WEEK 37

Tulasi arati: 10 minutes

Set up the Tulasi stand holding Tulasi in the middle of the room. Keep all the
paraphernalia for worshiping her ready in advance. Lead the kirtan as the children
follow you. Perform the arati offering Tulasi incense, ghee lamp, and flowers.
Make the children offer water to Tulasi and also go around her three times while
singing the song.

Ice- breaker: 15 minutes

When you are seated in a circle, ask them one by one to speak for a minute on:
When will Krsna help us?

Kirtana: 15 minutes
If any of the children know to play some musical instruments, you can ask them to
bring it and play as an accompaniment for the kirtana. Involve the children in
kirtana by asking them to clap their hands and to dance some simple steps. Also
ask them to go up to the altar and offer some flowers or an incense stick which all
of them can use for offering to the Lordships.

Story: 30 minutes
Story telling has to be interactive for maximum effect.
This means that you have to ask them questions every now and then so that they
remain alert and learn all the important facts. With this in mind we have included
questions after every few paragraphs . You can read out the text of every
paragraph, explain it in your own words and then ask the questions. Ask them to
raise their hands if they know their answer. No shouting or screaming out the
answers and no speaking out of turn. You have to emphasize this from the very
beginning, so that they learn proper discipline from the very beginning. Also you
can encourage the quiet ones to participate. Speak encouraging and appreciative
words especially to the shy and quiet ones and also to all the others in general. This
will make them very enthusiastic and responsive.

HARE KRSNA
The story of King citraketu
 (continued)
When the great sage Ańgirā understood that the King was almost dead in an ocean
of lamentation, he went there with Nārada Ṛṣi. They saw King Citraketu overcome
by lamentation, lay like a dead body at the side of the dead body of his son. The
two great sages Nārada and Ańgirā instructed him about spiritual consciousness as
follows.
Q1. What did sage Angira see?

O King, what relationship does the dead body for which you lament have with you,
and what relationship do you have with him? You may say that you are now related
as father and son, but do you think this relationship existed before? Does it truly
exist now? Will it continue in the future?

O King, as small particles of sand sometimes come together and are sometimes
separated due to the force of the waves, the living entities who have accepted
material bodies sometimes come together and are sometimes separated by the force
of time.
Q1. What did two great sages Nārada and Ańgirā instructed king Chitraketu?

O King, both you and us — your advisers, wives and ministers — as well as
everything moving and not moving throughout the entire cosmos at this time, are
in a temporary situation. Before our birth this situation did not exist, and after our
death it will exist no longer. Therefore our situation now is temporary, although it
is not false.
Q1. Why do they call the situation as temporary?

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master and proprietor of everything, is

certainly not interested in the temporary cosmic manifestation. The Lord, keeping
everything under His control, causes creation, maintenance and annihilation.
Because of the spell of the illusory energy, one thinks himself the creator,
maintainer and annihilator.
Q1. Why does one think himself as the creator, maintainer and annihilator?

Thus enlightened by the instructions of Nārada and Ańgirā, King Citraketu became
hopeful with knowledge. Wiping his shriveled face with his hand, the King began
to speak.

King Citraketu said: you are the most elevated in awareness. You know everything
as it is. Therefore you are the greatest of all great personalities. O great souls, I
have heard that among the great and perfect persons wandering the surface of the
earth to instruct knowledge to people covered by ignorance. Because you are great
personalities, you can give me real knowledge. I am as foolish as a village animal
like a pig or dog because I am merged in the darkness of ignorance. Therefore,
please ignite the torch of knowledge to save me.
Q1. What did King Chitraketu tell the great sages?

Ańgirā said: My dear King, when you desired to have a son, I approached you.
Indeed, I am the same Ańgirā Ṛṣi who gave you this son. As for this ṛṣi, he is the
great sage Nārada, the direct son of Lord Brahmā. You are an advanced devotee of
the Supreme Personality of Godhead. To be absorbed in lamentation for the loss of
something material is unsuitable for a person like you. Therefore we have both
come to relieve you from this false lamentation.
Q1. What did the sage Agira tell the King?

