Raising Krishna Conscious Kids

Raising Krishna Conscious Kids

What a challenge, huh? Raising Krishna Conscious children has tested many. From observation of many devotee parents raising kids, I have come to see that being too extreme does not work if you want to raise balanced, Krishna Conscious children.

There is a famous saying, about tuning a musical instrument. It goes something like this: “If the string is not tight enough, it will not play. If you tighten it too much, it will snap.”

This can be analogous to many things in life, including raising children.

One nice way to raise children with Krishna, in a way they will appreciate, is to read Krishna Conscious story books with them, or even watch Krishna Conscious movies with them.


Krishna Conscious Videos

There are many Krishna Conscious videos suitable for kids. Some of these movies are actually really nice to watch, even for adults.

Little Krishna

One nice set of DVDs is the Little Krishna DVDs. It is a high-budget production made by Big Animation / Reliance, in connection with devotees at ISKCON Bangalore. It is a very well-done animation, with loveable characters (of course!). From the mischievous Krishna stealing butter with  his friends and the monkeys, to epic battle scenes with Krishna delivering justice to demons in self-defense, there are many cool scenes from the sweet to the awesome, from the fun to the funny, from the tear-jerking to the breathtaking.

Animated Ramayana – Warrior Prince

The Animated Ramayana is a classic. Many second generation devotees recall watching this movie many times, over and over again, as they grew up.

It is a $12 million dollar project. The animation style is a fusion style, consisting of 3 different schools of animation: Manga from Japan, Disney from the USA and Ravi Varma from India. The Warrior Prince is directed and conceived by Japanese master filmmaker Yugo Sako.

It is a pretty action packed movie, with many battle scenes.

Krishna Conscious Books for Children

There are many Krishna Conscious Story Books for children available. Here’s a couple for example:


Damodara – Glorified for Stealing Butter

This 31-page story book for children has lots of pictures and big text. It is the story of Damodara. Krishna’s is named Damodara for his pastimes of stealing butter and being caught by Mother Yasoda, who tied Krishna up with a rope around his belly. This is a beautiful story that shows the love between mother and son, and Krishna and his devotees.

Dhruva – the Star Devotee

This is the story of Dhruva. Dhruva is a prime example of a Vaishnava. From hearing about him, one can learn much about what it means to be a devotee of Krishna or Vishnu.

These are just some examples of fun ways to introduce your child to Krishna. Reading these stories and watching the videos can be an endearing experience.

INCREDIBLE - Ghadotkach Skeleton Found in India

Bhima's son Ghadotkach-like skeleton found in india.

Ghatotkach is a character in the Mahābhārata epic and the son of Bhima and the giantess Hidimbi (Hidimbaa, classically). His maternal parentage made him half-Rakshasa (giant), and gave him many magical powers that made him an important fighter in theKurukshetra war, the climax of the epic. He got his name from his head, which was hairless and shaped like a pot (in Sanskrit, Ghatammeans pot and "Utkach" means hairless "
Recently a human skeleton of phenomenal size has been discovered during exploration activity somewhere in Northern India.

Exploration activity was taken up by an International Research Organisation with the help of Indian army. The exact place of discovery has not been disclosed yet due to security purpose. But the reports coming indicate of desert area.

Sands and sediments are known to be a good host as preservative of such types of remains.
Seeing the conditions of the less damaged weathered bones it can be inferred that the man either died or buried in the sand near the stream or in a stream bed which may have flowed from the area in the geological past and soon become buried in the sediments or it may be recent.

According to the article published by G. Subramanium in Hindu Voice, the exploration team also found tablets with inscriptions that stated that our God of Indian mythological yore, "Brahma" had created people of phenomenal size the like of which He has not created since. They were very tall, big and very powerful, such that they could put their arms around a tree trunk and uproot it. They were created to bring order among us since we were always fighting with each other. Later these people who were given all the power, turned against all our Gods and transgressed beyond all boundaries set. As a result they were destroyed by God Shiva. The Exploration teambelieves these to be the remains of those people.

