Dharam Shiksha - Class 23

Thank you, dear kids, for participating in the last Dharam Shiksha class! It warms our hearts to see you so willing and eager to learn the basics of our beautiful religion.

In the next class, we look forward to seeing even more smiling faces and enthusiastic participation.

So we started this class with a revision of the previously explained Paaths. Then, we moved a step further and discussed the first line of the Tass Uttrikarnenang Paath along with its meaning.

"Tass Uttrikarnenang, Payachhit Karnenang, Visohi Karnenang, Visalli Karnenang, Pavanang Kammanang Nigghayanatthaye Thaami Kausaggam..."

MEANING:

Tass Uttrikarnenang: In order to make my impure, polluted soul clean and beautiful...

Payachhit Karnenang: In order to apologize for my past sins...

Visohi Karnenang: In order to purify myself spiritually...

Visalli Karnenang: In order to remove the 3 "shalya" or 3 thorns from my soul... These three thorns are Maaya (deception), Nidaan (to demand results of your good deeds) and Mithyatva (false belief).

Pavanang Kammanang Nigghayanatthaye: In order to finish all my bad karma...

Thaami Kausaggam: I'm doing Kayotsarg (giving up attachment to the body).

After this, we moved on to discuss the 4th kashaya - LOBH.

Today's Topic - LOBH (Greed)

Lobh or Greed is when we keep wanting more and more, even when we already have enough.

Imagine this: you have a perfectly nice, comfy shirt. But then you see a branded one and think, “Hmm… that looks cooler!”

So you get it.

Soon your mind says, “If I have a US Polo shirt, wouldn’t a Tommy Hilfiger shirt be even better?” And once you get that, your heart whispers, “What about Armani?”

See the problem? The wanting never stops! Greed is like a hungry monster—it eats and eats but is never full.👹

Here’s another fun example:

Suppose you have one chocolate and you’re happy. Then your friend brings two chocolates, and suddenly your one doesn’t feel enough. You want two. When you get two, you see someone with a big chocolate box—and now you want the whole box!

Soon, instead of enjoying the chocolate, you’re just busy wishing for more. 🍫

That’s how greed works. Greed pushes us towards the materialistic world and deviates our soul from the path of spirituality.

It pulls us deeper into loving things instead of being thankful for what we already have.

True happiness comes not from having more, but from being satisfied with what we have. 🌟

EXPERIMENT TIME

For the experiment, we took a balloon and asked the kids to tell their desires one-by-one (please note "desires," not "necessities").

We then kept putting small slips of those desires into the balloon and blowing air into it. At one point, the balloon got so full that it burst!

So in this experiment, the balloon symbolizes our soul. When there are no desires in our soul, it becomes light like the balloon and moves upwards towards Moksha. But when our soul is burdened with Lobh and other kashayas, it becomes heavy. Then comes a point when it gets so polluted that it moves towards lower gatis - just like the balloon burst and fell to the ground!

Now let's understand the concept of Lobh a little more clearly with an interesting story.

STORY TIME - KAPIL KEWALI JI

Once upon a time, long long ago, there lived a kind and powerful king named King Prasenjit. In his royal court, there was an important priest called the Raj Purohit. The Raj Purohit’s name was Kashya. He was a wise and respected man. Kashya had a young son named Kapil.

In those days, it was a tradition that the position of Raj Purohit passed from father to son. When a Raj Purohit died, his son would take his place.

But when Raj Purohit Kashya passed away, his son Kapil was still very young and had not yet received proper education. Because of this, King Prasenjit appointed another learned man as the new Raj Purohit.

When Kapil’s mother heard this news, she felt very sad. Still, she did not lose hope. She devoted herself to raising Kapil with love and care, dreaming that one day her son would become worthy of his father’s position.

One day, a grand procession of the new Raj Purohit passed through the streets. There were decorations, music, and people bowing in respect.

Young Kapil watched the procession with wide, shining eyes. He ran home excitedly and told his mother everything he had seen.

But instead of smiling, Kapil’s mother became quiet and sad.

She gently told him, “Kapil, this grand procession could have been yours if you were not so young when your father passed away.”

Hearing this, Kapil learned the truth about his father and the lost position. His young heart filled with determination. He promised himself, “I will study hard and earn that respected position again.”

However, his mother told him - “Because the new Raj Purohit fears competition, no one in this city will dare to teach you.”

Then she gave him hope.

