May

May 9

After the war, Dhritarashtra and his wife mourn the loss of their children. Dhritarashtra begins to rage over the fact that Duryodhana was the rightful heir to the throne and how that was snatched from him. Keeping his rage, when the Pandavas came back, Krishna put a statue in front of Dritarashtra. Upon being told that that statue was Bheema, Dritarashtra walked up to it and hugged it with all his might because it was Bheema who killed all the Kauravas, crushing it. After doing so, he broke down in tears and begged for forgiveness. After they forgave him, the Pandavas asked for Dritarashtra’s blessings. He blessed them and gave up the throne. After that, the Pandavas go to visit Bheeshma. They informed him that Hastinapur had been secured. Hearing this, Bheeshma gave Yudishtira clear instructions on how to be a good king. Bheeshma said that the most important thing was to respect the truth and keep the nation together. When they came back Gandhari laid eyes on them. She was enraged at Krishna because he had tricked Duryodhana and helped Bheema kill him. She proceeded to curse him that his clan would begin to kill each other and that would lead him to his own death. Krishna simply just accepted and agreed that it was unfair of him to do so.

May 2

Day 18 for the war, the Kauravas are all dead except for Duryodhana. If the Pandavas kill Duryodhana, they win the war. However, it is no easy task. During the night, Duryodhana wanted to become indestructible, so he had asked his mother to remove her blindfold and shine the pent up energy from her eyes onto him and his entire body which required him to be naked.

Before he could go into the tent, Krishna approached him and ridiculed him for being naked in front of Gandhari. In shame, Duryodhana covered his privates and most importantly, his thighs from his mother’s gaze. Thus, all but his thighs became indestructible. Knowing this weakness, Krishna now has a power over Duryodhana. The next day, Duryodhana gets scared and hides in a lake for many hours. As the Pandavas look around for him, Bheema revisits his vow to kill all the Kauravas. When they find out that Duryodhana was hiding out in the lake. They ask Duryodhana to challenge one of them to a duel. Duryodhana takes on Bheema. As they fight Bheema starts losing due to the indestructible upper body Duryodhana. In mace fighting there was a rule that one couldn’t strike below the waist. Krishna was seeing all of this and patted his thigh while Bheema was looking at him. Bheema then struck Duryodhana’s thighs, breaking them. As Duryodhana lay there in agony, Balarama had erupted in rage due to the misconduct of Bheema. He was so mad that he nearly killed Bheema. Krishna then stopped Balarama and explained how the unfair only receive unfairness. Then they left him there to die with his femurs broken. After they left, Ashwatthama came looking for Duryodhana. Ashwatthama asked what Duryodhana needed. Duryodhana said that he would not die without the heads of the Pandavas at his feet. Ashwatthama then goes in the middle of the night after the war is over. He goes into a tent thinking that it was the Pandavas and kills whoever was inside. In reality it was the children of the Pandavas. He also kills the son of Drupada. After Ashwatthama laid the heads of those children at the feet of Duryodhana, Duryodhana died. The Pandavas then confront Ashwatthama and threaten him, Ashwatthama however was not remorseful. He then proceeded to send a Bhramastra towards the womb of Uttara. Arjun also sends another Bramastra to destroy Ashwatthama’s Bramastra. Before they could collide, Arjun was convinced to recall his weapon because the collision would have destroyed the earth. Enraged, Krishna cursed Ashwatthama to live forever and his body would rot as he lived.

April

April 25

Namaste Parents, today we started with some prayers and we bagan the presentation! One by one each student said 1 shloka, the Hindu months, and portrayed/told the story of their charecters! Some kids dressed up as their charecters others wore their Indian clothes. If you missed the presentation you can view it here, https://sites.google.com/site/hatshsmn/annual-presentations-2021

Thank you to everyone who could make it and to all the students who presented!

April 11

The Hindu month going now is Chaitra masa. Chaitra comes after Phalguna. Today we talked about how Dhronacharya died.

