Dharma 5 - The Puranas

Class Information -

This class covers: Devoted to teaching about the 10 Avataras of Lord Vishnu and the major episodes from the Shiva Purana (including the deities Ganesha and Karttikeya). Teach simple Mantras connected to different deities such as “Om namah shivaaya”; “Om namo bhagavate vaasudevaaya” Simple stotras like Dashavatara Stotra and Lingashtakam can also be taught.

Ages: 8-9 / Grade: 3-4

Download PDF copy of book: CLICK HERE

Classroom: Gopuram Room

Teachers -

Teachers:

• Shyamala Ganesh

• Mamta Kakkad

EMAIL teachers: Click HERE

Teenage Volunteers:

• Ria Mittal (teen)

• Avani Deglurkar (teen)

Class & Homework-

May 6th-

Material Covered in Class:

• A poet from Maharashtra thukara

• And a guru from kanchi

• We also talked about respecting others and seeing god in everyone.

• We practiced our slokams, and Sree Maargabandhu Strotram.

April 29th-

Material Covered in Class:

• We learned and heard stories about ravana

• We practiced our shlokas and the sree margabandhu stotram

• Then we played outside

Homework:

• No homework

April 22nd-

Material Covered in Class:

• Today We listened to the story of adhyacharya and other short stories.

• We practiced out slokams, and Sree Maargabandhu Strotram.

• We also did a dharma quiz.

Homework:

• There is no homework for this week.

April 1st-

Material Covered in Class:

• they heard a story about Arjuna’s son, Abhimanyu.

• then they shared about what they would ask god for if god gave them one wish

• they shared about what they do to make others happy

• they went to see the navagrahas

• they practiced the sree margabandhu stotram

Homework:

• None

March 25th-

Material Covered in Class:

• Today we listened to stories from Ramayana about the lesser known characters:

• Vinita

• Aruna

• Garuda

• Sampati

• Jatayu

• We also practiced the Sree Maargabandhu Strotram.

Homework:

• There is no homework this week.

March 18th-

Material Covered in Class:

• Story about hunter and bully named ratnakar becoming the great poet valmiki

• Heard more stories about valmiki

• Sree margabandhu stotram

• Karpoora gauram

• Vakra tunda

• Tryambakam yajamahe

• Story of our temple

• Significance of lotus

Homework:

• Bring information about your favorite scientist

March 11th-

Material Covered in Class:

• Today we listened to the story of a cobbler and the Ganges river

• Then we practiced our songs* for our performance

• *Sree Maargabandhu Strotram

• Then we listened to the story of Nandhana, a farmer, who was not allowed to worship in the temple because of his caste.

• Then we went to the temple to see Sri Dattatreya and Lord Shiva

March 4th-

Material Covered in Class:

• they heard a story about a form of shiva, the dakshana murti story

• they learned that gods can take different forms

• they practiced the sree margabandhu stotram

• heard atri rishi & dattatreya story

Homework:

• None

February 18th-

Material Covered in Class:

• Today we listened to some stories from the Mahabharata and of Ravana

• We also practiced some shlokas

January 28th-

Material Covered in Class:

• They finished learning the Sree Margabandhu Stotram and then they had an ice cream party.

• Then, they heard a story where the moral was that no one is dumb, people just think in different ways.

January 21st-

Material Covered in Class:

• They had meditation class and they learned to control thoughts while meditating

January 7th-

Material Covered in Class:

• We listened to stories about Saraswati

• We worked on learning the song Sree Maargabandhu Strotram

Homework:

• No homework this week

December 17th-

Material Covered in Class:

• They learned that the sun is the most important in the solar system and they heard a story about Saturn.

• The story was about how Shani Baghvan (Saturn), prays to Lord Shiva and gets a boon that he will be keeper of Justice.

• The story teaches to always show compassion for people who don’t look like us and to treat everyone equally.

• Then, they talked about how being a keeper of justice is like being a principal.

Homework:

• There is no homework.

December 3rd-

Material Covered in Class:

• They reviewed Karagre Vasate Lakshmi Stotra and Tryambakam Yajamahe. Learned Karpora Gauram.

• They heard stories about Lord Kartikeya.

• They continued learning The Sree Margabandhu Stotram.

• Then, they played hangman the rest of the time.

Homework:

• No homework, but kids should wear socks and jackets as it is cold in our room.

