The Living GOD on earth - Our Own Parents!

The Living GOD on earth - 

Namaste my dear brothers and sisters. 

Again I am writing my heart out about the " Living Gods on earth"  - yes!!! you hear it right the living Gods. I know it is very hard to accept and understand what I am saying for many of us.

If I am in search of GOD , first I have to look into my very own home not in Mandir or Temple. Where we will find our parents - who have taken care of us with great compassion, love, kindness, forgiveness and sufferings. They sacrificed their whole life to make us stand on our own feet and be happy and successful. The pain and sufferings they went through in the process is priceless, every human being will always be indebted to our parents, no matter how successful we are or how rich we are, we will never be able to pay it back in anyway, it will be misadventure for us to even think to pay it.We are not at all worthy to pay what they have scarified in their life for us. So it is our priority and utmost duty as Son/Daughter to take care of them in every possible way when they are old and they are in any need. 

GOD has given everyone of us the wisdom to understand  the value of love and care we get from our parents. Though we do mistake - we agitate against them, misbehave with them, do not take care of them when they are old. After all these they forgive us, embrace us with love and kindness , our parents become happier than us in our success, they feel more pain when we are hurt, sad,struggling. 

This is the form of GOD we see everyday in our life, only GOD can have this compassion and kindness, and on earth we see that only in our parents. 

In Hinduism we have a great value for our parents. Many of our Hindu Scriptures and Religious book has more in depth description about parents. 

It has mentioned in many Hindu literature that our parents are " Deva Tullya" - Same as GOD. 

In the scripture entitled Taittiriya Upaniṣad, it is said that when the students are graduating from their college, their teacher gives them the following parting message:

“May you be one for whom his mother is a Deva. May you be one for whom his father is a Deva. May you be one for whom a guest is a Deva. May you be one for whom his teacher is a Deva.”

The idea is that we should respect, serve and worship our parents, guests as well as our teachers even before we worship Bhagavān. 

This is a very unique teaching of our tradition. The western religions always place God before parents. Note that in our tradition, the mother is listed first, because she is the most respectable of all, more than even the father.

Our parents give birth to us, endure great pains to raise us, educate us and get us successful in our lives. We are always indebted to their love and efforts that we become great in our lives. 

Even when we have our own children, our parents then play an important role in giving good values to our children as well. And when our parents are old and cannot take care of themselves, it is our duty to pay back their love, effort and blessings by serving them and honoring them in every way possible, even at the cost of our great personal sacrifice. 

The story of  Sravaṇakumara below describes it in a better way -

Long, long ago, there lived a boy named Sravaṇakumara. His parents were very old and blind. Sravaṇakumara was a very devoted son and loved his parents a lot. Once, they expressed their desire to go on a pilgrimage to holy places. But, being very poor, they could not afford to travel on a cart driven by bullocks or on a chariot driven by horses. How could the little boy fulfill the wishes of his parents?

Guess what! Sravaṇa was so intelligent and caring that he made them sit on two baskets and tied them to the ends of a stick. He then carried them on his shoulder and walked on foot towards Kashi – a holy place. He believed that duty towards his parents was of utmost importance.

As it was already late in the night, the King was hiding on a tree at the bank of a river and waiting to hear the sound of an animal so that he could take aim and shoot. Soon, Sravaṇa happened to come to that same river bank to fill his jug with water. As he immersed the jug into the river water, King Dasharath heard the bubbling sound and immediately fired an arrow in that direction of the sound, thinking that it was a deer.  One day, when they were crossing a thick forest, the old parents felt thirsty. So they said – “Dear Sravaṇa, we are very thirsty. Please go and see if you could get some water for us.” On hearing this, the young boy went looking for water in the forest. At the same time, King Dasharath was passing through the forest for hunting animals. He was so skilled in shooting arrows with his bow that he could hit his target with arrows just by hearing the animal’s sound.

Yes, King Dasharath’s arrow hit Sravaṇa Kumar. Immediately, the injured Sravaṇa screamed in extreme pain. Realizing that he had hit a human and not a deer, King Dasharath rushed to the river bank. He saw that his arrow had pierced the heart of poor Sravaṇa.

Even though Sravaṇa Kumar was in great pain, he only thought of his blind parents who were thirsty for water. He said to King Dasharath – “I had come to fetch some water for my blind parents but I have not been able to fulfill their wishes. I am not angry with you for killing me, because it was just my bad luck. But please do take this jug of water because they are thirsty and are waiting for me to bring them some water.” Speaking these words, Sravaṇa Kumar breathed his last.

Sankaracharya Changes the Course of River for his Mother -

In the late 7th century CE lived a young boy Sankaracharya with his widowed mother in the village of Kaladi in the Indian state of Kerala. One day, his mother fell ill and she was no longer able to walk from a hut to bath in the river that flowed at a distance.

The little boy Sankaracharya got together his friends and dug a channel from the river that flowed right past his home. Now his mother just had to walk out of their home for a dip. This channel dug by Sankaracharya still exists to today. 

After sometime, Sankaracharya wanted to become a Sadhu in pursuit of spiritual knowledge. His mother was very worried at that because he was her only support. However, Sankaracharya made sure that his relatives would provide for his aged mother. He also promised to her that he would return to see her whenever she needed him. 

Many years later, when Sankaracharya had become a very learned and a famous saint, he felt that his mother needed him. By his yogic powers, he flew back to his home where his mother was waiting for him before she breathed her last. By his spiritual powers, he had her get a darsana of Visṇu and Siva. When she passed away, he prepared for her cremation.

According to tradition, a Sadhu is not allowed to cremate his parents, because he has technically ended all his relations with everyone. So, Sankaracharya prayed and by a miracle, the wooden pyre with his mother’s body lit on its own. Those who had gathered around to criticize Sankaracharya saw the miracle and felt ashamed at their own harshness. They asked the saint for forgiveness and he obliged.

From these two stories we all understand the value of our parents. In Hinduism for thousands of years these values has been taught, inculcated , flourished and nourished .

It is shameful to see people now a days sending their parents to old age home, not taking care of them, abusing them. DO OUR PARENTS DESERVE IT FROM US?

DO you think you should go to temple and worship and search GOD without pleasing the GOD at our own home. Close your eyes Ask yourself the question ? 

Hope you found the answer. 

Will Continue writing on my Journey Through Hinduism....

Lord be with you always and Bless You.

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