Arjuna shot an arrow at Jayadhratha’s head causing him to die. Duryodhana was very mad at Dronacharya because he had told him to protect Jayadratha since Dronacharya was the commander in chief. He tells him Dronacharya you are my guru and you said you would protect him but you didn't, you didn't protect anyone at all. In response to this Dronacharya says you are insulting me and you are my student, I will show you tomorrow what i can do, and he goes into war the next day. In war Dronacharya killed his best friend Draupad and also killed family members of the Pandavas. Krishna tells Arjuna that if Dronacharya keeps killing like this they will lose the war. But Arjuna says Krishna i cannot do this he is my guru it will be very difficult. Then Krishna gets an idea, he tells Beema to kill an elephant named Ashwatama. Beema kills the elephant and Krishna says Ashwathama is killed. When Dronacharya hears this he doesn't believe this so he goes to Yudhistira because he never lies. When Dronacharya asked him if he had died he said he did because Yudhistira had gotten news that an elephant named Ashwathama had died. Dronacharya never specified which Ashwathama had died. Dronacharya starts crying and drops his weapon then gets mad and asks how did he die he was the best how could he die? Krishna then says that he has gone crazy for his son, that he had left his Brahmin life for his son, that he wanted him to be the wealthiest, have the most power, and to be the best, he did all of this, but he didn't teach his son good morals. Then Krishna tells him to drop his weapons and end it there. Seeing this Dronacharya agrees and asks for forgiveness from Krishna. He then sits down and meditates and leaves his body on the battlefield. Dhrishtadyumna sees Dronacharya sitting on the field unarmed and takes this opportunity to kill him. He takes his sword out, runs towards him and beheads him.

March

March 28

We began class with morning prayers and a presentation about Holi. Afterward we chose characters for the Mahabharata presentation (available in the attachment on WhatsApp). Next, we continued the Mahabharata story by talking about Jayadratha and Ghatothkach.

Arjuna was angry about Jayadratha's role in Abhimanyu's death. Therefore, Arjuna vowed to kill himself if he did not kill Jayadratha by the next day's sunset. Jayadratha was very scared and wanted to leave so he wouldn't be killed, but Duryodhana and the other Kauravas promised to protect Jayadratha until sunset. If Arjuna failed, he would be dead and the Kauravas could win the war. The Pandavas helped Arjuna kill Jayadratha. The time to sunset was running out, so Krishna took his Sudarshana Chakra and covered the sun. The Kauravas began celebrating, thinking the sun had set and Arjuna would now kill himself. Arjuna took advantage of this distraction and shot Jayadratha's head off his neck. However, Jayadratha had a boon from his father (Vriddhakshatra) that whoever caused his head to fall on the ground would die. Before the head could fall to the ground, Arjuna shot arrows to take the head out of the battlefield, and it landed on Vriddhakshatra's lap.

Angry about the death of Jayadratha, Dronacharya continued the fighting after sunset. Ghatothkach was fighting against Karna and causing great damage to the Kaurava army. Duryodhana convinced Karan to use his Shakti missile to kill Ghatothkach and save the Kaurava army. Ghatothkach expanded to his maximum size as the missile hit him. As he fell on his side, he crushed an entire Akshauhini of the Kaurava army to death.

Homework:

• work on character project (for more information look at the update sent in WhatsApp last Sunday)

• continue reading the book (we covered pages 137 to 144 in class today)

As you are working on the character project, please let us know if you have any questions!!

March 21

After morning prayers, we talked to parents about the plan for the presentation (details below). Next, we continued discussing the Mahabharata. After Bheeshma's death, Duryodhana asked Dronacharya to capture Yudhishthira. Dronacharya began breaking the rules of war to reach Yudhishthira. Arjuna noticed this and saved Yudhishthira right before his capture. During the thirteenth day of the war, the Kauravas planned a Chakra-Vyuha formation to capture the Pandava warriors and not let them escape. Very few people knew how to penetrate the Chakra-Vyuha but most of them were busy with the Trigarta warriors (Arjuna) or vowed not to fight (Krishna). Abhimanyu stepped up to enter the Chakra-Vyuha, but he did not know how to escape it. The Pandavas tried to break through the defenses of the Chakra-Vyuha after Abhimanyu, but Jayadratha sealed the opening. Inside the Chakra-Vyuha, Abhimanyu fought like a hero. However, Duryodhana and Dronacharya unfairly broke multiple rules of war to attack and kill Abhimanyu. We discussed the importance of Abhimanyu's courage and perseverance. His ability to continue fighting and not give up, even when he was losing, was very admirable.

Presentation information: The class presentation will be on April 25th. Try to write down the story and choose your shloka by 4/18 so you have a week to practice.

