Where there is Vasudev….there is Victory!

yatra yogesvarah krsno
yatra partho dhanur-dharah
tatra srir vijayo bhrutir
dhruva nitir matir mama|

"Wherever there is Krishna, the master of all mystics, and wherever there is Arjun, the supreme archer with the willingness to fight, there will also certainly be magnificence, victory, extraordinary power, and morality.”

In this fast pacing 21st century world which is chiefly swayed by association of man and machine, the epic like Mahabharat and its teachings seem utopian… But for the students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir the message of this historical epic comes more relevant and attainable. Recently Sundaram House celebrated Janmashtami week by elucidating the wisdom and teachings of Mahabharat to all the students. Sundaram House celebrated this week by putting forth the characters and happenings of Mahabharat through speeches, videos and various performances based on this great epic.

 

On Monday the students were introduced to this great Epic and explained about the early childhood and education of Pandavs and Kouravs by Guru Dronacharya. How the seed of war seeped in and how Krishna became the shanti doot ….answers of these questions were explained on Tuesday. It was followed by a simple explanation of Geeta Saar on Wednesday, it was well explicated that when Arjun denies for war saying if he wins the battle of Mahabharat, he would lose his loved ones, so with whom would he share the victory and if he loses then also the kingdom will go in wrong hands so he expresses his doubt, then Lord Krishna explains it is in our hands to perform Karma without worrying about the result as that is not in our hands, it is taken care of by God. We should simply perform our duties sincerely but not out of greed for the outcome.

Moreover, on Thursday and Friday, students were introduced to Bhishma and Karna. Students were also well informed about Krishna’s advice to keep a balance in all our activities and maintain emotional stability. In addition to this, there was a grand creative assembly on Saturday, in which the most relevant essence of Mahabharat was conveyed through a drama performance by students of Sundaram House: "मांगे तो क्या मांगे प्रभु से ".

The character portrayal of Krishna, Arjun, Duryodhan, Jaydrath, Shakuni and Dushasan in the drama brings home the message that intellect and knowledge are always outshined by faith and devotion to God. In today’s world, we are like Arjun in our daily war with our senses and mind, which try to pull us away from our goal and in order to emerge as a winner in this war with negative forces; we need to have Krishna by our side, the charioteer who guides us to the right path. The key message of this creative assembly was that we can ascertain our victory if we ask just for God Himself by our side, in all our endeavours. The best part of this creative assembly was a gentle reminder of the beautiful fact that we all AVM members (like Arjun) are fortunate enough to have Swamiji (who is our Krishna) in our life, His constant visits to the campus clear all clouds of doubt…. enlightening us to follow the right path.