When I first came to your home, I could have given you the supreme
transcendental knowledge, but when I saw that your mind was absorbed in material
things, I gave you only a son, who caused you jubilation and lamentation.

These visible objects like wife, children and property are like dreams and mental
concoctions. Actually what we see has no permanent existence. It is sometimes
seen and sometimes not. Only because of our past actions do we create such mental
concoctions, and because of these concoctions, we perform further activities.

O King, owner of the state of Śūrasena, one's wife, his house, the opulence of his
kingdom, and his various other opulences and objects of sense perception are all
the same in that they are temporary. One's kingdom, military power, treasury,
servants, ministers, friends and relatives are all causes of fear, illusion, lamentation
and distress.
Q1. What was the Supreme transcendental knowledge given by the Angira?

The living entity in the bodily conception of life is absorbed in the body, which is a
combination of the physical elements, the five senses for gathering knowledge, and
the five senses of action, along with the mind. Through the mind the living entity
suffers three kinds of tribulations — adhibhautika, adhidaivika and adhyātmika.
Therefore this body is a source of all miseries.
Q1. What are the three kinds of tribulations?
Q2. What is the source of miseries?

Carefully consider the position of the ātmā. In other words, try to understand who
you are — whether body, mind or soul. Consider where you have come from,
where you are going after giving up this body, and why you are under the control
of material lamentation. Try to understand your real position in this way, and then
you will be able to give up your unnecessary attachment. You will also be able to
give up the belief that this material world, or anything not directly in touch with
service to Kṛṣṇa, is eternal. Thus you will obtain peace.
Q1. How will we obtain peace?

The great sage Nārada continued: My dear King, attentively receive from me a
mantra, which is most auspicious. After accepting it from me, in seven nights you
will be able to see the Lord face to face. By his mystic power the great sage Nārada
brought the dead son into the vision of all the lamenting relatives and then spoke as
follows.

Śrī Nārada Muni said: O living entity, all good fortune unto you. Just see your
father and mother. All your friends and relatives are overwhelmed with grief
because of your passing away. Because you died untimely, the balance of your
lifetime still remains. Therefore you may reenter your body and enjoy the
remainder of your life, surrounded by your friends and relatives. Accept the royal
throne and all the opulences given by your father.
Q1. What did Narada Muni tell the King?

By the mystic power of Nārada Muni, the living entity reentered his dead body for
a short time and spoke in reply to Nārada Muni's request. He said: According to the
results of my fruitive activities, I, the living being, transmigrate from one body to
another, sometimes going to the species of the demigods, sometimes to the species
of lower animals, sometimes among the vegetables, and sometimes to the human
species. Therefore, in which birth were these my mother and father? No one is
actually my mother and father. How can I accept these two people as my parents?
Q1. What did the living entity speak in reply to Narada Muni’s request?

Even though one living entity becomes connected with another because of a
relationship based on bodies that are perishable, the living entity is eternal.
Actually it is the body that is born or lost, not the living entity. One should not
accept that the living entity takes birth or dies. The living being actually has no
relationship with so-called fathers and mothers. As long as he appears as the son of
a certain father and mother as a result of his past fruitive activities, he has a
connection with the body given by that father and mother. Thus he falsely accepts
himself as their son and acts affectionately. After he dies, however, the relationship
is finished. Under these circumstances, one should not be falsely involved with
jubilation and lamentation.
Q1. Why should one not be falsely involved with jubilation and lamentation?

When the conditioned soul [jīva] in the form of Mahārāja Citraketu's son had
spoken in this way and then left, Citraketu and the other relatives of the dead son
were all astonished. Thus they cut off the shackles of their affection, which was
due to their relationship with him, and gave up their lamentation.
Q1. How did Chitraketu and others give up their lamentation?