• presentations will be 3-5 minutes long

• choose a Mahabharata character

• dress like your character and/or have a prop

• tell a short story about the character (5-7 lines) relevant to the Mahabharata

• tell us what about the character is applicable to today's society

• recite 12 Hindu months in order

• recite one shloka of your choice from the HATS slideshow

If you have any questions as you are working on this please ask!

Homework

• read pages 135 to 144 from the textbook

• make a list of the top 5 Mahabharata characters you would like to present about (this website has a list of names and a brief summary if you are having trouble getting started: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_characters_in_the_Mahabharata). We will randomly draw names to decide who picks their character first.

March 14

We began class with morning prayers and meditation. Then, we continued discussing the Mahabharata. We went over the death of Bheeshma and its significance to the war. We also watched a video clip showing Bheeshma's death on the bed of arrows. Next, the students asked each other questions about the Mahabharata. We concluded class with a quiz on the Mahabharata.

Homework

- Read textbook from pages 128 to 135.

- Figure out what Hindu month it will be next class (3/21).

- Optional: watch videos of the Mahabharata war with your parents!

March 7

After learning about Mahashivratri, we discussed the homework from last week. Then we talked about the first 9 days of the mahabharata war (pgs. 119-129 in the textbook). On the 9th day, the Pandavas asked Bheeshma for a way to kill him. Bheeshma said he would not fight Shikhandi because he was a woman in his previous life, so the Pandavas should keep Shikhandi at the front of the warriors and Bheeshma will put his weapons down. Then Arjuna can take advantage of that and kill him. Arjuna was unsure of how he could kill his own grandfather, but Krishna told him he has to in order to protect Dharma. Finally, we watched a video clip showing this scene.

Homework

- continue reading the textbook

- listen to shiv mahimna stotra, rudrashtakam, or lingashtakam

- find out the Hindu month for next Sunday

January

January 31

We talked about Hindu months and which one we are currently in. We talked about how moon cycles affect the months

• To protect people who are devotees

• To vanquish evil

• To establish dharma in the world

• Krishna will come again and again

• That is Krishna’s vow

Krishna means a blue-ish black color or the one who attracts

Devaki and Vasudev were Krishna’s parents
Kunti was Vasudev’s sister and Kamsa was Devaki’s cousin brother

Yashoda was Nanda the chief’s wife and Krishna’s foster mother. Balarama and Subadra are siblings of Krishna
Rohini was the mother of Balarama and Subadra.
Krishna was part of the Yadu Clan. The clan was started by King Pururava.

Krishna was born in a prison cell which was located in Mathura and was brought up by Yashoda in Vrindavana. Later in his life he created a city named Dwaraka. One day, a divine voice told Kamsa that Devaki’s 8th son would kill him. Upon hearing that, he put Devaki and Vasudev in a jail cell and killed 6 of the 8 children. The 7th was Balarama and was given to Rohini by Vishnu. When Krishna was born he unshackled his parents, made the guards unconscious and had his father take him across the river with a basket. When he was about to cross the Yamuna River, Vasudev didn’t know how. Then, the river parted for him and as he crossed, Sheshanaga acted as a shield from the harsh rain. Once he crossed, he placed baby Krishna by Yashoda’s side after taking Nanda’s baby back to his cell and Kamsa. Kamsa then kills the poor child but instead of laying limp, a goddess emerges and warns Kamsa of Krishna’s life and his imminent death.

Kamsa then sends Putana to nurse Krishna while Yashoda is away. Instead of milk she tries to feed him poison, but Krishna kills her. Another demon was Kalia sent by Kamsa. Kalia was a giant, poisonous serpent who poisoned the lake and killed many. Krishna defeats him as well, but he spares Kalia.

Krishna was well known in his childhood for his naughty behavior, butter stealing, cow tending and miraculous feats. The feats ranged from displaying inhuman amounts of strength to showing his mother the entirety of the universe in his tiny mouth. He also played the flute which was always calming to every living being around. Alongside that he was well known for troubling the Gopis and stealing their dairy goods.

