that he had a lot of fun, and then asked him where the flowers were. Tenali Raman responded by saying children were the most beautiful flowers because they can always make you happy!

Here we learnt never to forget the children around us and the child inside of us, as those are the most beautiful flowers of all that exists in the world.

Morals:

Knowledge is light.

Find the child in you to make yourself happy.

November 11

We did our morning prayers, then we learned about how to be safe if something happens during HATS. Then we read three stories.

For the emegency training we learned that if an emergency happens there are three things that we can do. Run, Hide, Fight. There are different situations is which we would use one of the three options. We talked about where the closest emergency exits are (there are two, one towards the far right of the classroom, and one to the left). We also talked about how we should not panic if something happens and we should listen to the teacher.

Story 42: Unity is Strength.

This story is about how the parrots and mice individually were weaker than a hunter. When they put their effort together they were stronger than the hunter. The moral of this story is that you should always use teamwork.

Story 57: Keep trying, do not give up.

This story is about a crow on a hot, sunny day that could not find water. Soon he found a jar filled with water. The level of the water in the jar was very low, so when he put his beak in it could not reach the water. He had the idea of putting a pebble into the jar to increase the level of the water. The pebble increased the level, but not enough for the crow's beak to reach it. He kept trying by flying and finding pebbles and putting them into the water jar. Eventually the level of the water was high enough for the crow's beak to reach. The moral of this story is that you should not give up.

Story 19: Respect your Classmates, do not tease them.

This story was about Adi Shankaracharya and one of his disciples named Totaka (Anandagiri). Totaka came off as a student that was not very smart, and that did not care about what was taught in class. One day he was late to class, the other disciples said that they should start class without hime because he did not understand anything anyway, but Shankaracharya made them wait. When Totaka came to class Shankaracharyam told him to say a short summary about what they learned yesterday as a punishment for soming late. Totaka composed a hymn called 'Totakashtakam' at that very moment. The hymn was eight beautiful verses that explained the entire teachings of Shankaracharya. The other students were very suprised. The moral of this story is that you should not tease your classmates, respect them.

Then we ended with closing prayers.

November 4

Happy Diwali!

We started off by exchanging the gifts the kids brought in for Diwali,

and then read 2 stories.

Story Number 1: Lakshmi always waits for Lord Vishnu to come home

every night. Most days, He comes home very late. Lakshmi got tired of

waiting for Him, so She asked Him why He never comes home on time. He

told her that He doesn't get home until every creature is fed because

that is His job. Lakshmi didn't think it was possible for Vishnu to

feed every creature, so She decided to test Him. The next day, she

took a little ant, and put it in a small box in the back of her

closet. When Vishnu came home, She asked Him if he fed every creature

that day, and He said yes. She took out the ant from the box to show

Him that he never fed the ant since She never saw Vishnu go to Her

closet. The ant was eating a little grain of sugar! Then She realized

that Vishnu feeds all the creatures, even though they might not see

Him.

Moral:

Even though God Himself may not be seen feeding His creatures,

Bhagavan makes sure that all His creatures are fed.

Story Number 28: Lord Buddha found out that in the village of Alavi, a

farmer who could understand his lessons. When other people in the

village heard that Buddha was coming to Alavi, they all went to go

welcome him. Unfortunately, the farmer had to go work in the fields,

and couldn’t go to the welcoming. When he went home after working, his

wife told him that their cow was lost. The farmer ate dinner, and left

to look for the cow. He spent hours searching for the cow, and as a

result, couldn’t make it to where Buddha was giving his sermon. Other

villagers were waiting for him to give his teachings, but when Buddha

didn’t see the farmer, he told the other villagers that he wanted to

take rest first. The farmer stumbled upon the hut where Buddha was

staying, and when Buddha came out, he immediately apologized for

missing his sermon because he was looking for his cow. Buddha just

smiled and told him that his cow was behind the hut. However, the

farmer had to come inside and eat and then look for the cow again.

When the farmer went inside, all the other students taunted him saying

that he only came for the food. Buddha told them that the farmer was

the one who would truly understand his teachings, but wouldn’t be able

to on an empty stomach. After the farmer was fed, Buddha told him the

principles of Dharma, and the farmer understood everything the first

time. Afterwards, the farmer found the cow behind Buddha’s hut.

Morals:

Eat before you do a task.

Put your needs before your wants. (Good thinking Sohum, for coming up

with this one!)

October 14

We started off with morning prayers and then we had meditation.

We learned about how to meditate, and the benefits of meditation.

Some of the benefits of meditation are that you are more focused and calm. Meditation also helps you get rid of bad thoughts like greed and sadness.

Meditation helps your mental health.

We also learned about the qualities of God.

1)Loving

2)Knowledge

3)Fearless

4)Happiness

We learned that doing mediation can help bring us closer to god, and help us have the same qualities.

There is no homework this week.

October 7

We started off class with morning prayers, and then went to reading stories. We tread 3 stories.

Story Number 45:

There were two stories in this section, both with similar morals.

Kindness Wins Us New Friends: A bunch of mice were living in a city next to a lake. One day a herd of thirsty elephants went to drink water from the lake, and unknowingly stepped on some mice. The mice got scared and asked their King Mouse to help them. The King Mouse went to the King Elephant and asked him to stop stepping on the mice, and in return, they would help them when they're in need. The King Elephant laughed and told the King Mouse that the elephants won’t need a mouses’ help, but said that since the elephants are not mean and cruel, they will watch where they are walking. The King Mouse thanked the elephant and told the other mice. A few days later, some hunters set traps around the city to catch the elephants, and the elephants got caught in the nets. The elephants cried out for help, and the mice heard. Remembering their promise to the King Elephant, they went to the nets and chewed through them so the elephants could escape. Now, the elephants thanked the King Mouse and said that they are glad they helped the mice and that the mice had helped them too. They all lived happily ever after.

