Children’s program Week 3

The children must be quite enthusiastic by now to come for the programs. Some of them might come
earlier and some others a little later. You can use this opportunity to either show them some Krishna
conscious video, talk to them and inquire more about them, or make them do some services in helping
you to prepare for the program. Try to be as punctual as possible in starting the program even if all
have not yet come. The children will try to then come on time. You can also request them to keep time.

Icebreaker : 15 minutes

When you are seated in a circle, ask them one by one to speak for a minute on: “What I enjoy most in
school.”

Kirtana: 15 minutes
You can first ask all of them to write down the Mahamantra in their note-books. Then just like the
previous week, you can sing the Guru pranamas and Panca Tattva mantras yourself and ask them to
repeat the Hare Krishna mantra.
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.

Krishna's Pastimes
1) Mother Yasoda sees amazing things

Mother Yasoda was nursing her child and opened His mouth with her finders. She suddenly saw
something really wonderful in His mouth. She saw in Krsna’s mouth the whole the whole sky, the stars
in all directions, the sun, moon, fire, air, seas, islands, mountains, rivers, forests... Heart beat began to
beat quickly. “How amazing this is!” She could not even say anything, but simply closed here eyes,
thinking wonderful thoughts.

Questions:
1) What did mother Yasoda see in baby Krishna's mouth?

One day Vasudeva asked his family priest, Gargamuni, to visit the home of Nanda Maharaja to hold a
secret name-giving ceremony. No one was supposed to know that baby Krsna was living there
because the demonic King Kamsa would come and try to kill Him. Gargamuni told Nanda Maharaja,
“Rohini’s son will be called Rama because He will be very pleasing to the family. He will also be called
Balarama because He will be very strong. The other boy is rally Devaki’s son and will be called Krsna
by some and Vasudeva by others. While Krsna is in Vrndavana, everyone will be happy and safe. This
child will grow in power, beauty, and opulence – in everything – just as the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. Therefore, protect Him very carefully so he grows up without disturbance.”

Nanda Maharaja was so very happy to be blessed in this way.

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Questions:
1) Why was Krishna's name-giving ceremony held secretly?
2) Who named Krishna and Balarama?
3) Who is Rohini's son?
4) What is the meaning of His name?
5) What did the family priest tell Nanda maharaja about Krishna's future?

Both Krsna and Balarama used to crawl on Their hands and knees. Sometimes these naughty babies
crawled into the cowshed and held onto the tails of the calves who would run with them here and there
over clay and cow dung. To see this fun, Mother Yasoda and Mother Rohini would call all their
neighbors and friends, the gopis, and laugh very loudly.

Questions:
1) What naughty things did Krishna and Balarama do while crawling as babies?

Soon, when Krsna and Balarama could walk around, the older gopis began to complain to Yasoda.
“Your naughty Krsna comes to our houses along with Balarama every morning, and before we milk the
cows, They let the calves loose to drink all the milk from the cows. And we can get no milk from them.
If we warn Krsna and Balarama, They simply smile charmingly. We catch them stealing yogurt and
butter and then They give it all away to the monkeys. When the monkeys are full, your boys break the
pots and throw them hither and thither.

If we keep out yogurt and butter too high, hanging on a swing from the ceiling, They arrange to reach it
by piling up all kinds of wooden boxes. And if They cannot get it, They make a hole in the pot. Even
without bangles and sparkling jewels, They can see everything in the darkness just from the bright light
shining from Their bodies.”

Questions:
1) What list of complaints did the Gopis make to Mother Yasoda against Krishna and Balarama?

