Sai message for the day

[Guest guest]

It is very true that we as parents must be blamed. You have pointed

out exactly where our mistakes lie. However, today we do not see

children respecting their parents. They do not follow instructions.

They are most ungrateful. Kindly tell us how children should conduct

themselves in the presence of their parents and how they should treat

them.

 

You know the Vedic injunctions, matr devo bhava, pitr devo bhava,

i.e., Mother is God and Father is God. One must follow these

injunctions. The Epics also cite many instances of this direction.

 

The culture of Bharat demands that everyone should respect, love and

serve his or her parents, and be very grateful because blood, head,

duddu (Tamil word for `money') and God are only parent's gifts. If

you neglect your parents, you will face the same situation at the

hands of your own children. As is the fruit you eat, so you belch. If

you eat cucumber, you don't belch the odour of a mango. If you sow a

mango seed, do you expect a neem tree to grow from it? As is the

seed, so is the tree. Everything comes back to you as reaction,

reflection, and resound. This is as sure as anything. You can never

escape the consequences. If you make your parents shed tears, your

children will pass on to you the same fate.

 

Here is a small story. There lived a man by name Gopichand who had

two sons. One day he was travelling in a train along with his wife.

He wrote a letter to his sons asking them to meet him and his wife at

the station. Both the sons came to the station accordingly. The

eldest one did namaskar, salutation, to both the parents and enquired

when they started, how the journey was, and if they wanted anything.

The second son, on the other hand, did not greet them at all. His

attitude to his father was rather arrogant. After some time,

Gopichand said to his wife, " See! How our elder son greeted us and

made enquiries, while the younger one did not! " His wife, then, said,

`Don't find fault with the second one like that. After all, he is

young. He will change as he grows older. Don't be angry with him. "

 

Years passed. What happened finally? The eldest son who did

prostration to his parents became a Judge in a court and was greeted

honourably by everybody in society. The second at them? How do you

expect them to be the recipients of God's love and mercy?

 

son got the job of a peon in the same court and had to receive

everyone and greet all and sundry with folded hands! This is the

difference. Those who respect their parents will be respected by all.

The one who doesn't will not be respected by anyone.

 

The same lesson is that taught in our epics. In the Mahabharata, at

the end of the battle of Kurukshetra, all the Kauravas died, and

Queen Gandhari, wife of the blind king, Dritarashtra started blaming

Krishna. She said, " Oh Krishna! You are very partial to the Pandavas.

Now that my sons have all died in battle are you happy? " then Krishna

said to her, " See, Gandhari! Did you ever see your sons with your own

eyes? (Gandhari blindfolded herself to be like her husband who was

born blind). Did they at any point of time pay heed to your words of

counsel? How do you expect them to be blessed by God when their own

mother never cast a glance

 

The same is the teaching of the Ramayana also. Kusa and Lava, the

twin brothers, could fight Lord Sri Ramachandra with all their valour

and might. Why and how? The reason is, Lava and Kusa enjoyed the

blessings of their mother Sita, and as a result, they could

heroically face Lord Sri Ramachandra, their father. That is the power

inherent in the blessings of parents.

 

Everyone must serve parents. You need their blessings all the time.

You know what your parents like, you know what to do to please them,

and you know that you have been with them since you were born. If you

can't please them, how do you expect to please God who you have never

seen, nor know what He wants you to do and what you ought to do?

Parents are divine.