November 19th-

Material Covered in Class:

• Learned the 10 incarnations of Vishnu

  • Matsya

  • Tortoise

  • Varaha

  • Narasimha

  • Vamana

  • Parashurama

  • Rama

  • Krishna

  • Buddha

  • Kalki

• Then they told stories for the rest of the class time

Homework:

• There is no homework for this week

November 12th-

Material Covered in Class:

• They learned about Vishnu Bhaktas called Alwars and they heard stories about three of them.

• Also, they learned that mythology does not have to be made up.

November 5th-

Material Covered in Class:

• Today in Level 5 dharma they did:

  • 30 minutes of yoga

• Then they played hangman for the rest of the time.

October 29th-

Material Covered in Class:

• Today we learned 3 new shlokas:

  • Tryambakam Yajamahe

  • Karagre Vasathe Lakshmi

  • Sree Margabandhu Stotram

• We also listened to stories about mistakes

October 22nd-

Material Covered in Class:

• Today they learned the significance of numbers in Hinduism

  • There is only one supreme god, Parabramhan

  • There is a body and there is a soul inside

  • Three eyes Shiva, trident

  • Four vedas, Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, Atharva Veda

  • Five elements, Apu: water, Tegu: Fire, Vayu: wind, Prithur: earth, Aakash: Sky

• The story of the spider, snake, and elephant

  • They also acted out the story of the spider, snake, and elephant.

• They also went to see the annakoot.

October 15th-

Material Covered in Class:

• Today was learning about Meditation and Spirituality.

• We learned that to find the soul you need to get rid of all your karmas. Some benefits of meditation are: relieves stress, more focus and concentration, finding better solutions, and some spiritual and emotional benefits.

• We also meditated for 10 minutes.

October 1st-

Material Covered in Class:

• They learned about the story of Adi Shankra acharya

• They also learned the slokam: karagre vasate Lakshmi (early morning slokam).

September 24th-

Material Covered in Class:

• We covered the story of gokarna and started the margabandu stotram

September 17th-

Material Covered in Class:

• Namaste All,

  • Welcome to a new year at HATS - Level V

• We started class off with a few stories.

• Story 1:

• Ravana also asked Shiva if he could marry Parvati. Shiva laughed and said he could if Parvati agreed. Then Ravana went up to go find her. When the people living on the mountain heard this, they ran to go tell Parvati. Upon hearing this, Parvati turned a frog into a beautiful woman, and told her to become Parvati for the day. When Ravana found the beautiful woman, he immediately asked her if she would marry him, because he had never seen Parvati before. The woman said yes and they got married.

• Story 2:

  • The story was about how Ravana was tired of going all the way to Mount. Kaliash every time he wanted to pray to Lord Shiva, so he tried to uproot the mountain and bring it back. However, when he was trying to lift the mountain, Shiva put his foot down, and Ravana's hand got stuck underneath the mountain. Ravana prayed to Shiva to help him, and Shiva went down and asked him what he wanted. Ravana explained how he wanted Shiva to come to Sri Lanka so he could pray to him without having to walk across India. Instead, Shiva gave him an Athma Lingam to take with him.

• Story 3:

  • Shiva gave Ravana the Athma Lingam on one condition - he could not let it touch the ground. When the other Gods saw this, they asked Ganesha to stop Ravana because he would become too powerful. Ganesha turned into a small boy, and when Ravana went to do his prayers, he asked the little boy (Ganesha) to hold it for him. The boy said if he had to go, he would call out to Ravana three times, and then put the Lingam down. When Ravana left, Ganesha called out to Ravana three times, but very quietly so Ravana wouldn't hear. He then put the Lingam down. When Ravana saw this he got very angry, but it was too late. The Lingam was stuck to the ground. Now, the Lingam is still there, in the city of Gokarna.

• We also talked about the different morals of the stories -

  • Do not judge individuals based on their appearance.

  • Do not give into Lobha or Greed (one of the vices of humanity)

  • Do not use Force to get your way

• When we were done with that, we learned the chorus of the sloka we will be learning. It is:

  • Shambo Mahaadeva Deva

  • Shiva Shambho Mahaadeva devesha Shambo

  • Shambho Mahaadeva Shambho

• After reciting the chorus, we played hangman with dharma words.

Homework:

• The only homework for this class was to look up Gokarna, and look at the Lingam.

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