2) Krsna Opens His Mouth

One day all the boys joined Balarama and told Mother Yashoda that Krsna had eaten clay. Mother
Yashoda caught Krsna’s hand and said, “My dear Krsna, is this true? Have you been eating dirt?”
Krsna said, “Balarama and My friends are speaking lies against Me. I have not eaten any dirt. If you
think they are telling the truth, then please look in My mouth and see for yourself.”
He opened His mouth for her, just like a good boy. Then Mother Yasoda saw the most wonderful things
inside that mouth. She saw mountains, islands, oceans, seas, planets, air, fire, moon, stars, the whole
universe and outer space in all directions. And right in His mouth, she also saw herself with Krsna on
her lap, drinking milk. She thought, “Is this really happening or am I dreaming?” Then, confused, she
simply thought of Krsna as her own child in her lap. She hugged Him and gave Him a big kiss.

Questions:
1) What more things did Mother Yasoda see in Krishna's mouth this time?

3) Mother Yasoda Ties Krsna with a Rope

Once upon a time, two demigods named Nalakuvara and Manigriva went into Lord Siva’s garden next
to the Mandakini river. They drank a lot and listened to the women singing there. Then they all went
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into the Ganges River full of lotus flowers and enjoyed themselves just like elephants splashing in the
water. Suddenly the great sage, Narada Muni happened to come that way. The two demigod sons of
Kuvera did not even cover their naked bodies properly; nor did they pay their respectful obeisances to
him. To teach them a lesson, Narada turned them into trees in the garden of Nanda Maharaja. After
many, many years of living as trees, they would see Krsna face to face and be good devotees of Lord
Krsna again.

Questions:
1) Why did Narada muni turn Nalakuvera and Manigriva into trees?

One fine morning, 36,000 years later, Mother Yasoda was making butter. Krsna climbed into their lap
to drink her breast milk. She smiled, enjoying the beauty of His face. Suddenly she remembered the
milk on the stove in the kitchen which was about to boil over. Quickly she put Krsna down on the
ground and ran to the kitchen to take the milk off the fire. Krsna had not finished drinking and was very
angry. With red eyes and false tears, He broke the butter pot and took the butter away to eat nicely in
a quiet corner all by Himself.

Questions:
1) Why did Krishna break the butter pot in anger?

Mother Yasoda came back from the kitchen and saw the broken pot, but did not see Krsna. After
looking all over, she found her naughty little son taking more butter from a swing she had hung from
the ceiling, By this time, He was all covered with the butter he had eaten and was feeding the rest to
the monkeys. Krsna was looking this was and that in fear of being caught. Yasoda came with a stick
and He ran very quickly. She chased Him to all corners of the house and yard.

Questions:
1) Why did Mother Yasoda chase Krishna with a stick?

When she finally caught Him, she started to tie His hands together with a rope, but it was a little too
short – by two inches. She got more rope from the house and added it, but found it was still not
enough. She got more and more rope, but each time she tried to tie the last knot, she saw it was
always about two inches short! How was this happening? She became so tired doing this again and
again; then Krsna finally let her tie Him up with her rope without playing any more tricks. She left Him
tied up to the mortar and went inside the house to finish her work.
Questions:
1) Why did Mother Yasoda become tired when she tried to tie Krishna up?
2) How was she finally able to tie him up?

Krsna thought to Himself, “Mother Yasoda first put Me without feeding Me enough milk. I broke the pot
of yoghurt and butter, which I gave away in charity to the monkeys, and then she tied Me up to a
wooden mortar. I shall have some fun and do something even more naughty than before.” He had His
eye on two very tall Arjuna trees in the yard. And He just thought of breaking down those two very tall
Arjuna trees.

Little Krsna, dragging along the wooden mortar behind Him, crawled straight through the two trees. But
the large wooden mortar turned crosswise and got stuck between. Still, Krsna pulled and pulled and
pulled the rope until the two trees fell down with a big sound: “Crash!” Out of the broken, fallen trees
came two beautiful demigods, Manigriva and Nalakuvara, shining like fire. At once, they bowed down
to baby Krsna to offer their prayers.
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Questions:
1) Why did Krishna want to break down the two Arjuna trees?
2) How did He do this?