This mammoth skeleton reminds us about the Bhima and Hindimba son Ghatotkach of Mahabarata and the found skeleton might have been carrying the genes of those people.
In different ancient texts of Hindu religion mans of enormous size has been mentioned several times in the form of stories. But due to the lack of geological or archaeological evidences such types of stories are always misunderstood.
Lots of stories have been reported from different parts of the world regarding seeing enormous man either in the form of Bigfoot or Himalayan Yeti.
In Hindu religion there is saying that in one of the earliest era (Satyug) of the human civilization the general height of the humans were 22 feet.

Earlier there have been sightings of exceptionally tall creatures with enormous feet (hence the name Bigfoot)and thick covering of hair on their bodies in remote areas of the United States and Canada- in the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachians-from the earliest times onward. Bigfoot is up to 8 feet (2.5 m) tall, stands upright, and is covered in thick reddish-brown hair.

The Himalayan Yeti is another classic cryptid. This world famous creature has actually not been sighted very often. Mostly people find its tracks, which range widely in size between 6 and 18 inches (15-45 cm ) long ( Mysteries of the World by Herbert Genzmer and Ulrich Hellenbrand.

Yet accounts of sightings of this mysterious creature continue right up to the present.
Only by the size of the huge skeleton (not reported earlier) it not easy to jump to any conclusion about relating to any ancient human beings or classifying it to any group. But seeing the size of the skeleton found in northern India risk can be taken it to consider it as extinct GIGANTOPITHECUS.

According to the different research report Gigantopithecus an enormous primate thought to have inhabited southern China and northern India between 12 million and 500,000 years ago. It was described in 1935 on the basis of individual teeth from a Chinese apothecary. Since 1956, four large fossil jawbones have been identified. Based on fossil evidence, paleontologists speculate that Gigantopithecus had an adult standing height of over three meters (ten feet) and a weight of 550 Kg
(1200 lb).

Although it is not known why Gigantopithecus died out, researchers believe that climate and resource competition with better adapted species were the main culprits.

The fossils of prehuman and ancestral human forms are obtained from widely diverse regions of Africa, Asia and Europe which indicates that man’s centre of origin was probably in Asia and Africa. More precisely man has originated in Central Asia, because the oldest known fossils have been obtained from Asia- China, Java and India(Siwalik Hills).

Regarding the present skeleton found in India detail report is still awaited. It may be a missing link or connecting link between ancient man and modern man share.

THE RAMAYANA: World's Most Loved Epic

The Ramayana is undoubtedly the most popular and timeless Indian epic read and loved by all. The term 'Ramayana', literally means "the march (ayana) of Rama" in search of human values. As a literary work, it combines "the inner bliss of Vedic literature with the outer richness of delightfully profound story telling."
This story of Shri Rama by the great sage Valmiki is referred to as the Adi Kavya or original epic. About the Valmiki Ramayana, Swami Vivekananda has said: "No language can be purer, none chaster, none more beautiful, and at the same time simpler, than the language in which the great poet has depicted the life of Rama."

About the Poet

Universally acclaimed and accepted as the first among Sanskrit poets, Valmiki was the first to discover a metrical expression of epic dimension and vision to match the emotional ecstasy of the story of Rama. According to a legend, Valmiki was a robber who one day met a hermit who transformed him to a virtuous being. Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom was believed to have assured the sage to stand by his side and guide him to visualize the events of Ramayana, and eulogize them with epic dignity and secular simplicity.

The Seven 'Kandas' or Sections:

The epic poem is composed of rhyming couplets called 'slokas', in high Sanskrit, employing a complex meter called 'anustup'. These verses are grouped into individual chapters or cantos called 'sargas', wherein a specific event or intent is told. The 'sargas' are again grouped into books called 'kandas'. The seven 'kandas' of Ramayana are: Bal Kanda, the boyhood section; Ayodhya Kanda, Rama's life in Ayodhya, until his banishment; Aranya Kanda, Rama's life in the forest and Sita's abduction by Ravana; Kishkindha Kanda, Rama's stay at Kishkindha, the capital of his monkey ally, Sugriva; Sundara Kanda, Rama's passage to Sri Lanka; Yuddha Kanda or Lanka Kanda, Rama's battle with Ravana, the recovery of Sita, and return to Ayodhya; and Uttara Kanda, the section narrating Rama's life in Ayodhya as king, the birth of his two sons, Sita's test of innocence and return to her mother, and Rama's demise or 'jala samadhi' (water-tomb).

