7930 Arjons Drive, San Diego, CA 92126 Phone: (858) 549-3940 September 2013 Issue 9

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Balabhavan Coordinators

Latha Sundar

Lalitha Krishnamoorthy Hema Rangaswamy

Kumar Gowda balabhavancoordinator@yahoo.com

Class Coordinators

Super-Senior Class:

Krishna Meduri

balabhavansupersenior@gmail.com

Senior Class:

Radhika Chari

Pavani Balebail balabhavansenior@gmail.com

Junior Class:

Sushma Natarajan

Rajashri Balaji balabhavanjunior@gmail.com

Toddler Class:

Vanitha Santhamoorthy

Vandana Santhanam Uma Uralegaddi

balabhavantoddler@gmail.com

Registration coordinator:

Kumar Gowda

Newsletter Coordinator:

Krishna Meduri:

krishnameduri@yahoo.com

Festivals of the Month:

Please visit:

www.shiva-vishnu.org for

more details

VALLABHACHARYA

Vallabhacharya (1479 - 1531 CE) was a devotional philosopher who founded the Pushti sect in India. Vallabhacharya accepted the 'Acharya' designation of Vishnuswami Sampraday upon request by his predecessor. This was after Vallabhacharya won the famous debate of Brahmavada over Shankaras in the courtyard of the Emperor Krishna Deva Raya of Vijayanagara Empire. Apart from being acharya, Vallabhacharya also propagated the Pushtimárga upon god Krishna's order and thus became the acharya of Pushti Sampradaya also. He is the Acharya and Guru within the Vaishnava traditions as prescribed by the Vedanta philosophy.

Within Indian Philosophy, he is known as the writer of Anubhashya - a commentary on Brahm Sutra, Shodash Granth or sixteen 'stotras' (tracts) and several commentaries on the Bhagavata Purana, which describes the many lilas (pastimes) of the Avatar, Krishna. Vallabhaacharya occupies a unique place in Indian culture as a scholar, a philosopher and devotional (bhakti) preacher. He is widely considered as the last of the four great Vaishnava Acharyas who established the various Vaishnava schools of thought based on Vedantic philosophy, the other three (preceding him) being Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya and Nimbarkacharya. He is especially known as a lover and a propagator of Bhagavata Dharma. He was born in Champaranya in India.

-Shravanthi Bala

BBC Announcements:

Welcome back, Bala Bhavan Families! Classes started for Toddlers/Super Seniors, and we celebrated Vinayaka Chathurthi on the 8th! Sept 14 – Bala Bhavan Classes start for Juniors, Seniors PHOTOS!!!!: BB Summer Camps 2013 (pg 3) and BB Annual Field Trip, Sept 1 (pg4) PARENT VOLUNTEERS: Please come well-prepared for your shloka/bhajan/story-telling assignments. Please contact your Class & BB Coordinator Team IMMEDIATELY if you need help preparing for your assignment.

IMPORTANT-

ATTENDANCE POLICY: Beyond 2 absences per semester with or without excuse, students stand to lose their seat in Bala Bhavan.

BBC Team

∂Ω∂ September Birthdays

Toddlers:

Shriya Sankaran

Yajushi Hulgundi

Juniors

Shreya Gopala

Shreya Palakodety

Super Seniors:

Keerti Tadimeti

Srikanth Kalluri

BALABHAVAN NEWSLETTER VEDIC CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL CENTER OF SAN DIEGO

September 2013

7930 Arjons Drive, San Diego, CA 92126 Phone: (858) 549-3940

Sept 2013 Issue 9 2

Editors Corner

I know my Mahabharata! …at least, I think I do.

Answer some questions about the Mahabharata…..if you can. If you know your stories inside and out, this should be easy! 1. Take the name of the place where the war between the Pandavas and Kauravas took place, subtract out all vowels, move the last letter to the front, subtract the 2nd ,3rd , and last letters, add ‘a’ in between the 1st and 2nd letters, and to the end, and copy the last three letters again to the end.

