Revere the Mother
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba in the following discourse stresses the gratitude one owes one’s parents. In particular, he draws on the example of His love for His mother Easwaramma, whose devotion to Baba allowed her to die in His presence. Baba urges all his devotees to live in constant remembrance of the Lord so as to merge with Him.
The mother is man’s first guru. She gives him the physical body. In addition, she gives man his father. She alone can point the father to the child, and draw his [the father’s] love and care towards the child. The mother bears, fosters, and moulds the child into a human being and, therefore, deserves the first and foremost gratitude. Next comes the father. Besides clothing and feeding you, he helps you to grow and then points out the guru, the preceptor. So, be grateful to the father.
The teacher sharpens your intellect, broadens your vision, endows you with discrimination, and helps you to attain higher levels of consciousness and wider horizons of love. Therefore, one has to offer gratitude to the guru as well. The mother leads you to the father, the father leads you to the guru, and the guru leads you to God. Today, we have mothers who place the children under the care of the father and many fathers who place children under the care of gurus, but few gurus lead the pupils to God. The parents promote the health and strength of the body; the guru reveals the resident, who is the inner reality in the body.
My life is my message. So, I am set-ting an example of reverence to the mother. Nature is the mother in whose lap mankind grows. And nature fondles the child and says, “Babu, that is your father; See.” Through mother, nature draws attention to God. But, the children seldom pay heed. How can they, who do not love the mother that fosters them with affection and zeal, adore the master of nature?
Swami has always been advising students thus: “Children! You have come here and gone through the course of studies successfully. Besides developing scholarship, you must live according to the wishes of your parents. You must earn great fame for their sake. You must maintain the honor they receive from people. You must please them and increase their happiness through your actions.”
Today is Easwaramma [Sri Sathya Sai’s mother] Day. The significance of the day is that it is celebrated as Children’s Day, a day when little children are to be reminded of the ideal [to honor parents and the Guru], and a day when she [Easwaramma] presented an ideal. No one can escape death, but the aim of everyone should be to remind oneself at the time of death of the divine or have some holy or sacred thoughts.
The importance of this day is known to many. Kasturi [the late official translator of Baba’s speeches and author of many books about Baba] also spoke about it now. There is a saying in Telugu: “The proof of the good is the way they die.” Genuine devotion is evidenced during the last moments. I shall point out a small incident concerning the goodness of Easwaramma.
The summer classes [for students] were in session at Bangalore [residence of Baba]. In the morning at 7 a.m., breakfast had to be served to the students. They [the students] went around the campus, doing nagarsankirtan [devotional singing carried on as a groups activity while going around a location] and returned at 6 a.m. I gave them darshan at the end. Then, I went for my bath.
Meanwhile, Easwaramma had finished her bath; she drank her coffee as usual quite happily, and took her seat on the inner verandah [of Baba’s residence]. All of a sudden, proceeding to the bath-room, she cried out, “Swami, Swami, Swami,” thrice. At this, I responded: “Coming; coming;” Within that period, she breathed her last. What greater sign of goodness is needed? She had no need to be served and nursed.
Swami will come to the memory at that time only for a very few. The mind will, usually, seek and stay on some object or the other, such as jewelry or valuables. From the ground floor, she called: “Swami! Swami!” I replied, “Coming; coming;” and she was gone. It was like the time when Gajendra, the elephant that was caught in the clutches of a crocodile, called out to the Lord, who responded instantaneously to bless it. It was like two [electrical] wires achieving connection, and, the release happening instantaneously.
This is the authentic consummation that life must strive for. Although Easwaramma had her daughter Venkamma and her granddaughter Shailaja by her side at that time, she called out only for Swami. Getting this yearning at the final moment is the fruit of holy purity. It is the sign of an ideal, adorable life. Such attitude must emerge of its own accord and not by means of some external force.
Here is another example to learn from. Once, there lived a very devoted man. He had four sons. In order that their names may help him to re-member the Lord, he had named them Govinda, Narayana, Krishna, and Rama. He thought that he could, on some pretext or other, have the Lord’s name on his tongue. To facilitate his plan, he started a factory and kept all of them busily employed there so that they could res-pond to his calling them by name.
When finally the day of this death arrived, he called Govinda; the son [named Govinda] came near, saying, “Father! I am here.” He called Narayana; “I am here father,” said Narayana and he too stood by his bed. He called Rama; Rama came to him and asked him what did he want to confide in him. Finally, he called Krishna: He [Krishna] too bent low and wished to know what message the father had for him. He said, “Don’t hesitate. Tell me what you want to say.” Seeing around him all the four sons, the dying man’s mind was seized with anxiety. He blurted out “All of you are here! Who is in the factory?” Those were his last words and that was his last thought.
When one is involved in the world, only worldly thoughts will emerge at the end. To those who yearn with full heart for the Lord at that time, the Lord will present Himself. So, one has to attach oneself to kith and kin and respect them so long as one is concerned with the world. One needs to humor them. But, one must offer unstinted love and loyalty all through one’s life to the Lord alone.
Source: Sanathana Sarathi, June 1983
