Love Your Mother
Why is the relationship between mother and child so lasting? What is the responsibility of a child to his mother? Here’s what Swami says.
Motherhood is the most precious gift of God. Mothers are the makers of a nation’s fortune or misfortune, for they shape the sinews of its soul. Those sinews are toughened by two lessons. They should teach fear of sin, and fondness of virtue. Both of these are based on faith in God being the inner motivator of all. If you want to know how advanced a nation is, study the mothers; are they free from fear and anxiety; are they full of love towards all; are they trained in fortitude and virtue? If you like to imbibe the glory of a culture, watch the mothers, rocking the cradles, feeding, fostering, teaching and fondling the babies. As the mother, so the progress of the nation; as the mother, so the sweetness of the culture.
The mother and the father are the first examples in social behavior that the child sees before it and learns to imitate. They teach adoration of God and surrender to the Highest; they represent equanimity and love before the watchful and receptive eyes of the children. So they have to be inspired to take their share in the spiritual awakening. Tolerance and humanity have to be promoted in the rising generation through the promotion of spiritual discipline among the mothers. Everyone has a mother as the source of his life and body. So the mother has to be strong in mind and body, ripe in culture and character, sanctified by holy thoughts and steeped in love and dedication. Good mothers make a good nation. Mothers have to be repositories of detachment, discipline, and devotion.
Digest II, p. 220
The most important duty enjoined on man is to love and honor his mother. The principle of motherhood is intimately associated with God, who has created the entire universe, who has provided its sustenance, and who is granting man everything that he needs. Our perception of this principle must be broad and benign. If you consider your own mother as a goddess and do not perceive another’s likewise, it is indeed a great error. Also, we should realize that if we cannot have the good fortune of enjoying the love of our own mother, indeed we can never have the bounty of God’s love either. A mother who has carried that child in her womb for nine months, who has gone through all sorts of pains and troubles during the period for sustaining the child is entitled to be protected by you. One should never forget this important duty.
Digest II, p. 221
Establish the status of the mother in the home as the upholder of spiritual ideals and the guru of the children. Every mother must share in this effort the expansion and steady manifestation of God-consciousness latent in every child.
Digest II, p. 220