The Ant and the Pigeon: One day an ant was looking for food in a tree, and then the wind blew the ant off the branch and into the water. A pigeon saw him fall and threw a leaf down so the ant could climb on and float to the land. The ant was saved! A couple days later, a hunter was trying to shoot the pigeon, and the ant saw this happening. The ant thought fast and then bit the hunter’s foot so his aim was disrupted. The pigeon then saw the hunter and flew away. Both of them escaped!

Morals:

Everyone has their own qualities, and one should respect that.

Big doesn’t mean strong and small doesn’t mean weak.

Story Number 68:

Thank Bhagavan For All Your Success: Arjuna went on a pilgrimage to Rameshvaram. A Brahmans was explaining how Bhagavan Rama made a bridge of stones to cross over to Lanka. Arjuna said, “Rama was an archer like me! He could have made a bridge with arrows without the monkeys’ help,” A monkey who had been following them told Arjuna that a bridge made of arrows would not have supported the weight of all the monkeys. Arjuna said that he can, and if he fails, he will immolate himself right there. He made one bridge of arrows, and as soon as the monkey stepped on it, it broke. He many bridges, but each one collapsed when the monkey stepped on it. Admitting defeat, Arjuna started collecting logs to build a pyre for him to die on. Then, a young man asked him what he was doing, and when Arjuna told him the whole story, he said that a promise was not valid if there wasn’t a witness. He asked Arjuna to make one more bridge, and when the monkey started walking on it, it didn’t break! The monkey was none another than Lord Hanuman, so he started to bloat his size to make himself heavier. Still, the bridge never broke. Then, Hanuman realized the young man was Bhagavan Rama, and Arjuna realized that the young man was Bhagavan Krishna. They both bowed down at his feet, and the man took his true form as Bhagavan Vishnu. Vishnu told them that he wanted to teach both of them a lesson; Hanuman because he was being too proud, and Arjuna because he was being too vain.

Morals:

Don’t be too vain or arrogant.

Bhagavan is the reason for your success.

September 30

We continued our journey in understanding the Practical Hindu Wisdom by reading 3 stories -

No one is stronger than Bhagvan: A story involving Ravana and his arrogance and Shiva, who teaches him humility and respect. We shared another story about Hanuman and Bheema with the same moral
Bhagvan Loves us like His own Children: A famed Akhbar-Bribal story about Vishnu and Gajendra.
Never ask Strangers to hurt your Family: An interesting story about a relationship between a frog and a snake. Moral of the story was: Try to solve the problem yourself without involving strangers.

We also played Hangman so kids remember important characters in the stories, like Garuda. We shared the morals of each of the stories that they wrote in their note books.

Parents, please make sure everyone brings a pencil, eraser, a note book and their class text book to class every week. Please don't hesitate to reach out to us or any of the teenage volunteers - Ria and Rani, with any questions.

September 23

Welcome to Dharma Level 3B. We started the class by making sure that the kids are in the right classes - between Dharma 3A and Dharma 3B. Then we distributed the books to the kids that did not get it last week. We asked the kids what they wanted to learn from the class and what they think they are going to learn from the class. We got some interesting answers. We clarified the objective of the class was to learn good things, morals and messages through story telling.

This is the age when kids are building their reading skills in school. We are using the opportunity to hone in the reading skills, by asking the kids to read portions of the stories in the book. Next we told the meaning of the story and what they just read in an interesting way, adding in rationale or wisdom for what is being read and said.

Kids read two stories - Bhagavan Helps His Bhaktas(Devotees) and Our Body is Very Valuable. At the end of the stories, kids learnt the morals and wrote them down in the notebooks. We also answered questions they had about the stories that were shared.

Parents, here is where you can help. Please make sure that the kids come to class with a notebook, pencil, eraser and the text book. Please also ask them about the stories and morals discussed in the class.

September 16

Welcome to Hindi Level 3 where we will learn the practical Hindu wisdom. We will be using the site to post weekly updates, summary of what has been taught and any upcoming events like field trips or quizzes or tests or celebrations.

We are a class of 30+ kids. We are working on having the class split, so that we can give the same individual attention to your kids as they deserve. So please stay tuned to the website and check for the updates regularly.

Today, we gave out the textbooks to many kids. Some did not get the books and we have the names of the kids that did not get them. We are working on getting them the books by next week. Kids that have their books have their names written on it. Please be sure to bring the books to every class, along with a notebook, pencil and eraser.

We shared with them 5 stories and asked them for the morals. It was refreshing to note that kids that paid attention, also got the moral of the stories shared. We will continue our year with sharing stories from Panchatantra, Jakata tales and the book.

We would like the year to be a memorable one for you and your child. Please don't hesitate to reach out to any of us with any questions or concerns you may have. Again, we thank you for the entrusting your children with us for the 2018-2019 HATS school year. We are looking forward to it as much as you and your kids.

Thanks.

Note to parents:

Class is now split between 3A & 3B. If the student's last name starts with A-K then they're in 3A, if L-Z then they're in 3B.