Dharma Shiksha - Class 2

Hello everyone… errr… Jai Jinendra Ji!

Are you still making this mistake too?

Don’t worry, practice makes a man (and a child!) perfect. So kids, keep practicing –

“Hello Hi chhodiye, Jai Jinendra boliye.”

Okay, so thanks to the blessings of our Guru Maharaj Jis, our second dharma class was a roaring success!

Wasn’t it kiddos?

What We Did:

We began the class with some pearls of wisdom from Pujya Shri Ashish Muni Ji Maharaj. He inspired the kids to take out one minute from every hour of their nightly sleep and use it to chant Mahamantra Navkar. For instance, if you sleep for 8 hours, you can take out 8 minutes and devote it to one mala of Mahamantra Navkar.

Totally doable, right?

Next, we revised the 4 karmas covered in the previous class and did the remaining 4 karmas – Naam Karma, Gotra Karma, Ayushya Karma and Antaray Karma (notes included in the previous blog).

FUN FACT: Did you know that throughout our lifetimes, all seven karmas except Ayushya Karma remain active? Ayushya Karma comes into action only once during our lifetime.

ACTIVITY TIME!

To keep things super interesting and fun, we also did a couple of cool activities.

ACTIVITY 1: 

Kids were divided into groups and given a sheet of paper with names of karmas written on them.

Then they were given pictures representing different karmas and they had to paste it under the right karma.

Targets Achieved: Revision of Karmas, and teaching kids how to work as a team.

The winner of this game was GROUP 4. Well done, champs - YOU ROCK!

ACTIVITY 2: 

The teachers performed different actions, and kids had to guess they represented which karma.

Targets Achieved: Revisiting Karmas to instill them nicely into young minds, and improving their recall abilities.

AKSHAY TRITYA: IMPORTANCE AND RELEVANCE IN MODERN TIMES

If you’re born into a Jain family, you must have heard the phrase “Akshay Tritya” often. But do you know what it stands for? Come, let’s find out.

In Jainsim, Akshay Tritya holds a sacred place. It is the day when our first Tirthankar – Bhagwan Adinath Ji – ended his 400-day long fast.

Yep, you heard that right - 400 days without food or a single drop of water!

And guess what, he did not end the fast with a lavish meal like most of us do - instead, the Lord ended his fast with a simple sugarcane juice drink offered with pure “bhaav.”

So here is the story behind Akshay Tritya…

Bhagwan Adinath was the first King of this kaal chakra. After he accepted monkhood and became a sadhu, he decided to fast for six months. Thereafter, he had to go from home to home in search of Gochari – or nirdosh aahar.

You know what Gochari is, right? It is the food that we offer to sadhu-sati ji maharaj who come to our homes.

Now Bhagwan Adinath wasn’t just the first King of this kaal chakra – he was also the first sadhu. This is why when he went to people’s homes for Gochari, they didn’t know what to offer. Those simple folks had never seen a sadhu before and didn’t know what Bhagwan wanted.

They offered him elephants, horses, jewellery – some even offered their daughters’ hand in marriage!

But Bhagwan remained calm and silent. He had already left all these worldly things for a larger purpose.

So he had to go without food or water for not just one week or month - but 400 days!

How did Bhagwan Adinath break his fast?

On the 400th day of Bhagwan’s fast, he went to a city called Hastinapur. There, a young prince named Shreyans Kumar saw him and something stirred in his soul. Suddenly, he recalled his previous birth where he was a sadhu himself.

Now he knew what to offer to Bhagwan Adinath! At that time, there were 108 pots of sugarcane juice available in the palace which he offered to Bhagwan with pure bhaav.

Bhagwan Ji accepted his offering. The skies filled with divine voices chanting “Aho Daanam, Aho Daanam” as Bhagwan Adinath broke his 400-day long fast.  

Now kids, some of you might question – Bhagwan Adinath was our first tirthankar. Why did he have to face such a difficult situation?

Well, the answer is KARMA!

Karma does not spare ANYONE – it doesn’t care if you’re an ant or Bhagwan Adinath. If you’ve done something bad, it will come back to haunt you sooner or later.

What Karma caused Bhagwan Adinath to go without food for 400 days?

It is said that in one of his previous lives, Bhagwan Adinath was a farmer. He had a pair of bulls that he used for ploughing the fields. In those times, people used to tie a muzzle (a tiny basket-like thing) on the bull’s mouth so it wouldn't eat the seeds meant for sowing.

One day at lunchtime, the farmer (Bhagwan Adinath in his previous birth) decided to go have food - but he forgot to untie the muzzles on his bulls' mouths. Thus, the poor animals had to go without food for a while.

This karmic debt that Bhagwan unknowingly incurred came back and presented itself in the form of that 400-day fast!

So dear kids, be VERY mindful of your actions – even if it is a simple advise to someone.

So what should we do on Akshay Tritya?

Akshay Tritya is a VERY auspicious day. This day gives you an opportunity to be Shreyans Kumar!

How? Let us explain.

Just like Shreyans Kumar offered sugarcane juice to Bhagwan Adinath and helped him break his fast, you can also offer food or any other items to those less fortunate than you on this day. Trust me, whatever you choose to give, it multiplies.

So on this day, open your little hands and give – doesn’t matter how small or big your daan is; doesn’t matter how expensive or inexpensive it is – what counts is your “BHAAV.”

“Main bhi Shreyans Kumar” – ACTIVITY

In this class, we gave the kids earthen pots each. By Akshay Tritya (April 30th), kids are required to colour these pots in Jain flag colours.

Then they should pour water in the pot and place it in a balcony, outside the gate or any other place where the birds/animals can conveniently access it.

Please remind the kids to empty out the pots in the evening and fill it with fresh water again the next morning.

This may seem a bit tedious initially, but trust us, the values this little activity will instill in your little ones will be totally worth it. After all, the hands that give are the hands that’s blessed the most.

PS: Please make sure the colours used for colouring the pots are fabric or acrylic colours that don’t’t bleed easily.