After the relatives had discharged their duties by performing the proper funeral
ceremonies and burning the dead child's body, they gave up the affection that leads
to illusion, lamentation, fear and pain. Such affection is undoubtedly difficult to
give up, but they gave it up very easily.

Queen Kṛtyadyuti's co-wives, who had poisoned the child, were very much
ashamed, and they lost all their bodily luster. While lamenting, O King, they
remembered the instructions of Ańgirā and gave up their ambition to bear children.
Following the directions of the brāhmaṇas, they went to the bank of the Yamunā,
where they bathed and atoned for their sinful activities.
Q1. What did Queen Kṛtyadyuti's co-wives do to atone their sinful activity?

Thus enlightened by the instructions of the brāhmaṇas Ańgirā and Nārada, King
Citraketu became fully aware of spiritual knowledge. He came out of the dark well
of family life. He bathed in the water of the Yamunā, and according to prescribed
duties, he offered oblations of water to the forefathers and demigods. Very gravely
controlling his senses and mind, he then offered his respects and obeisances to the
sons of Lord Brahmā [Ańgirā and Nārada].
Q1. What happened to Chitraketu?

Japa :15 minutes

You can make them chant 108 times or one mala together. Before giving them
beads to chant and teaching them to chant together both the Panca Tattva Mantras,
please read the following text to them. After that you can ask them if they have
understood it and need any further explanation before they start chanting.

Sri Namamrta - The Nectar of the Holy Name.

By chanting the holy name, one attains the perfection of nirvana, liberation
from material existence: The bakti-yoga system is topmost yoga system,
and in this system the chanting of the holy name of the Lord is the foremost
performance of devotional service. By chanting the holy name one can attain the
perfection of nirvana, or liberation from material existence, and so increase one’s
blissful life of spiritual existence as described by Lord Caitanya (anandambudhi-
vardhanam) . When one is situated in that position, he no longer has any interest in
material opulence or even a royal throne and sovereignty over the whole planet.
This situation is called viraktir anyatra ca. It is the result of devotional service.
Srimad- Bhagavatam 4.13.8-9

Tell them to chant one round of japa together. Tell them how they should chant
loudly and listen to the words and should also plead with Krishna to make them
better devotees. Tell them to chant in a prayerful mood. Hand over the beads to
them. Make them repeat the Guru pranam mantra and Sri Panca tattva mantra.
Then begin to chant loudly and quickly the Hare Krishna Maha mantra together on
the beads. If they feel restless to keep sitting down chant, you may permit them to
also walk and chant. At the end of the session, inquire from those who have started
chanting at home daily about how their chanting has been. You can also ask the
others if they would like to start chanting also at home.

Slokas: 20 minutes

Children have good memory power and learn the slokas easily too. But you must
make it interesting for them to learn and most important they should have some
understanding of the meaning. It is good to have a drawing describing the sloka.
We have attached these drawings in the CD enclosed. Keep the drawing ready for
this sloka. Put it up on the board.

First read out the sloka and the translation to them and then read out the
explanation. Then with the help of the drawing , explain it once again in your own
words what you just read out. You can ask them if they have understood it and if
they have any doubts or questions about it.

Only after this you teach them to repeat the words and then whole sentences of the
sloka. Make them repeat it many times. If they are old enough to copy it on their
own, they can do so in their note-books. Otherwise, you can ask each of the older
children to write down in one of the smaller kid's note-book. If they are all young
and unable to write, you can make photo copies of the slokas and file it for
them.So that their parents can help them to memorize them at home. Every week,
if you recite the previous week's slokas as well, they will learn it by heart it very
quickly.

Bhagavad-gita Text 14.26

mam ca yo ‘vyabhicarena

bhakti-yogena sevate

sa gunan samatityaitan

brahma- bhuyaya kalpate

TRANSLATION

One who engages in full devotional service, unfailing in all circumstances, at once
transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.

