Our mothers have a special responsibility of rearing up the budding generations of our society. Now, what does “rearing up” really imply? Is feeding and clothing the children and sending them to schools, the only thing to be done? On the contrary, the essential aspect is to inculcate in them the right type of samskars such as devotion to duty, spirit of personal endeavour, love of the motherland and readiness for service to society. Our mothers have to attend to this aspect of character formation as their first duty. And for this purpose, they have to be mindful of the many little things, which go to fashion the young minds.

 

When I remember my childhood days I am enveloped in very tender and sweet memories. When I used to be woken up in the mornings, I used to listen to the sweet melody of some stotras and chantings of god’s names being sung by my mother even as she was engaged in her morning chores. What deep and holy imprints those melodies must have left on my young mind, coming as they did in those calm and serene mornings! Just contrast this with the so-called modern homes. The mothers neither wake up their children in the early mornings nor do they sing divine chantings. Not unoften, the children start their day listening to some obscene cinema songs and humming those tunes. I know of an instance where a young mother, not an uneducated girl, was singing third-rate songs, while working in the kitchen and rocking the child to sleep. If children find this behaviour in their parents, they have every reason to copy the same. And in such homes, where children grow without a cultural background, they fall an easy prey to Christian propaganda also.

There was a case of a child aged 8 or 9 who came in holidays to the house. On being told to observe vrata on Krishna Janmashtami Day, the child asked the parents, “Why do you celebrate the birthday of such an adulterous fellow? Why not celebrate the birthday of Christ?” Can you imagine a child of 8 or 9 confronting its parents with such obnoxious questions? Let our mothers make the children wake up early in the morning, make them salute the elders in the family and offer worship to the family deity. The sacred responsibility of instilling Matrubhakti, Deshabhakti and Daivabhakti in every Hindu boy and girl is upon our mothers.

 

 

Then about the dress. It must be borne in mind that the dress and decorative items also leave their imprints on the young minds. Mothers should see to it that the children acquire traits of our culture through these things also.

I am again reminded of my early childhood. I had long, thick and curly hairs. My mother would often do my hair and stick a peacock feather over it in such a fashion as to make me appear as Bala-Krishna. She would put on a garland round my neck and tell others, “See, how our Madhu appears, exactly like the child Krishna.” Such things, apparently though small, help to mould the child’s psychology in tune with our cultural standards. If, on the other hand, the children are brought up in the European style the impressions carried by them will also be colored similarly. Seeds of intense devotion to the motherland and its cherished values would not sprout on such a mental background.

 

Sometimes, people have no idea as to what a decisive influence the garment would have on the mind. There is an interesting incident during the days of First World War. The English, who were ruling here, promulgated an emergency order recalling all the old and retired soldiers to join the army. There was a soldier who had no desire to go back to army. He remained in his village. The police came with a search warrant to take him away. When the soldier came to know of this he put on a woman’s clothes and hid himself in the house. When the police came, his wife told them that he was not in the house and that she and her sister alone were in the house. But the police suspected deception. They called out that “sister”, found out the truth and took him away. The soldier was sent to his old platoon. He was then given the army dress and made to join the ranks. When he stood there with the soldier’s dress on, he was asked whether he would like to return home. He replied with a new resolve in his voice that he was now a soldier, that there was no question of his going to the house; he would now only go to battlefield. Indeed, the dress had made all that world of difference!

 

 

And then about our family traditions and devotional practices. Whatever be our personal or family deities, we have to conduct its worship with great devotion and keep aglow our holy family traditions. How tragic it is to see these things disappearing nowadays! In the South, at least, we often see the Tulasi Brindavan in front of our houses. As dusk sets in, our mothers light a lamp in front of it. Often we, listen to the sweet sounds of bells in the pooja-griha and witness the devotional worship going on there. But in the North, this has become a rare sight to see. “Modernism” has verily banished God from our homes.

“Modernism” is taking the toll of many more of our cherished values of life. A couplet in Jnaneshwari says, “A pious man spreads a cover of modesty over his good actions just as a virtuous lady covers her body.” It describes the nature of virtuous womanhood. But “modern” women think that “modernism” lies in exposing their body more and more to the public gaze. What a fall!

It appears modernism has come to mean, in our country, only blind aping of the West and nothing else. In many of the modern families the children address their mothers as ‘mummy’. Do we know what the word originally conveyed? In Egypt, there are massive cemeteries entombing their old kings. They are called pyramids. The corpses placed inside are called ‘mummies’! And here we address our living, loving mothers as mummies!

 

 

As we are well aware, our nation is beset with ever so many perils. Attempts to undermine the integrity of our motherland and our society are on. Challenges to the time-honoured values of our spiritual heritage are mounting. Conflicts and confrontations are thick in the air. Under such conditions, what is the type of training that we have to impart to our children? Shall we teach them to seek safety in their homes and not to stir out? Should we harp upon things pertaining to their own happiness and future and task them out not to “dabble in other things”? What shall we teach?

There is a beautiful anecdote narrated in Mahabharata. There was a queen by name Vidula. She sent her son Sanjay to the war-field but the fellow became nervous and terror-stricken. He turned his back to the enemies and galloped to his capital. When Vidula saw her son in that crestfallen state she closed the entrance to the fort and severely chastised him. That conversation between the mother and the son has become famous as Vidula-Sanjay-Samvad, wherein Vidula instructs her son as to how a brave warrior should conduct himself on the battlefield. She then orders him to go back to war and return as a victorious hero. As the story goes, Sanjay sallied forth into the battlefield, displayed exemplary valour and came back to be received by his mother with honour.

