Exciting Children’s Retreat with Upadhyaya Shri Yashaji and Sadhvi Shri Rohiniji

To celebrate the auspicious occasion of Mahavir’s Janma Vanchan day (Birth Day), Shri Chandana Vidyapeeth Nairobi was blessed to host a mini children’s retreat in the presence of Upadhyaya Shri Yashaji and Sadhvi Shri Rohiniji.

Traditionally the Kalpasutra (life of Tirthankar Mahavir and other Tirthankars) is read during this 8-day festival and the 5thday is when the birth celebrations are read. Hence, the reason for the 5th day being marked as Mahavir’s Janma Vanchan day

Children participated actively in the retreat in many ways:

• Acknowledging the importance of Paryushan as the festival of forgiveness and compassion towards all living beings, one group of students spoke about forgiveness through reciting and explaining the story of Tirthankar Mahavir's encounter with the angry, venomous snake, Chandkaushik.
• The importance of relationships between two people was beautifully demonstrated to all by another group of students through the story of the relationship between chief disciple Guru Gautam Swami and Bhagwan Mahavir.
• A group of older children spoke about how Jain festivals are different from those of other faiths and what they especially like about the festival of Paryushan.
• The final group went deeper into the Jain philosophy by presenting on how the 3 pillars of Jainism – Ahimsa (non-violence), Aparigraha (non-possessiveness) and Anekantvada (multitude of viewpoints) – has positively impacted their lives and why Tirthankar Mahavir advocated the 5 main vows every Jain ought to practice in accordance with each individual's capability.

The respected Sadhvijis then spoke to the children about the life of Tirthankar Mahavir and what each one of us should learn from it - to be a better person, a humane being and a well-rounded citizen of the world.

The morning ended with a celebration of the birth of Tirthankar Mahavir and, of course, there was a huge and wonderful cake to recognise this auspicious event. In a true spirit of generosity, the SCVP children chose to share the cake with the staff at Oshwal Centre Nairobi, which the staff appreciated.

The Sadhvijis blessed all the children for a bright future and extended blessings and words of encouragement for all the children present who were fasting.