Explanation
In the material world, goodness, passion and ignorance are controlling all living
beings. We can become free from these modes of nature if we serve Krsna with
determination and devotion. This service brings us to our real spiritual nature
which is like Krsn’s – eternal, full of knowledge and full of pleasure. When we
realize our true nature then we can serve Krsna in many different relationships.
Because Krsna uses the word bhakti in this verse, we can understand that freedom
from the material world means service, or bhakti. And service means that we must
continue to be a person, even after we become spiritually perfect.
Questions:
Q1. What is controlling all the living beings in the material world?
Q2. How can we become free from these modes of nature?
Q3. What is freedom from material world mean?
Q4. What is service?

Activity:15 minutes

Playing the Shrimati Tulasi Devi game

The following can be read before starting this game so that the kids are aware of
the exalted position of Srimati Tulasi Maharani-
"Srimati Tulasi devi is one of the most exalted devotees of the Sri Krishna. All
scriptures stress on the importance of getting the mercy of Tulasi devi if one has to
make progress in the path of devotion. In the Skanda Purana it is said: ‘Tulasi is
auspicious in all respects. Simply by seeing, simply by touching, simply by
remembering, simply by praying to, simply by bowing before, simply by hearing
about or simply by sowing this tree, there is always auspiciousness. Anyone who
comes in touch with the Tulasi tree in the above-mentioned ways lives eternally in
the Vaikuntha world."

The players choose a tree or bush to be Tulasi, hold hands, and dance around it
while singing the Tulasi song. For each verse they stop dancing to act out the
service they offer to Tulasi. Between each verse they sing the refrain and dance
again around Tulasi.

Refrain: Here we go round the Tulasi tree, the Tulasi tree, the tulasi tree,
(Dance) Here we go round the Tulasi tree after Mangala Aratrika.
Verses: We put on her skirt so pretty, we put on her skirt so pretty, we
(Act out) Put on her skirt so pretty after Mangala Aratrika.
We offer incense smelling sweet….
We offer her a lamp of ghee….
We give a flower full of scent….
We blow the conchshell white and pure….
We give her water clear and fresh…..
We pick her leaves for Krishna’s feet……
We sew garlands of manjaris….

Isn’t Tulasi nice to see……

Sri Damodarastaka

(found in the Padma Purana of Krsna Dvaipayana Vyasa, spoken by Satyavrata

Muni in a conversation with Narada Muni and Saunaka Rsi)

"In the month of Kartika one should worship Lord Damodara and daily recite the
prayer known as Damodarastaka, which has been spoken by the sage Satyavrata
and which attracts Lord Damodara. (Sri Hari-bhakti-vilasa 2.16.198)
 1
namamisvaram sac-cid-ananda-rupam
lasat-kundalam gokule bhrajamanam
yasoda--bhiyolukhalad dhavamanam
paramrstam atyantato drutya gopya

2
rudantam muhur netra-yugmam mrjantam
karambhoja-yugmena satanka-netram
muhuh svasa-kampa-trirekhanka-kantha-
sthita-graivam damodararm bhakti-baddham

3
itidrk sva-lilabhir ananda-kunde
sva-ghosam nimajjantam akkyapayantam
tadiyesita-jnesu bhaktair jitatvam
punah prematas tam satavrtti vande

4
varam deva moksam na moksavadhim va
na canyam vrne 'ham varesad apiha
idam te vapur natha gopala-balam
sada me manasy avirastam kim anyaih

5
idam te mukhambhojam atyanta-nilair
vrtam kuntalaih snigdha-raktais' ca gopya
muhus cumbitam bimba-raktadharam me
manasy avirastam alam laksa-labhaih

6
namo deva damodarananta visno
prasida prabho duhkha jalabdhi-magnam
krpa-drsti-vrsyati-dinam batanu-
grhanesa mam ajnam edhy aksi-drsyah

