Our children in the Sharavathi Kannada Higher Primary School have successfully completed their examinations. The teachers have evaluated the papers and the results have been announced. The performance of the children has been much better this semester. The school is now closed for the summer vacations and the teachers and children are off for a well deserved break. In the month of May, the classrooms of the primary school will be given a new look with whitewashing of walls, painting of blackboards and making the classroom more fun and informative with posters/ exhibits etc. On their return, the children will also be given text books, note books, pencil boxes, geometry boxes, tables books and other items of stationery completely free of charge. The School Management Team is working to finish all of this before the school re-opens on 28th May, 2012.
We close this section with a small story for the children and wish them all a happy and enjoyable summer vacation. The story has been adapted from RadioSai and is a reminder that love and respect for parents is a direct way to please God.
Revere Parents and receive God's Grace- Chinna Katha
Once when Adi Sankara’s parents were to leave the house for some work, his father instructed him thus, “My dear son, you know that I daily worship the Goddess in our house and later distribute the naivedya (offerings) to all the people. Similarly, when your mother and I are away, will you please make the offering to Goddess?” The obedient son that Sankara was he immediately agreed to fulfill his father’s commands. And so after his parents left, he poured some milk into a cup and kept it before the idol of the Goddess and prayed to her “Mother! Please accept this milk which I am offering”. But despite his fervent prayers, the Mother neither took the milk, nor did she appear. The young boy was understandably disappointed, but did not give up. He prayed again, “Mother! Mother! You accept the offerings that my father makes to your daily! What sins have these hands of mine committed that you are not accepting the offering which I am giving to you?”
He continued to pray to her earnestly from the innermost depths of his heart, so much so that he was even prepared to sacrifice his life! Sankara told himself, “My father asked me to offer this milk to the goddess but I am not able to do so because the goddess is not receiving the offering, which I made. It is better that I die”. He went out and brought a big stone to kill himself. But the compassionate Mother, the Mother of the Universe could not keep herself away for too long.
Moved by Sankara’s unsullied devotion and sincerity, she at once appeared before him and drank the milk that he had offered and then placed the empty cup before him. The boy was very glad that the Mother of the Universe came and drank the milk. But now there was nothing left in the cup.
He thought that his father would certainly ask for the naiveidya (consecrated offering) of the God when he returned. He feared that the father may think that he drank away all the milk and hence may become angry with him. And therefore he prayed to the Goddess again.
This time asking her, “O Mother, Please give me at least a drop of milk so that I may be able to give it to my father”. But the Goddess did not come. He again sincerely continued to pray; the Goddess was yet again moved by his love and faith and she appeared before him. But since she was not able to give the milk that she drank, she gave her own milk and filled the cup!
It is believed that because Sankara was blessed to taste the Divine milk, he could attain the highest pinnacle of knowledge and wisdom. But the main essence of the story lies in the son’s blind and complete devotion to fulfill his father’s wishes. Because Sankara tried hard to please his father, he was able to get the Goddess of the Universe to manifest Herself before him.
Loving our parents and showing respect for them is a direct way to earn the grace and blessings of our divine parent.
- Baba
We close this section with a small story for the children and wish them all a happy and enjoyable summer vacation. The story has been adapted from RadioSai and is a reminder that love and respect for parents is a direct way to please God.
Revere Parents and receive God's Grace- Chinna Katha
Once when Adi Sankara’s parents were to leave the house for some work, his father instructed him thus, “My dear son, you know that I daily worship the Goddess in our house and later distribute the naivedya (offerings) to all the people. Similarly, when your mother and I are away, will you please make the offering to Goddess?” The obedient son that Sankara was he immediately agreed to fulfill his father’s commands. And so after his parents left, he poured some milk into a cup and kept it before the idol of the Goddess and prayed to her “Mother! Please accept this milk which I am offering”. But despite his fervent prayers, the Mother neither took the milk, nor did she appear. The young boy was understandably disappointed, but did not give up. He prayed again, “Mother! Mother! You accept the offerings that my father makes to your daily! What sins have these hands of mine committed that you are not accepting the offering which I am giving to you?”
He continued to pray to her earnestly from the innermost depths of his heart, so much so that he was even prepared to sacrifice his life! Sankara told himself, “My father asked me to offer this milk to the goddess but I am not able to do so because the goddess is not receiving the offering, which I made. It is better that I die”. He went out and brought a big stone to kill himself. But the compassionate Mother, the Mother of the Universe could not keep herself away for too long.
Moved by Sankara’s unsullied devotion and sincerity, she at once appeared before him and drank the milk that he had offered and then placed the empty cup before him. The boy was very glad that the Mother of the Universe came and drank the milk. But now there was nothing left in the cup.
He thought that his father would certainly ask for the naiveidya (consecrated offering) of the God when he returned. He feared that the father may think that he drank away all the milk and hence may become angry with him. And therefore he prayed to the Goddess again.
This time asking her, “O Mother, Please give me at least a drop of milk so that I may be able to give it to my father”. But the Goddess did not come. He again sincerely continued to pray; the Goddess was yet again moved by his love and faith and she appeared before him. But since she was not able to give the milk that she drank, she gave her own milk and filled the cup!
It is believed that because Sankara was blessed to taste the Divine milk, he could attain the highest pinnacle of knowledge and wisdom. But the main essence of the story lies in the son’s blind and complete devotion to fulfill his father’s wishes. Because Sankara tried hard to please his father, he was able to get the Goddess of the Universe to manifest Herself before him.
Loving our parents and showing respect for them is a direct way to earn the grace and blessings of our divine parent.
- Baba
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