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From The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 1, verses 40
Arjuna said:
In the destruction of a family, the immemorial religious
rites of that family perish;
On the destruction of spirituality, impiety overcomes
the whole family.
Mother
From the Mahabharata
Santi Parva: Mokshadharma Parva
Section CCLXVI
Translated by Sri Kisari Mohan Ganguli
Bhishma said:
The mother is the panacea for all kinds of calamities.
The existence of the mother invests one with protection;
the reverse deprives one of all protection. The man who,
though divested of prosperity enters his house, uttering
the words, "O mother!"- has not to indulge in grief. Nor
does decrepitude ever assail him. A person whose mother
exists, even if he happens to be possessed of sons and
grandsons and even he himself is hundred years old, but
in the eyes of his mother he looks like a child of two
years of age. Whether the mother is able or disabled,
lean or robust, the son is always protected by the
mother. None else, according to the ordinance, is the
son’s protector. Then does the son become old, then does
he become stricken with grief,then does the world look
empty in his eyes, when he becomes deprived of his
mother. There is no shelter like the mother. There is no
refuge like the mother. There is no defense like the
mother. There is no one so dear as the mother. For
having borne him in her womb the mother is the son’s
dhatri. For having been the chief cause of his birth,
she is his janani. For having nursed his young limbs,
she is called amva (Amma). For nursing and looking after
the son she is called sura. The mother is one’s own
body.
There is no mode of life that is superior to serving
one’s mother.
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Motherhood
In both men and women, especially in women, there is a
deep desire to reproduce their kind. This is not a
product of social conditioning. The satisfactions and
creative opportunities are well known. A woman bears the
suffering caused by the pains of labour, but she forgets
them in the joy of creation. She is essentially not the
object of man’s lust, but is the mother, the maker, the
leader. It is the privilege of a mother to bring up her
children, to help them to develop their distinctive
gifts, physical and mental, ethical and spiritual.
Matru-devo bhava- treat your mother as a goddess- is the
injunction of the scriptures. Marriage without
motherhood is incomplete.
Weakening of the union of marriage and consequently
weakening of the family ties should be cause for
widespread concern. A successful marriage requires
personal adjustments. They are possible when we accept
and practise proper ethical and religious standards.
Women are the great conservators of our culture. They
adhere to the household ritual, cradle song and popular
poetry. A definite philosophy of life is bound up with
these. By the very quality of their being, women are the
missionaries of civilization. With their immense
capacity for self-sacrifice they are the unquestioned
leaders in Ahimsa.
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Wifehood versus Motherhood
By Swami Ranganathananda
Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Belur Math
It is in this sphere that Indian thought, with its
spiritual view of life, has much to contribute to steady
the feet of men and women in East and the West.
Motherhood is a spiritual transformation of wifehood.
The wife may and does demand and take; but the mother
feels it her privilege to give. If woman as wife is
socially significant, woman as mother is spiritually
glorious. The culture of the Hindu trains him to look
upon all women as forms of the one Divine Mother. The
mother is more worthy of reverence than father or
teacher according to our scriptures.
Says the manu Smriti (ii. 45):
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Woman’s place is in the home
The eternal fidelity of a Hindu woman to her husband
makes her an ideal of the feminine world. It makes her
sublime. This lofty virtue of fidelity runs deep in the
heart of every Hindu woman of India, superior to any of
the other countries in national integrity and honour.
The inspiring force of the home is the woman. The home
is the origin and beginning of every form of social
organisation. It is the nursery of the nation. It is the
sweet place wherein children are trained for future
citizenship. The woman illumines the home through the
glory of motherhood. Man is incapable of doing the
domestic duties incident upon the rearing of children.
Good habits, right conduct and formation of good
character are created in children spontaneously in a
well regulated home under the personal influence of the
mother. The loving kindness and the cultured gentleness
of the mother help
the children to unfold their native talents and dormant
capacities quickly. Children absorb ideas by suggestion
and imitation. Early training and impressions formed at
early age are lasting. The mother at home can do the
formation of character very efficiently. Therefore, home
is the most beautiful training ground for the building
of character in children under the personal guidance of
the mother.
Woman is the backbone or bedrock to sustain religion and
national strength, peace and prosperity. Manu declares:
"The woman who always does good, who is efficient in
work, sweet in speech, devoted to her duty and service
of her husband, is really no human being but a goddess."
If the mother trains her children on the right lines
from the early age, she is rendering great service
indeed to the nation and national culture. Women have
good and ample opportunities of improving national
health and increasing prosperity. It is they who really
build the nation. They can utilise their talents and
abilities in making the home a cradle of culture,
character, personal ability and religious revival. It is
therefore wrong to say that their lives are cramped and
stunted by attending to the duties at home, and that no
scope is given for their evolution and freedom. This is
a sad mistake indeed.
The life of a woman is as noble and serious as that of a
man. There is no doubt about this.
It is the women who keep up the life and happiness of
the home through their smiles, tender affection, sweet
speech, grace, angelic presence and charming
personalities. The home will be a real void without
them. It will lose its peculiar charm and beauty without
their presence.
Women are the mothers of the home. The extraordinary
ability, intellectual attainments and magnetic
personalities of modern women are standing monuments of
their undoubted equality with men. The personal
influence of women at home is essential to unify the
various interests of the family. It is women alone who
can rear or nurse children. Hindu wives are queens of
their own homes. The husbands should treat their wives
with intense love and respect. They should be regarded
as equals in all respects and held in the light of
partners in life.
If a man earns and the wife stays at home, it does not
mean that the woman is a parasite and a slave. She is
indeed the builder of the nation. Verily, women exercise
an authority over their husbands through their love,
tenderness, affection, grace, beauty, selfless service,
fidelity, purity and self-abnegation.
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