“In the city of Shravasti, your father’s old friend, a wise man named Indradatt, lives. He will guide you.”

With his mother’s blessings, young Kapil set out on his journey to Shravasti. There, he met Indradatt and shared his entire story. Touched by Kapil’s sincerity, Indradatt agreed to educate him.

Kapil was asked to stay at the house of a wealthy merchant named Seth Shalibhadra.

Kapil studied with great dedication. But while living in the household, he grew attached to a maid who worked there. In time, they realized they would soon have a child.

The maid got very worried and said, “We are very poor. We don’t even have a home of our own. How will we raise a child?”

Kapil also became anxious. Then the maid shared an idea.

“Our king gives two grams of gold every morning to the first Brahmin he sees. If you go early, you might receive it.”

Kapil agreed, but he was so nervous that he decided to go to the palace in the middle of the night, thinking, “I HAVE to be the first Brahmin the king sees.”

But things did not go as planned.

The palace guards mistook Kapil for a thief and arrested him. The next morning, he was brought before the king. Kapil honestly narrated his entire story without hiding anything.

The king was deeply impressed by Kapil’s truthfulness and pure heart. He said, “Kapil, ask for anything you want. I will grant your wish.”

Kapil was overjoyed—but also confused. He requested time to think, and the king agreed.

Kapil went into a quiet garden and began thinking.

“What will I gain from just two grams of gold? Maybe I should ask for 100 gold coins instead." ”No… I think 1,000 would be better.”

Soon his thoughts grew bigger and bigger. “What if I ask for one lakh gold coins?”

Then suddenly, “Why not half the kingdom? All my money problems will be solved forever!”

And finally, “Why not the entire kingdom and become the king myself? That would be the best!”

Just as Kapil started walking back toward the palace, his inner voice cried out: “Kapil! Look how your desire has grown. You began with two grams of gold, and now you want a whole kingdom! Shame on you for being so overcome with greed when you know greed will only take you to narak gati.”

At that moment, Kapil understood a great truth: Greed has no end. It is like a bottomless pot.

As he reflected deeply, he attained Jaati Smaran Gyaan—the knowledge of his past lives. Right there, he renounced worldly attachments, performed kesh loch, and accepted the path of sanyam.

When he met the king again, the king asked, “Have you decided what you want, Kapil?”

Kapil replied honestly: “Yes, Your Majesty. My heart was filled with greed. At one point, I even wanted your entire kingdom. But then I realized that desire can never be satisfied. I freed my soul from greed and found true peace.”

Kapil then dedicated his life to intense tapasya. In time, he attained Keval Gyaan and became Kapil Kewali Ji, a liberated soul—a Siddha, Buddha, and Mukta Aatma.

BOLIYE KAPIL KEWALI JI MAHARAJ KI JAI!!

The Transformation of the Thieves

There is one more beautiful incident from Kapil Kewali Ji’s life.

Once, while traveling from Shravasti to Rajgrihi, Kapil Kewali Ji passed through a dense forest. In that forest lived 500 thieves. They captured him.

But Kapil Kewali Ji was fearless.

Instead of feeling afraid, he looked at them with compassion. He spoke about how anger, pride, deceit, and greed pollute the soul.

He shared his own life story and how he changed his destiny.

The thieves listened quietly.

Their hearts changed. They gave up their violent ways, renounced theft, and became saints, choosing the path of righteousness – just like him.

Moral of the Story✨

Children, this story teaches us that greed never brings happiness, it only pollutes our soul. True wealth is not gold or kingdoms, but a pure and content soul. 

FUN GAME

To sum up the class, we played a cool "Treasure Hunt" game with the kids. We gave them 4 clues that led them to 4 different places. Each place had a hidden slip with a word on it.

In the end, the kids were supposed to unjumble the words and frame a sentence.

And what was that sentence?

✨"LOBH GHATAO, SHANTI BADHAO!"✨

A QUICK RECAP: QUIZ TIME

Now let us test how many of you REALLY paid attention to the story of Kapil Kewali Ji! Below are two quizzes (one for kids below 8 years of age, and one for the rest) specially curated based on the story of Kapil Kewali Ji.

So come on, it's time to find out how much you remember!

For kids below 8 years: https://www.educaplay.com/learning-resources/27287442-kapil_s_path_to_wisdom.html

For kids above 8 years: https://www.educaplay.com/learning-resources/27287411-kapil_s_path_to_siddha.html