One day, the village wanted to do a puja for Indra. As the puja commences, Krishna wonders aloud about why they did the puja. They told him that Indra provided the rain needed to feed the cows which produced milk and fueled their economy. Krishna proclaimed that it was not necessary and that it was solely due to the Govardhan Mountain that the cows were eating. Enraged, Indra sends heavy rains to flood them. Krishna then uproots the mountain and holds it above all with just his pinky finger, sheltering all the people and animals of Vrindavan. Indra then stops after realizing that he has been defeated. Indra descends from the heavens and apologizes for his arrogance.

Many years later, Kamsa invites Krishna to his palacete fight. Krishna and Balarama go to Mathura. There everyone flocks them and treats them like gods because they have come to kill Kamsa. While making their way to the palace, they lift the unliftable bow and break it. After that they fight Mushtika and Chanur. They kill them and are cheered on by the crowd. Kamsa is enraged and comes to fight Krishna himself. There he blesses Krishna to have a bewildering death. Krishna proceeds to kill Kamsa and free his parents. Kamsa is given Moksha due to his being killed by Krishna.

Krishna was born on the 8th day of Shravana

Janmashtami is Krishna’s birthday

Homework:

• How many Vedas and Upanishads are there?

• What are some of their names?

January 24

today we started with prayers and daily announcements. Then we had Nirav Ji walk us through meditation. It's good to meditate because it, helps clear your mind, helps you be calm, brings balence to your life, helps you stay healthy, makes you feel relaxed. Physical mental emotional, and spiritual benefits to meditating

Mental- Is the mind, and one benefit is you can have is gaining more focus and more concentration. It inhances your concentration to a particular activity you are doing when you meditate.

Physical- The body, some benefits is that it reduces stress

Emotional- Feelings, one benefit of mediating is it reduces sadness, anger, greedy, guilt, jealousy, hatred, and frustration. All negative emotions will go down giving you a quiet head.

Spiritual- The soul, if our soul is healthy or body and mind will be healthy. Meditation lets us connect with our soul and therefore giving us more energy, bliss, and wisdom

How to practice meditation

1st step

Body and mind still- It should be still if we need to see our soul. So pick any pose that is comfortable.

Shut down our senses- shut down touch, smell, hear, sight, taste. Keep our senses- shut down so we don't drag our senses to the outside world.

2nd step

Keep our Thoughts calm- You can do this by repeating gods name in your mind. Repeating this makes it easier to concentration and have fewer thoughts.

3rd step

Pick a spot to look at with eyes closed. The more focused you are the more light you see from within.

Meditation is the only way to get all of these benefits.

How many vedas we have

How many upanishads do we have

Name of vedas

January 17

Namaste parents today we started with prayers and announcements. Then we had parent teachers conference in which we did the 50 question challenge. We appreciate all the feedback we got from all of you and will appreciate more feedback if you have it! Thank you for engaging with your children and talking about stories we learn in class! Thank you to all the students for keeping up with homework and staying engaged.

December

December 20

Namaste Parents!

Today we began class by reviewing with a quiz. Then we told stories from pages 75 to 86.

One story was of Karna, who was visited by Indra. Indra, disguised as a Brahmin, asked Karna for his protective armor and earrings. Karna had been born with the armor on his body, but he cut it off of his body. He had taken a vow to give anything to anyone who asked. Indra was pleased with Karna's sacrifice, so he healed Karna's wounds and granted him a boon. Karna asked for Indra's Shakti--a powerful weapon that he can use only once.

The next story was about the Pandavas in their 13th year of exile. Since they were not allowed to be recognized, the Pandavas took up jobs in the palace of King Virata. Arjuna was cursed to transform into a woman for a year, so he used that to disguise himself as Brihannala. The Kauravas suspected that the Pandavas were at King Virata's palace, so they attacked it. Prince Uttara was alone in fighting the Kauravas at the capital, so Brihannala offered to be his charioteer. Uttara was afraid of having Brihannala as his charioteer until she revealed that she was actually Arjuna. They defeated the Kaurava army, but Vitara was furious that Brihannala was responsible for the victory. Vitara then discovered that the servants were actually the Pandavas. Vitara's daughter and Arjuna's son married to unite the two families.

Duryodhana and Arjun both wanted the help of Krishna in the war. Krishna said he would not use a weapon or fight in the war. Arjuna asked for Krishna, while Duryodhana received Krishna's army. The reason Arjuna asked for Krishna, and not the entire army, was because he wanted Bhagavan's guidance and blessings.

