Role of Father,Mother & Teacher
by OM PRAKASH AFFILIATE MARKETERThey are the three worlds. They are the three modes of life.
They are the three Vedas. They are the three sacred fires. The father is said
to be the Garhapatya fire; the mother, the Dakshina fire; and the preceptor is
that fire upon which libations are poured. These three fires are, of course,
the most eminent. If you attend with heedfulness to these fires, you will
succeed in conquering the three worlds. By serving the father with regularity,
one may cross this world. By serving the mother in the same way, one may attain
to regions of felicity in the next. By serving the preceptor with regularity
one may obtain the region of Brahma. Behave properly towards these three, O
Bharata, you will then obtain great fame in the three worlds, and you will be
blessed, great will be your merit and reward.
Never
transgress them in any act. Never eat before they eat, nor eat anything that is
better than what they eat. Never impute any fault to them. One should always
serve them with humility. That is an act of high merit. By acting in that way,
o best of kings, you may obtain fame, merit, honour, and regions of felicity
hereafter. He who honours these three is honoured in all the worlds. He, on the
other hand, who disregards these three, fails to obtain any merit from any of
his acts. Such a man, O scorcher of foes, acquires merit neither in this world
nor in the next. He who always disregards these three seniors never obtains
fame either here or hereafter. Such a man never earns any good in the next
world. All that I have given away in honour of those three has become a
hundredfold or a thousand-fold of its actual measure. It is in consequence of
that merit that even now, O Yudhishthira, the three worlds are clearly before
my eyes.
One Acharya
(teacher) is superior to ten Brahmanas learned in the Vedas. One Upadhyaya is
again superior to ten Acharyas. The father, again, to ten Upadhyayas. The
mother, again, is superior to ten fathers, or perhaps, the whole world, in
importance. There is no one that deserves such reverence as the mother. In my
opinion, however, the preceptor is worthy of greater reverence than the father
or even the mother. The father and the mother are authors of one’s being. The
father and the mother, O Bharata, only create the body. The life, on the other
hand, that one obtains from one’s preceptor, is heavenly. That life is subject
to no decay and is immortal. The father and the mother, however much they may
offend, should never be slain. By not punishing a father and a mother, (even if
they deserve punishment), one does not incur sin. Indeed, such reverend
persons, by enjoying impunity, do not stain the king. The gods and the Rishis
do not withhold their favours from such persons as strive to cherish even their
sinful fathers with reverence.
He who
favours a person by imparting to him true instruction, by communicating the
Vedas, and giving knowledge which is immortal, should be regarded as both a
father and a mother. The disciple, in grateful recognition of what the
instructor has done, should never do anything that would injure the latter. They
that do not reverence their preceptors after receiving instruction from them by
obeying them dutifully in thought and deed, incur the sin of killing a foetus.
There is no sinner in this world like them. Preceptors always show great
affection for their disciples. The latter should, therefore, show their
preceptors commensurate reverence. He, therefore, that wishes to earn that high
merit which has existed from ancient days, should worship and adore his
preceptors and cheerfully share with them every object of enjoyment. With him
who pleases his father is pleased Prajapati himself. He who pleases his mother
gratifies the earth herself. He who pleases his preceptor gratifies Brahma by
his act.
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Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.