The words of Kunti when the five Pandavas came to seek her blessing before proceeding to give battle are remarkable for their heroic tone. She says:

 

यदर्थं क्षत्रिया सूते तस्य कालोयमागतः ।

न हि वैरं समासाद्य सींदति पुरुषर्षर्भाः ।।

 

(The moment has arrived for which Kshatriya mothers give birth to sons. Lion-hearted men are not cowed down in the face of enemies.)

There is one more couplet in Mahabharata which says: may no woman give birth to one who would mutely suffer insults, who is devoid of vigour and manly prowess and one who would bring joy to the enemies.

 

 

Further, let there be the impress of national pride in all that is ours. Make a vow of Swadeshi in all the daily household uses. That will make for unsullied national character. Aping of the glare of Western civilization would spell ruin to the matchless traditions of nobility and chastity set up by the daughters of this soil.

The Hindu was known for his unflinching devotion to truth and sterling character. But these days even our big leaders have become notorious for their corruption and moral decay. It is up to our mothers to save our younger generation from such corrosive influences. They should so cultivate the atmosphere in home as would make one gladly prefer to forego a meal, rather than accept immoral gratification. The family as a whole should pledge themselves not to partake of the sinful food procured by corruption.

If our mothers were to inculcate such wholesome and heroic traits in their children, surely the coming generation would be able to successfully meet the various challenges being faced by our country.

 

 

Then, there is the question of our attitude towards the society. It is clear that the security and happiness of personal and family life depend very much upon the well-being of the society. Indeed without social peace and security even the moral and spiritual advancement of individuals become beset with obstacles. It becomes difficult even for the spiritually great to survive if society disintegrates. As such, it is a duty of first importance for us to see that social life is made healthy.

In the past, we ignored this aspect of keeping our social life intact, free and self-respecting. We forgot that we have to live as one integrated entity. Notwithstanding our tremendous manpower we succumbed to the feeling of being ‘alone’. Once there was a mammoth meeting of 20 thousand people in Nagpur. All of a sudden someone raised the cry ‘Oh, they have come!’ Immediately the huge crowd began to disperse in frantic hurry. People fled leaving behind their chappals. Someone asked a fleeing person what had happened. He said, “ I do not know. All were scared and I too ran.” ‘ But why did you not stop and inquire what it was all about?’ To that he replied: ‘What could I do? I was all alone?

 

 

That is the result of the absence of the oneness, of our being the children of one single society who have to share the joys and sorrows of each other. Our love and adoration for society must be expressed in a concrete shape. For instance, there are so many in our society who go without their daily food. Do we feel for them? Do we strive to do something for them? In the past there used to be Balivaishwadeva Yajana where the poor and the hungry used to be fed first, then the rest. Today, we can, and we should, at least keep apart a handful of grains every day to feed the hungry in society and then only take our food. That would be the real Balivaishwadeva sacrifice.

 

 

There is a special burden upon our mothers of serving our needy sisters in society. True, a majority of our mothers will not be in a position to go to far-off places to carry on social work among the distressed and the destitute. However, this does not mean that they should sit back in their homes all the while. They could establish useful contacts among the womenfolk in their own neighbourhood and carry out programmes, which would inculcate our cherished ideas among them and their children. The spirit of mutual help and service would also have to be made popular through our day-to-day social intercourse. Our womenfolk should not be allowed to develop inferiority complex or a feeling of helplessness. They should be taught that they are the living emblems of parashakti.

There are quite a few of our educated mothers who have spare time and energy, which is often wasted in gossip of fashionable clubs. Here is one useful hint for them. There will be many small boys and girls in their neighbourhood who do not go to schools. They can make such children gather either in their own house or in some other convenient place and engage them in games, stories, songs, etc.

 

We see scattered all around us a number of our sisters who are either engaged in physical labour or are totally helpless and handicapped. When we see such a sight our hearts should melt and well up with deep compassion and motherly affection. We have to chalk out suitable projects, which would give them some useful employment and enable them to earn a livelihood. It is our sacred duty to see that none of our sisters and mothers will be left on the streets uncared for.

Literacy campaign among women is one more important programme, which our educated mothers alone can successfully tackle. But here also, inculcating noble samskars in them should be given the priority, teaching of alphabets should come second. In order to do this, instill in them a spirit of pure devotion to our motherland, faith in our Dharma and pride in our history. Show them the map of our sacred motherland, the holy streams and mountains, the Tirthas and temples stretching right form the Himalayas to Kanyakumari. Introduce them to the rich variety of our national life in language, literature, art and social traditions. Thus make them become intimate with the true spirit of our national being.

 

 

I am sure, if our mothers make a resolve to uplift the society, then there is no power, either in this world or the other, which can defeat them. The ideal of Savitri, before whom even the Lord of Death accepted defeat, is before them. May they all invoke within themselves such single-minded devotion to the ideal, such purity of character and such peerless heroism!

Once we do this, I am sure, the long night will pass and a new dawn will spread its golden hue over the horizon of not only Bharat but over the entire world with the renewed effulgence of our Dharma.

And this is also what Gandhiji has foreseen for the future of our Dharma. He says:

“Hinduism is a relentless pursuit after Truth, and if today it has become moribund, inactive, irresponsive to growth, it is because we are fatigued; and as soon as the fatigue is over, Hinduism will burst forth upon the world with a brilliance perhaps unknown before.”