Homework

- check WhatsApp for updates

Enjoy the winter break! We'll see you again on January 7th.

December 13

We began class by reviewing last week's class about the second dice game and the akshaya-patra.

The first story was about Draupadi and Krishna. Duryodhana told Rishi Durvasa to visit the Pandavas and ask for food after everyone has eaten. When Durvasa arrived with all his students, asking for food, Draupadi had finished eating so she could not use the Akshaya-patra to serve them. She prays to Krishna and he arrives, asking for food. Draupadi says there is nothing left, but Krishna sees a leaf in the pot and its it. Immediately, the hunger of Durvasa and his students is satisfied. We learn the importance of not wasting food.

Then we listened to the story of Jayadratha. Jayadratha tries to kidnap Draupadi, but the Pandavas find and humiliate him by cutting off most of his hair. Jayadratha wants revenge on the Pandavas, so he prays to Bhagavan Shiva and receives a boon.

Finally, we heard the story of Yudhishthira and the Yaksha. A Yaksha is guarding a river, and says that the Pandavas must answer a question in order to drink water from the river. Four of the five pandavas drink the water and immediately die. Yudhishthira goes and answers the questions. The Yaksha lets Yudhishthira revive one brother. Yudhishthira chooses Nakula, and the Yaksha is so impressed with the choice that he revives all the Pandavas.

Homework

• Read the story of Samudra manthan on google. (Hint: Neelakantha)

• Review the story of Jayadratha. What boon did he have? (see pages 71-72)

• Challenge: memorize the 12 Hindu months in sequence

December 6

Namaste parents!

We began class by reviewing the homework for this class. Then we reviewed where we ended last time, at the dice game. We discussed the gambling dice game Shakuni and Duryodhana planned against Yudhishthira. Yudhishthira eventually bets himself and his family in the game and loses it all. Duryodhana then treats Draupadi poorly, and no one stops him. Draupadi prays to Krishna, and he saves her from public humiliation by making her sari infinitely long. Dhritarashtra, afraid of Krishna's miracle, gives Draupadi 3 wishes - she gets her husbands and honor back. Duryodhana is mad about this and he convinces his father to bring the Pandavas back for another gambling game. Yudhishthira loses and has to go the forest for 13 years with his family.

While in exile, Yudhishthira prayed to Surya and received the Akshaya-Patra, a cooking vessel that never empties until Draupadi eats. They used this to feed other guests and visitors who wanted to meet the Pandavas.

Homework

• look for a couple morning prayers on YouTube

• find the Karpur Gauram video we listened to in class on YouTube (sitar version)

• read about Nelson Mandela. What were some important things he did?

• read to page 95

• Optional: identify a skill you want to improve and practice it everyday! (ideas: drawing, painting, music...)

November

November 22

1) We went through slides, said our prayers, and meditated for 3 minutes

2) We reviewed the homework, which was to read to page 50. We talked about about how Jarasandha was born. He was born because a saint gave a fruit of fertility to his two mothers. They split it between themselves and in turn when Jarasandha was born, he was born in two halves. He was later discarded and found by a demon lady named Jara. She used her magic and bound his two halves together and made him live. Thus, Jarasandha was born. We talked about which Hindu month we are in. We are in Karthik.

3) After everyone knew that the Pandavas were the Pandavas. The Pandavas decided to go home after winning Draupadi. Upon their arrival, they were greeted by an angry Duryodhana. Duryodhana was extremely enraged that his plan didn’t work and that he had to now accommodate for them. The Pandavas and Kauravas got mad because Duryodhana wouldn’t give the Pandavas any land. After arguing for some time, Dritarashtra gave the Pandavas the Khandava forest. The Pandavas proceeded to make a huge city from it by burning the forest and building it using the help of the asura, Maya. However, because they had burned down the forest, it left the evil snake, Takshaka without a home. Takshaka vows to take revenge and flees.

4) Some time later, the Pandavas are encouraged to defeat Jarasandha by Krishna. Jarasandha was a terrible king of Magkadha who had a hatred towards Krishna because Krishna had killed Khamsa. When approaching Jarasandha, Krishna had Arjuna and Bheema at his side. Jarasandha called Krishna a coward and Arjuna a weak person, and accepted Bheema as his opponent for wrestling when asked for a battle. After days of fighting with Jarasandha, Bheema was tired. Bheema asked Krishna for help, and Krishna split a twig in half the long way. Then Bheema did the same with Jarasandha, and killed him. Then they all go home to crown Yudishtira the king of Indraphrasta.