Time of Composition

There was a long period of oral tradition before the Ramayana was actually written, and the original strand of the story drew upon various pre-existing folk tales about Rama. Like many other classical poems written in ancient times, the exact date and time of the genesis of Ramayana is yet to be determined accurately. The reference to the Greeks, Parthians, and Sakas shows that the time of composition of Ramayana cannot be earlier than the second century BC. But the consensus is that Ramayana was written between the 4th and the 2nd centuries BC with augmentations up to about 300 CE. Linguistically and philosophically, a period just after the Vedic age, would most suit the content of the epic.

The Ramayana is a smaller work than the Mahabharata, having about 24, 000 couplets.

The fortunes of Rama, the seventh incarnation of Vishnu, form the main theme of the epic. The prince who was virtuous, brave and kind was the eldest son of king Dasharath who, as he grew old, decided to crown Rama as king and then retire. On the eve of the coronation, Kaikeye, the youngest wife of Dasharatha, though manipulation extracted a promise from him to get her son Bharata installed as the king and. exile Rama, his wife Sita, and half brother Lakshman to the jungles of the Deccan.

Bharata, who was away when this was happening was full of remorse and a followed Rama to the jungles and offered his kingdom back to him. This meeting of the brothers is described with much, pathos and tenderness. But Ratna would not cause the promise given by his father to be broken and sent his brother back to rule as his regent.

From this point the real saga begins. Ravana, the demon king of Lanka (Ceylon) came to hear about the beauty of Sita and abducted her, carrying her away in his aerial chariot, Pushpak. Rama and Lakshmana were out at that time and on returning, set out on a search for Sita. After long wanderings in the forests’ they found out her whereabouts with the help of wild bears and monkey tribes that inhabited the hills. Under Rama’s leadership, an army of monkeys was raised who built a bridge across the gulf between the rnainlafl(l and Lanka,. and stormed Lanka. After many bloody battles, the ten-headed Ravana was killed and Sita reclaimed. After the exile Rama returned to Ayodhya with many of the monkey chiefs. Of them, Hanuman was considered the most loyal and brave and is worshipped at present by the Hindus as a god.

THE GREAT TRUE Epic '' Mahabharata ''

The epic Mahabharata depicts Indo-Aryan society at the zenith of its glory and is a work of great antiquity. In its present form it is said to have been compiled around the 4th century A.D. The Mahabharata is supposed to have one hundred thousand verses in Sanskrit language, composed by the sage Veda Vyas.

The story centres upon two brothers, Dhuitarashtra and Pandu. Dhritarashtra was blind, therefore unfit to rule, but was the regent for Pandu’s sons (the Pandavas) after his death. But Duryodhana, eldest of Dhritarashtra’s hundred Sons (the Kauravas) was jealous and could not see how the Pandavas were to be the heirs when his father was the elder brother. Court intrigues started and the Pandavas had to go into exile where they formed secret allianes with many powerful kings including Krishna,Visbnu’s incarnation, the king of Dwaraka. When they felt strong enough, they demanded their kingdom back. Duryodhana wanted to wage a war but the court elders prevailed upon Dhritaraslura to divide the kingdom equally between the two groups. The Kauravas got Hastinapur as their capital and the Pandavas got Indraprastha (present greater Delhi).

The Kauravas again became jealous and there were many petty quarrels culminating in the famous dice game in which the Pandavas lost everything, including their wife Draupadi. The Pandavas also had to bear the shame of the Kauravas wanting their wife to be stripped in public. They bad to go into exile for twelve years during which there were many unsuccessful attempts to kill them. After the term of exile was over, the Pandava brothers demanded their kingdom back and on the refusal of the Kauravas, a full-scale war was fought for eighteen days on the fields of Kurukshetra (near Delhi). In the battle thousands of combatants died, the only survivors being the Pandavas. They got disillusioned with all the bloodshed that had taken place and, after installing their grandson Parikshit on the throne, started on a long and perilous journey towards the heaven of god Indra, beyond the great Himalayas.


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