EDUCATION IN HUMAN VALUES
GROUP 2
LESSON 3TOPICThe First Adventure of the Princes
VALUE
SUBVALUES
OBJECTIVE
TEACHING AIDS
TEACHING TECHNIQUES
STORY TELLING
GROUP ACTIVITY
SILENT SITTING
Story Telling:Vishwamitra Makes a Difficult RequestThis
beautiful story begins in the ancient city of Ayodhya. This fair
city, capital of the powerful kingdom of King Dashratha, stood on
the banks of the holy river Sarayu. Ayodhya was a beautiful city
with wide tree-lined streets, markets filled with skilled artisans,
dancers and musicians. It was also a great seat of learning,
sheltering many scholars willing to share their knowledge with
eager pupils. The citizens of Ayodhya lived in peace and harmony.
The lands were fertile and the harvests rich. The people of Ayodhya
never went hungry. It was a happy place.King Dashratha was a
benevolent monarch, kind and generous. His people loved him and his
kingdom was prosperous. He had three beautiful and loving wives
(for that was the custom in days of yore).Yet, the king's heart was
heavy as he longed for a son who would succeed him and carry on
their noble name.King Dashratha decided to perform a holy sacrifice
in the hope that the devas would be pleased and grant him a son.
During the sacrifice, a being appeared out of the sacred fire
holding a bowl of sweet gruel (pudding). He told the king to feed
the gruel to his queens so that they would bear him sons. One day,
the king's dreams came true. His prayers were answered fourfold and
he was blessed with four sons. The king was overjoyed. Lord Raam
was the first-born, son of Kaushalya, the senior-most queen. Queen
Sumitra had twins, Lakshman and Shatrugan. Bharat was the son of
King Dashratha's favourite queen - Kaikeyi. But Lord Raam was the
king's favourite son.The four boys were groomed in the true
tradition of princes. The wisest teachers in the land taught them
skills such as archery, horsemanship, swordplay as well as the
courtly manners expected of princes. They were taught the values of
courage, truth, piety and respect for elders. They were not just
brothers, but friends. The queens loved all the princes equally.
Their sweetness and goodness made them beloved in all the
kingdom.
The years passed and the princes grew to be fine, upstanding
young men. Then one day, the great holy man, Vishwamitra, came to
the court of King Dashratha. The King welcomed him with great
honour. He asked Vishwamitra if he could be of service to him in
any way. He promised the sage that he would do anything in his
power to help him.Being a powerful man, the king could not imagine
that Vishwamitra could make a wish that he would find difficult to
fulfil. But this is exactly what happened. Vishwamitra asked for
something dearer to the king's heart than his kingdom and all the
riches in the world - his son Lord Raam.Vishwamitra told the king
that he had been trying to conduct a sacred ritual at his hermitage
in the forest. Unfortunately, he had never been able to complete it
because two troublesome demons sent by King Ravan used to come and
disrupt the rites. The demons would overturn the altar and scatter
the offerings. The sage was a master of warfare and could have
crushed the demons as if he were swatting a fly. But being a holy
man, he had vowed not to use his skills of combat in anger. He
wanted King Dashratha to send his son Lord Raam to protect the
sacred rite.The king was horrified. The thought of sending his
favourite son, only sixteen years old, to fight two demons, sent a
shiver down his spine. He tried to argue with the sage, begging him
not to ask such a difficult thing. The king offered to go himself
or to send the whole royal army instead. Vishwamitra was greatly
angered. He chastised the king saying that he was not a man of his
word.King Dashratha's was reminded of an incident that occurred
when he was very young. One day when he was hunting in the forest,
Dashratha thought that he heard a gurgling sound of an elephant
drinking water at a pond and he let loose an arrow in that
direction. Dashratha was a superb archer who could pinpoint his
target just by sound. This time, things went horribly wrong. His
target turned out to be a young hermit filling a pitcher with
water, not an elephant at all! Speechless with guilt, his heart
filled with sorrow, Dashratha went to break the news to the
hermit's old, blind parents. The old couple was devastated, the
hermit's father cursed Dashratha saying that Dashratha's son would
also be parted from him, and he too would die grieving for his
son.The Princes' First AdventureThe king was very agitated and
upset. He turned to his trusted counsellor, Vasishta, for help. The
counsellor knew the prince Raam well for he was also the prince's
teacher. He advised the king to send Raam with Vishwamitra because
he was confident that no harm would befall the young prince. On the
contrary, the prince would benefit and learn many useful things in
the time spent with the sage. He reminded Dashratha that he could
not break his promise and offend the great sage.And so Lord Raam
left the palace of Ayodhya to accompany the sage Vishwamitra.