5) After inviting everyone to the crowning of Yudishtira, Shisupala comes and insults Krishna. Shishupla was the cousin of Krishna. He was born as a demonic being who was saved by Krishna, but was cursed that Krishna would be the one to kill him if he committed more than 100 sins. While insulting Krishna at the ceremony, Shishupala crossed the 100 sins and got killed by Krishna. At this, Duryodhana got vey mad because Shisupala was his friend. Later Duryodhana started conspiring a plan to finish the Pandavas.

6) Subadra was the sister of Balarama and Krishna. Balarama wanted Subadra to marry Duryodhana, but Krishna wanted Arjun to marry her. When the day of the swayamvar came, Krishana told Arjun to elope with Subadra, and Arjun did what Krishna told him to. After calming Balarama’s rage at his sister’s eloping, Krishna convinced him that Arjun was the right man for Subadra.

7) Continuing the conspiracy planning, Duryodhana approached his uncle, Shakuni. Shakuni planned to have the Pandavas come to the palace and play a rigged game of dice in which he would have them bet everything. Duryodhana sent Vidur to call the Pandavas to the game of dice. The Pandavas came hesitantly with the warning of Vidur. The Pandavas sit to play dice while all the nobility watched, including Bheeshma, Dritarashtra and Vidura. While playing, Shakuni asked them bet more and more. Shakuni said that anything lost in bet was lost forever. After raising the bets, soon the Pandavas lost their kingdom and many other things. After almost losing everything, Yudishtira bet his own brother and lost them. He let his own brothers become slaves.

Homework

• Who did Takshak kill?

• Kaushal Ji will send a crossword/quiz

November 8

1) We started by going through the slides and did a quiz on Diwali. We talked about Rama, Sita Mata, and Laxshman’s return to Ayodhya being the reason for Diwali. We talked about how to celebrate by keeping a deepa on, praying, having fun with your family, and doing Rangoli. Then we did meditation for 3 minutes to relax our minds.

2) We talked about how the Pandavas went to a village while incognito and after learning of the demon that harrasses the villagers, Bheema goes and confronts the demon. After challenging the demon to a duel.

3) After Drona defeated Drupada using his disciples, Drupada got very mad and wanted revenge. To get his revenge, he goes to a rishi to perform a yagna which gives birth to a son, Drishtamuna. Drishtamuna was born to kill Drona. However, a daughter was also born from the fire. Drupada wants her to be married off right away, so he made a Swyamvar. Every king, prince and Brahmin came to try, including the Kauravas and Karana. Hearing that the Swayamvar was announced, The Pandavas came as well to attend. They went to get food, because they were living in poverty for so long. After arriving, The Pandavas are seen by Krishna, their cousin. In the meanwhile, Drishtamuna was announcing the rules for the Swayamvar. He said that whoever was able to hit the eye of a spinning wooden fish while looking into a puddle using a heavy bow that is almost impossible to lift, would win Draupadi. After many people failed, Karana stepped up to try. Before he can even pick up the bow, Draupadi says that she will not marry Karana even if he wins because he is not of a royal family. After many, many more people try and fail, Drupada was fearful that his daughter would not get married. After all the Kshatriyas tried, the chance to win was passed on to the Brahmins. Within that group, Arjun, the master archer, was seated alongside his family. When it was Arjun’s turn, he successfully won. The Kauravas are enraged that a Brahmin would win when a Kshatriya lost. A fight ensues between the Kauravas and Pandavas, and the Pandavas win. After the Pandavas win, they go home. They tell their mother, Kunti, that they brought home a prize. Without looking, Kunti says that they should share it between themselves. In turn, Draupadi is married to each of the Pandavas.

Homework:

• What is relation between Krishna and jarasandha ?

• How was jarasandha born?

• What was relationship between Krishna and Shishupal?

• * Read till page 50.

November 1

What we did in class:

1. We started off by going through the slides. Reciting the Shlokas, deadline for textbook pickup on Nov 7 12pm-5pm and meditation.

