Ramayana (March 2013)
As we talked on the last hawan, the scripture of this month is Ramayana. It captures the life-details of Lord Rama. It is also considered the first great composition of Sanskrit Literature, written by Muni Valmiki. While keeping Lord Rama at the center stage, it portrays a picture of Hindu Society in Vedic age. It describes how our Vedic and Upanishadic values were not only taught in schools but also lived in daily lives. In addition to the historical events, it also provides a framework and guidelines for living an ideal life.
The main characters of the Ramayana are Rama and Sita. Rama is described as “Maryada Purushottam”. “Maryada” means ideal in behavior and “Purush+uttam” means perfect human. There is so much to learn from the ideals that Lord Rama lived his life by. Despite unfair state of affairs and cruel conditions, he embraced the path ofdharma. His personal strength and virtues won over the life adversities. The Ramayana establishes human faith in the principle of “victory of good over evil”. From the events described in the Ramayana, we can learn a great deal about the conflicts and ideal ways to resolve them.
Just like we have been reviewing other scriptures, instead of merely reviewing the events, kids are expected to focus on the message and learning from the Ramayana events. Kids can pick any event from this literature and then articulate the lesson they learnt from it. For example, King Dashrath inappropriately granted boons to his wife without thinking over the repercussions. It was imprudent of him – particularly being a King. Also, because of the lack of inner strength, Queen Kaikeyi fell prey to her maid’s schemes of gaining powers in the kingdom. Consequently, Kaikeyi lived a dejected life after her husband’s death.
We are looking forward to the kids’ narration and interpretation of the events. To provide proper context, please take time to discuss and review the assignment with kids.
Regards,
Harsh Mendiratta