7
kuveratmajau baddha-murtyaiva yadvat
tvaya mocitau bhakti-bhajau krtau ca
tatha prema-bhaktim svakam me prayaccha
na mokse graho me 'sti damodareha
 8
names te 'stu damne sphurad-dipti-dhamne
tvadiyodarayatha visvasya dhamne
namo radhikayai tvadiya-priyayai
namo 'nanta-lilaya devaya tubhyam

TRANSLATION

(1) To the Supreme Lord, whose form is the embodiment of eternal existence,
knowledge, and bliss, whose shark-shaped earrings are swinging to and fro, who is
beautifully shining in the divine realm of Gokula, who I (due to the offense of
breaking the pot of yogurt that His mother was churning into butter and then
stealing the butter that was kept hanging from a swing) is quickly running from the
wooden grinding mortar in fear of mother Yasoda, but who has been caught from
behind by her who ran after Him with greater speed--to that Supreme Lord, Sri
Damodara, I offer my humble obeisances.

(2) (Seeing the whipping stick in His mother's hand,) He is crying and rubbing His
eyes again and again with His two lotus hands. His eyes are filled with fear, and
the necklace of pearls around His neck, which is marked with three lines like a
conch shell, is shaking because of His quick breathing due to crying. To this
Supreme Lord, Sri Damodara, whose belly is bound not with ropes but with His
mother's pure love, I offer my humble obeisances.

(3) By such childhood pastimes as this He is drowning the inhabitants of Gokula in

pools of ecstasy, and is revealing to those devotees who are absorbed in knowledge
of His supreme majesty and opulence that He is only conquered by devotees whose
pure love is imbues with intimacy and is free from all conceptions of awe and
reverence. With great love I again offer my obeisances to Lord Damodara hundreds
and hundreds of times.

(4) 0 Lord, although You are able to give all kinds of benedictions, I do not pray to
You for the boon of impersonal liberation, nor the highest liberation of eternal life
in Vaikuntha, nor any other boon (which may be obtained by executing the nine
processes of bhakti). O Lord, I simply wish that this form of Yours as Bala Gopala
in Vrndavana may ever be manifest in my heart, for what is the use to me of any
other boon besides this?

(5) O Lord, Your lotus face, which is encircled by locks of soft black hair tinged
with red, is kissed again and again by mother Yasoda, and Your lips are reddish
like the bimba fruit. May this beautiful vision of Your lotus face be ever manifest
 in my heart. Thousands and thousands of other benedictions are of no use to me.

(6) O Supreme Godhead, I offer my obeisances unto You. O Damodara! O Ananta!

O Vishnu! O master! O my Lord, be pleased upon me. By showering Your glance
of mercy upon me, deliver this poor ignorant fool who is immersed in an ocean of
worldly sorrows, and become visible to my eyes.

(7) 0 Lord Damodara, just as the two sons of Kuvera--Manigriva and Nalakuvara--
were delivered from the curse of Narada and made into great devotees by You in
Your form as a baby tied with rope to a wooden grinding mortar, in the same way,
please give to me Your own prema-bhakti. I only long for this and have no desire
for any kind of liberation.

(8) 0 Lord Damodara, I first of all offer my obeisances to the brilliantly effulgent
rope which binds Your belly. I then offer my obeisances to Your belly, which is the
abode of the entire universe. I humbly bow down to Your most beloved Srimati
Radharani, and I offer all obeisances to You, the Supreme Lord, who displays
unlimited pastimes.

Home-work:

You can hand out the coloring sheet for them to complete at home. Request them to
write their names on the sheet, to file it and bring it to class next week.You can
return the sheets which you have put up on the notice board to them.

Prasadam: 15 minutes
Children look forward to eating the prasadam at the end of the class, however
simple it may be. Ask them to think of Krishna while eating the Prasadam and to
thank him for tasting it first and giving them back the remnants. You can play some
music or play some devotional DVD movie for them. As they leave the class,
speak to each one of them and wish them goodbye