BANGALORE: ‘May your conduct inspire affection and not anger’ - You children, when you converse with your parents, brothers and sisters, must always use words which will inspire love and affection. You must learn to speak pleasingly. Speaking is an art. You must be obedient and carry out the duties entrusted to you. You will earn the love and affection of your parents who will take care of you.
You will get all that you need or you aspire to. Indian parents are always in the habit of praising their children, even if they do not deserve it. Hence a duty is a cast on the children to behave correctly. In our ancient scriptures, it is laid down that children should implicitly obey their parents. This helps them to know what is good and follow the path of virtue.
You should always deserve the love of your parents; you should not become stubborn or act against their wishes or tell lies or play truant. You should not cheat your parents or friends but should do your work in school / college and at home and not give your parents room for anxiety or concern. If you are not educated, you will be a burden on society. It is your duty to act in accordance with the wishes of your parents for they know what is good for you.
You must choose as your friends who will not lead you astray and play well and live cheerfully. Your life should be a model to all your friends. Children always imitate their elders and hence it is the duty of the elders to be model parents. Man’s life is precious and it should not be wasted in sin. A sinful person will be filled with avarice and indulge in sinful acts.
A sinner will continue to be a sinner. Hence, when an opportunity is given, we have to be charitable and help him live a good life. Children should be clean in body and mind. Health is important. When the children are young, their dresses should be clean and their conduct disciplined in life. They should grow up in good company. They should obey the elders and do their duty in school / college, read and write well.
The children’s heart is good; they imbibe good examples and should be allowed to live in an atmosphere which helps them grow. They have to make good use of their special powers and talents. Hence the parents’ duty is to see that their children grow up in a healthy environment.
In this connection, I am reminded of a story. Two parrots were closely related. One grew up with a hunter and another grew up in an ashram. The one brought up by the hunter learned the hunter’s vocabulary of telling lies and using words of abuse. But the parrot of the ashram uttered only God’s names - “Rama, Krishna, Govinda, Narayana”.
Although they were brothers, one learnt good vocabulary and the other a bad vocabulary. One became good and the other became destructive. The moral is that children should grow up in a worthy and religious atmosphere. They should be made to learn to speak well, to respect elders and not to use bad words. We admire young men who respect their parents, as they have sacrificed a lot to bring them up.
Today’s world is full of attractions: good and bad. A young person’s life is full of pitfalls. Hence parents have to give a lot of attention and see that their wards grow up well. Youth is not permanent. “A rose will bloom and will fade. So does the youth and so does the fairest maid” says William Shakespeare. The years between childhood and adulthood are important; these years must be given for education and developing healthy habits. Those who grow up pious will not be most affected by the vicissitudes of life. They will always emerge triumphant.
In this connection, you may have heard of the story of two blocks of stone. One was made into an idol, consecrated and worshipped by thousands of devotees. The other stone was discarded in front of the same shrine, exposed to sun and rain and used to break coconuts.
Piety will lead you to richness in life and take you close to the idol that was worshipped. The children should be helped to develop imagination and Socratic discretion and humility in the face of their ignorance. In brief, parents lust like children; children in turn must like their parents and make the best use of their impressive age. Only love and children will survive the elders.
This article is an ‘Ashirvachana’ given by His Holiness Sri Balagangadaranatha Mahaswamiji, 71st Pontiff of Sri Adichunchanagiri Mahasstana Math