Lord Krsna, who was still tied to the wooden mortar by the ropes of Mother Yasoda, began to smile
and said, “You are very lucky. The great devotee Narada Muni blessed you with pure love for Me. So
this is your last time in the material world. Now you may go back to your father’s house in the heavenly
planets, where you will do devotional service to Me and go back to Godhead in this very lifetime.” They
bowed down again and again after walking around their beloved Lord. Then they left for their home. All
the while, the Lord was still tied with ropes.

Questions:
1) What blessings did Krishna give Nalakuvera and Manigriva?

By the time, all the people from Gokula Vrndavana came running to see what had happened. The
small children playing there said to everyone, “Krsna came straight through the two trees and wooden
mortar got stuck in between. Krsna just pulled and pulled on the rope until the trees finally fell down.
Two very dazzling bright men came out of the trees and began to talk to Krsna.”
Nanda Maharaja just smiled and untied his wonderful child.

Japa : 15 minutes
This week you can make them chant just 64 times. 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.

Read:
Lord Krishna came as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu five hundred years ago and distributed this chanting
of Hare Krishna Mahamantra to every one. This process of chanting is very easy and every one can
take part in it whether young or old, man or woman, rich or poor, religious or sinful. Even if one is
leading a very sinful life, one can chant this Mahamantra and be purified very quickly. That is why it is
called pavitram or pure. When person starts chanting this mantra, all the seeds of reactions that one
has to suffer because of one's sinful acts in this life or our previous lives are completely nullified. Just
as a fire turns whatever we put into it to ashes, the chanting of Hare Krishna which is so powerful and
pure can turn to ashes all the sinful reactions of our past.

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.
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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.

Slokas: 15 minutes

BG chapter 2.20

na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin

nāyaḿ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ
ajo nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaḿ purāṇo
na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre

SYNONYMS
na--never; jayate--takes birth; mriyate--never dies; va--either; kadacit--at any time (past, present or
future); na--never; ayam--this; bhutva--came into being; bhavita--will come to be; va--or; na--not;
bhuyah--or has coming to be; ajah--unborn; nityah--eternal; sasvatah--permanent; ayam--this;
puranah--the oldest; na--never; hanyate—is killed; hanyamane--being killed; sarire--by the body.

TRANSLATION
For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come
into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not
slain when the body is slain.

Explanation
Every body has to go through birth and death. Some one is born, keeps growing, remains like that for
a while, has children, keeps growing old and then finally dies. But the soul which is in the body never
dies. It is always living and never grows old. This is because it has the same qualities as Krishna
because it is a part of Krishna who is eternal.
The soul is seated in the heart of every living thing and is giving energy to the whole body. That is why
even if we cannot see the soul, we know it is there in the heart of every one when we see that a
person or even an animal is alive and conscious. Just like on a cloudy day, we cannot see the sun, but
we know that the sun is behind the clouds because we can see some little light coming through the
clouds.
The soul has the same quality as God but it is very tiny. So that is why it can sometimes forget its true
nature of being part of Krishna. But Krishna is the Super soul, or Paramatma who lives in every one's
heart and He cannot forget who we really are. So a soul like Arjuna who wants to know about his true
spiritual nature should hear from Krishna or His representative, the Guru.
Activity:15 minutes

Vaishnava song
This week you can teach them to sing the Narasimha Arati. Make them repeat each line a few times,
and the entire song a few times so that they become familiar with the words and song. You can tell
them the meaning of the song from the translation given below. You can also briefly explain the
pastime of Narasimhadeva and Prahlad Maharaja. You have to continue teaching them for 3, 4
weeks till they learn the tune and the words perfectly.
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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 the following week.

Narasimha Pranama:

(Obeisances to Lord Nrisimha, sung at the end of mangala arati)

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(This verse is from Shri Dasavatara-stotra, the Gita-govinda, written by Jayadeva Gosvami.

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.

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.

ááááá*********
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