October 

October 11

Hello Everyone. We had a great class of Hats yesterday. We learned about a trick on how to figure out the Paksh that is currently happening. Krishna means black and when the moon is disappearing, that will be Krishna Paksh. When the moon is reappearing. That’s Shukla Paksh.

We also learned about a story of Shantanus kids. He had 1 child from Ganga and his name was Bishma. Shantanu has 2 children from Satyavati and they were Chitraganda and Vichitravirya. Chitraganda was the first king of Hastinapur put he was killed in a battle. His brother Vichitravirya became king.

After he became king, Bishma decided to go to Kashi and find 3 princesses to secure a wife for Vichitravirya. An angry king Shalva was mad at Bishma taking the princess, so he chased him. They had gotten into a fight in which Bishma spared Shalva. In Hastinapur, princess Amba said that she only had feelings for Shalva. Bishma understood and left her go back to Kashi.

King Shalva was deeply upset that Amba had not spoken earlier since he was embarrassed of being destroyed by Bishma. He demanded that he would not marry Amba. In heartbreak, Amba went back to Hastinapur and demanded that Bishma would marry her. Bishma took a vow that he would not marry or have kids. Amba leaves the palace and finds Lord Parshuram. She begs that justice will be served towards Bishma.

Kaushal Uncle left all of the kids some homework for next class:

1. What festival is on full moon of this month

2. Who were the guru of Beeshma

3. What was the original name of Parshuram

4. What is the Hindu 5. month

6. What’s Titi is happening

What Paksh is happening 

October 4

Today we had another engaging and insightful class.

Homework Review:

We discussed last week's question on whether Ved Vyas is a proper name or a title. We learned that it is a title (meaning "the compiler/arranger" of the Vedas) rather than a personal name.

Class Highlights:

We continued our narrative of the Mahabharata and learned about King Shantanu and his son Devavrata. Devavrata noticed his father was deeply sad and set out to find the reason why.

Devavrata discovered that Shantanu wished to marry Satyavati. However, Satyavati’s father agreed to the marriage only on the condition that Satyavati's future sons would inherit the throne instead of Devavrata, the rightful heir.

To ensure his father's happiness, Devavrata took a vow. He not only gave up his right to the throne, but also vowed never to marry or father children so that Satyavati’s line would rule without challenge.

Deeply moved by his son's immense sacrifice, King Shantanu granted Devavrata the boon of Ichha Mrityu (the ability to choose the exact time of his own death). Because of this vow, Devavrata became known as Bhishma.

Homework:

Read the textbook.

September

September 20

Today we had a productive and engaging class.

We commenced the session by distributing the textbooks for the year, followed by a review of the previous week's homework about paksha, tithi, and the Hindu month. After the review, we explored how the Hindu calendar months are related to and based on the movement of the Earth. 

We then transitioned to the Mahabharata, discussing the epic's original title and examining whether "Ved Vyas" functions as a proper name or an honorific title. Following this, we introduced King Janmejaya and his revenge against the snakes to avenge his father, noting his vital role in the unfolding narrative of the epic.

Next, we viewed a segment illustrating the King of Hastinapur falling in love with Mother Ganga and the critical condition she imposed for their union. We examined the poignant sequence in which Ganga casts their newborn children into the river while the king watches in silent sorrow, bound by her condition not to question her actions.

Rajeev Uncle provided deeper contextual analysis, explaining that the eight children were Vasus (celestial beings) cursed to mortal rebirth as retribution for stealing a rishi’s sacred cow, known as Kamadhenu.

Homework:

Identify the original name of the Mahabharata.

Determine whether Ved Vyas is a name or a title.