Children's Corner

One who can control his mind will be the best among all

Dronacharya, a master in artillery about 5,000 years ago, used to guide all his students fairly. He taught them many skills including archery. One of his students, Arjun, was most interested in archery and learnt it with more sincerity than any other. Naturally, Arjun became the master's favourite, which made the rest of the students jealous of him. They started disliking and teasing Arjun. Due to their jealousy, they started losing interest in studies, while their hatred for Arjun continued to increase.

Dronacharya tried to convince his students indirectly, “A master never differentiates between his students. Students who acquire knowledge and concentrate on their studies definitely succeed. In archery, concentration of the mind is of utmost importance. One who can control his mind, will be the best among all.” Sadly, no one except Arjun paid any attention to the master's words. Arjun was the only student who tried to implement whatever the master told him.

Dronacharya, noticing the lack of attention in the rest of the students, decided to teach everyone through a practical example. He brought them to a garden and pointed to a beautiful bird perched on a tree branch high up. He asked each of his students to aim at the eye of the bird. As the students took turns to shoot the bird's eye, Dronacharya asked each one, “What do you see?” Some replied, “I can see everything, the tree, the beautiful surroundings, the bird, etc.,” while others answered similarly, “I see the body of the bird, its pretty feathers, the greenery around, etc.” When it was Arjun's turn to shoot, the master asked, “What do you see?” and Arjun replied, “I can only see the eye of the bird!” The master was pleased with his answer. Arjun, who would not see anything beyond his target and thus could not be distracted, went on to become the greatest archer of his time.

Moral: Dear children, if we concentrate on our spiritual practice, such as chanting* and praying regularly, just as Arjun concentrated only on the eye of the bird, the ultimate goal of finding God will not be difficult.

Spiritual experience of a child seeker

Losing fear of the darks and sleeping soundly due to chanting

One night, I watched a very scary show on TV before going to bed. I was so scared that I could not sleep in the dark bedroom for many hours afterwards. At about 3:00 a.m. I started chanting the Lord's Name. Shortly afterwards, I lost fear of the dark and fell sound asleep.

– Miss Bharati Kadam, Bombay, India.

[Dear Friends, one of the best solutions for nightmares in children is chanting God’s Name, as demonstrated by the above experience. Not only does The Lord’s Name provide distraction from scary thoughts, but it also provides a protective sheath around the child, thus reducing and preventing any distress.

-Editor.]

* Chanting means constantly remembering or repeating God’s Name according to one’s religion. Additionally, the below can be followed for children:

Young children should chant 'Om Gan Ganapataye namaha' (Lord Ganesh's chant) for at least 15-30 minutes daily for divine protection, as well as 3 malas (turns of the 108-bead rosary) of “Om Sri Gurudev Datta”, everyday for divine protection.
Older children, who have been doing spiritual practice for some time, can determine their exact chant from the experiment in 124, Message to Seekers section in addition to 6-9 malas of Lord Datta’s Name (“Om Sri Gurudev Datta”) (depending upon severity of distress and age) everyday.
Parents should chant The Lord's Name for children too young to do so themselves.