2. Then we talked about the Indian months, how ekalavya was related to Krishna( they were cousins ). What was the significance of the stone upon Ashwattama’s forehead? Drona prayed to Shiva to get a strong son. In turn he was born with a gem on his forehead that rid him of his fatigue and age.

3. We took a quiz for review. Khaustub Ji asked everyone who was a Drona in their life. Many children said a variety of their own family or school teachers. Kaushal Ji asked what Drona Acharya wanted for Guru Dakshina. One student answered, to kill Drupada.

4. We then talked about the story of Ekalavya. Ekalavya was a forest prince who wanted to learn from the revered Drona. Sadly, Drona did not want to teach Ekalavya because Ekalavya was a forest prince and not a real Kshatriya. Due to his desire, he hid in the trees and learned from afar, watching as Drona taught his favorite student, Arjun. Ekalavya proceeded to practice until he was perfect and even better than Arjun. One day while hunting, Drona and his disciples sent a dog out to find some deer. When the dog came back, Drona and his disciples were shocked to see that its mouth had been filled with arrows, as if it was shot, however it was alive and well. Amazed, Drona called out and told the shooter to show himself. From the bushes, emerged Ekalavya. Drona was shocked. Ekalavya was truthful and said that although he was not directly taught by Drona, he still considered him to be one. Ekalavya claimed that Drona was the sole reason he became that good at archery. Being a quick thinker, Drona remembered that if the new got out that a non Kshatriya was a disciple

5. After finishing the training by Drona, the Pandavas launched a graduation party, in which they would demonstrate their skills. During the party, Karana comes to the party uninvited and challenges Arjun to a skills test. After a long test, Kripacharya questioned Karan’s caste. Disregarding Kripacharya, Duryodhana came onto the field and embraced Karana thinking that Karan could be useful in the future. Duryodhana crowns Karana as the King of Anga. After that interaction Karana became indebted to Duryodhana and quickly became good friends.

6. Vanavrata. After they become adults, Duryodhana is fearful of the pandavas' strength. So he devises a plan with his uncle, Shakuni, to send his cousins to a palace made of wax after which he would set the flammable palace on fire, killing the Pandavas. After the Pandavas make their way there in reality, Vidura hints at an escape plan to help the Pandavas survive. In turn, the Pandavas make a burrow leading out of the palace and into the woods. Then one night, Duryodhana set the palace on fire. The Pandavas knew this would happen and they ran into the burrow and left the palace. Thinking that the Pandavas were dead, the Kauravas celebrate and are merry. From that point onward, the Pandavas hide in the woods and go incognito.

7. While in the jungle, the Pandavas are starving and homeless. After walking for days and nights, they leave Hastinapur and stop at a large tree. While the Pandavas were resting at that tree, two man-eating raskashas were waiting to eat them. They were named Hidimba and Hidimbi. Hidimba sends Hidimbi to find the Pandavas. As Hidimbi approaches Bheema, she falls in love with him. She changes her rakshass form into a beautiful woman to attract Bheema. Bheema falls in love with her. She warns him of Hidimba and Bheema gets ready to fight him. As Hidimba came, Bheema killed him and married Hidimbi. After marrying Hidimbi, Bheema says that he must leave after he has a baby. Then after a few months, a baby was born to Hidimbi, the child’s name was Gatotkach. Gatotkach grew exponentially and became an adult within 3 days. He bowed to his father, Bheema, and told him that if he needed him, all he had to do was call his name. Bheema blessed his son and wife then left with his mother and brothers.

8. Finally, we took another quiz just to see how much the students remembered of the lesson.

Homework:

• Find out the meaning of Ghatotkacha, son of Bheema. Which Hindu month is being observed?

• How was Draupadi born?

• Who was Draupadi’s brother?

• What was the purpose of their birth?

• How many wives did Arjuna have?

• How was “Indraprastha” named? What was the name of Indraprastha before it became Indraphrasta.

October

October 25

Introduction- We learned about the 3 gunas and relation to Navaratri; Sattva- Harmony, balance, joy, intelligence Rajas- energy, action, movement, change Tamas- darkness, inertia, inactivity, materiality. One reason to celebrate Dussehra is Durgas defeat Mahisasura in the for of Shakti. The point of celebrating these is the model of good over evil.