2. Who played a game of tag with Arjuna and ended up driving Brihannala’s chariot against the Kaurava army? 3. What was the method used by Drona to pick up the ball that fell into the well when the Pandavas and Kauravas weren’t even tall enough to ride chariots?

1. Rakshasha 2. Uttara 3. Arrows, arrows, and more

arrows…or maybe just a few

SRI CHAITANYA MAHAPRABHU

He was born on February 18th 1486, when the moon was eclipsed. His father Jagannath Misra was a poor brahmin and his mother Sachi Devi was a kind lady. His grandfather, Pandit Nilambar Chakravarati, an astrologer, predicted that he would be a great figure and named him Visvambhar. The women of the village called him Gaur Hari. His mother called him Nimai. When Chaitanya was five, he started attending school where he learned Bengali. One day his mother gave him sweetmeats to eat, he ate clay instead. When his mother questioned him about why he did this, he said, mother, “These sweetmeats are nothing but clay transferred, so I can eat clay as well.” When he was 8, he learned Sanskrit from Gangadas Pandit. His father died soon. His mother was very unhappy until her son consoled her. At the age of 14 or 15, he was married to Lakshmi Devi, the daughter of Vallabha Acharya and Nadia. The wife died shortly afterwards because of snakebite. Then he married Vishnupriya, daughter of Pandit Sanatan Misra. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is a very dear Krishna devotee. All through his life he loved Sri Krishna. When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu grew up he spread Sri Krishna consciousness. He has showed love of God to the highest degree, and taught chanting the holy names of Krishna is the way to attain the love of god. -Pranavi Maddipatla

Newsletter Editors

Keshav Tadimeti

Sankaran Ramanarayanan

Topics of the Month

Pranavi Maddipatla

Shravanthi Bala

Are you smarter than a PUNDIT?

Test your ability to match wits with the greatest of Indian rishis in a four question mind-boggling quiz about the VEDAS and ASTROLOGY…

1) What is the Veda that is known to lay the basics for music?

a. Rig b. Sama c. Atharva d. Yajur

2) How long will Kali Yuga

Last? a. 427000 years b. 127000 years c. Not long…

3) The life of Brahma lasts…

a. 111 x 1012 years b. 211 x 1012 years c. 311 x 1012 years d. 411 x 1012 years

4) The shortest Vedic time

period is called the … a. Kshana b. Truti c. Nimesa

_________________________ Answers 1 b 2 a 3 c 4 b

BALABHAVAN NEWSLETTER VEDIC CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL CENTER OF SAN DIEGO

September 2013

7930 Arjons Drive, San Diego, CA 92126 Phone: (858) 549-3940 Sept 2013 Issue 9

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Balabhavan Summer Camps 2013

BALABHAVAN NEWSLETTER VEDIC CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL CENTER OF SAN DIEGO

September 2013

Budding Mrdangists learn with rapt attention all about the basics of Rhythm in Shri Raam

Kumar’s Mrdangam Camp

Ardent young artists guided by Smt. Rama Srinivas, proudly display their creations in the Vedic Art Camp

Students in Sriram Srinivasan & Kodandapani Ramadurgam’s Vedic Math camp work their way through a difficult geometry problem

with the help of their mentor and colleagues.

Shri Ram Krishnamurthy’s “Vedic Science” camp discusses the subtle relationships between Dharmic philosophy and modern scientific theories.

The Vedic Culinary Camp Expert Chefs serve up a sumptuous, yummy, yet incredibly

healthy meal fit for a King!!

Smt. Seetha Janakiraman’s Vedic Cooks!

7930 Arjons Drive, San Diego, CA 92126 Phone: (858) 549-3940 Sept 2013 Issue 9

BALA BHAVAN ANNUAL FIELD TRIP - SIKH GURDWARA, Sept 1, 2013