Prince Lakshman insisted on accompanying his older brother. When
they reached Vishwamitra's hermitage in the forest, he showed them
a huge arsenal of weapons gifted to the sage by the devas as a
reward for his severe penance. An array of shields, spears, bows
and arrows, tridents lay spread out before their eyes. The sage
trained Lords Raam and Lakshman in the use of these mighty
weapons.The day of the sacred ritual dawned. Lords Raam and
Lakshman kept watch day and night, without sleeping a wink.
Suddenly, on the last day of the ritual, the sky darkened and two
fierce demons appeared. Lord Raam crushed the first with a wind
missile that hurled the demon a distance of 800 miles. A flaming
discus put an end to the second demon. Lakshman vanquished the
lesser demons. Vishwamitra was pleased and invited the young
princes to go with him to visit King Janak in the neighbouring
kingdom of Mithila.
Shree Raam fighting the demonsTHE FIRST ADVENTURE OF THE
PRINCES
One day, the great holy man, Vishwamitra, came to the court of
King Dashratha. The King welcomed him with great honour. He
promised the sage that he would do anything in his power to help
him.Vishwamitra told the king that he had been trying to conduct a
sacred ritual at his hermitage in the forest. Unfortunately, he had
never been able to complete it because two troublesome demons sent
by King Ravan used to come and disrupt the rites. He wanted King
Dashratha to send his son Lord Raam to protect the sacred
rite.Sending his favourite son, only sixteen years old, to fight
two demons? He tried to argue with the sage, begging him not to ask
such a difficult thing. The king offered to go himself or to send
the whole royal army instead. Vishwamitra was greatly angered. He
chastised the king saying that he was not a man of his word.The
king was very upset. He turned to his trusted counsellor, Vasishta,
for help. He advised the king to send Raam with Vishwamitra because
he was confident that no harm would befall the young prince. On the
contrary, the prince would benefit and learn many useful things in
the time spent with the sage. He reminded Dashratha that he could
not break his promise and offend the great sage.On this advice,
Dasaratha decied to send Rama and Lakshmana. Before left the
palace, Rama touched the feet of his mother, father, Guru Vasistha,
and then paid his respects ot the sage, Vishwamitra. Dasaratha
directed his sons to go along with the sage and obey his
instructions.
Lords Raam and Lakshman kept watch day and night, without
sleeping a wink. Suddenly, on the last day of the ritual, the sky
darkened and two fierce demons (Rakshasa Maricha & Subahu)
appeared. Lord Raam killed the first demon with a wind missile.
Lakshman killed the smaller demons. Vishwamitra was happy and
invited the young princes to go with him to visit King Janak in the
neighbouring kingdom of Mithila.
Lakshmana protested saying that they had come to protect the
Yagnas and once it was done, they had to return to Ayodhya. But
Rama said, Dear brother, father asked us to follow the instructions
of this sage.Give examples that you keep your word:
1) to your parents?
2) to your friends?
3) to your teacher?
Keep promises no matter how hard it may be
It is the duty of the king to protect all
Think well
before promising something
Our duty
to fulfill
parents
wishes
Matha
Pitha
Guru
Deivam
Keep promises no matter how hard it may be
It is the duty of the king to protect all
Think well
before promising something
Our duty
to fulfill
parents
wishes
Matha
Pitha
Guru
Deivam
Keep promises no matter how hard it may be
It is the duty of the king to protect all
Think well
before promising something
Our duty
to fulfill
parents
wishes
It is the duty of the king to protect all
Think well
before promising something
Our duty
to fulfill
parents
wishes
Matha
Pitha
Guru
Deivam
Keep promises no matter how hard it may be
Our duty
to fulfill
parents
wishes
Matha
Pitha
Guru
Deivam
Keep promises no matter how hard it may be
It is the duty of the king to protect all
Think well
before promising something
Matha
Pitha
Guru
Deivam