Class- We went over homework questions. People who are the sun of wind had a big appetite. Bema was a son of wind and had a very big appetite. Knowing this Duryodhana used this to his advantage and lures him to a tent where Duryodhana poisoned him by putting poison in Gheer. The Kauravas then dropped him in water so no one would find out what happened, but in the water there were poisonous snakes called Nagas, and came to kill Bheema by biting him When the snake bit Bheema the poison in Bheema was neutralized because poison eliminates poison. The snakes being surprised bring him to Vasuki the king of snakes, the snakes explain what happened and Vasuki questions Bheema of who he was, Bheema says he is the son of Kunti, Vasuki knew Kunti and did not kill Bheema. Bheema explains that he doesn’t know how he got there one moment being on land and the next in water attacked by snakes. Vasuki realizes that this is his brothers doing and gives him a magic potion of strength ( power of 10000 elephants). Bheema drank it and became powerful. When Bheema came back, the Kauravas were very surprised because they poisoned him with the strongest poison and to a mortal man that should have killed him, not only was Bheema back, but he was stronger than before because of the potion Vasuki gave him. After this story we watched a video of this story for a visual representation. Karna wants to learn about the art of warfare and comes to Dronacharya to learn, he rejects him as a disciple because he is a Kshatriya. Being rejected he then goes to Parashurama the guru of Dronacharya, knowing that Parashurama only teaches Brahmins Karna presents himself before Parashurama as a Brahmin not revealing his true identity.

Questions-

• Who was Vasuki and what is his relation to pandavas?

• Karna was referred by his mother, What was the name?

• How was Eklavya related to Krishna?

• Was Ashvathama born with a gem on his forehead?

• Find out the story of his birth.

October 11

In class today we discussed that Shakuntala Devi drowned her 7 children to free them of a curse put on them by Durvasa. As Shakuntala was drowning yet another child king Dhushyanta broke his oath by asking her what she was doing, as a result she took the child away. Beeshma made a sacrifice to not take the throne because he made an oath to his step-mother not to so her children could take the throne. Because Vichitravirya dies Hasthinapur needs a new king. Ambika is blessed with a son named Dhritarashtra which is blind. Vidura is born to a maid which is the healthiest out of the three but isnt considered suited for king. Then Ambika is blessed with a son named Pandu and he doesnt have the best health. Dhritarashtra wife Gandhari is afraid of the dark and has a boon from Shiva. When she goes to Hasthinapur her brother Shakuni also comes and becomes a advisor. Because she married Dhritarashtra she blindfolded herself for her husband.

Homework-

• How were kauravas born the

• what is the current month in the Indian calendar.

• What is the Indian month on October 18th

• Read up to page 35

September

September 27

In class today we discussed the difference between Bharata and present-day India. Then we told the story of King Dushyant and Shakuntala. Dushyant wed Shakuntala after meeting at an ashram in a forest. Dushyant gave Shakuntala a ring and then returned to his kingdom. Shakuntala was often lost in thought, thinking about her husband, so the rishi cursed her, saying that Dushyant would forget about Shakuntala unless he was shown a personal token that he gave to her. Shakuntala lost her ring, and a fisherman found it and returned it to Dushyant. Dushyant, remembering Shakuntala, went to find his wife and learned that he also had a son, Bharata. We also heard the story of Shantanu and Ganga in which Shantanu married Ganga, promising that he would not question her actions. Every time they had a child, Ganga would drown him. As Ganga was going to drown the eighth son, Shantanu confronted her. As a result, Ganga and her son left Shantanu. Part of the homework is understanding why Ganga drowned her children. We concluded the class with a mini quiz reviewing the textbook reading.

Homework

• who did Bharata appoint as King?

• why did Ganga drown her first 7 children?

• what are the sun and moon dynasties?

• learn the 12 Hindu months

• read to page 35 in the textbook

Reminders

We will have a meditation class next week (10/4/20), so please have the homework completed for the following week (10/11/20).

September 20

Namaste Parents,

It was great to see everyone during class!

Today, we introduced our teachers, Kaushal Uncle and Kaustubh Uncle, and teenage volunteers, Ashrita, Sarang, and Shreya. We also got to know the students. Additionally, we went over class expectations and finished class with a quiz on the Ramayana.

Textbooks will be available in a few weeks. Until then, please use the online version found on the HATS website.

Homework

• Read the first 10 pages of the textbook.

• Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E36lbWGXY5o

Looking forward to another great week!