We celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. The story of the Ramayana shows the power that the mother and the father have to bless their children and see them grow in life. When Rama controlled all his grief and ran up to his mother Kausalya to give the news that the coronation had been called off and he would be going to the forest, dressed in the garb of an ascetic, the mother was indeed shattered to hear the news. But very soon she gathers herself and blesses the path of Sri Rama. The words of Kausalya can be the words of blessing that may be given by any mother to her child.
She takes a little water in her hand to purify herself of all the sorrow that she hitherto went through on hearing the news of the impending separation with her son for 14 years. After Rama is very firm about following his father’s command to go to the forest, she blesses him to follow the path of the truthful ones who protect dharma with love and self-discipline. “May that dharma protect you, O tiger of the Raghava clan,” she blesses him with his own prayers and offerings. “May all those to whom you have bowed down to in your life in temples and different abodes, bless you and all those who are with you. With all your service done to your father and mother, may your life be protected by that very truth you upheld.”
May all the sticks that are offered in the sacrificial fire, the kusha grass, the ring of purity worn around the fingers with the dharba grass, the sacrificial pits, the temples, places of worship, the mountains, trees, shrubs, pools of water, birds, reptiles and wild animals protect you.
May all the gods protect you. May the six seasons that change every two months in a year, all the months, all the years, all the nights, days and hours, give you their best always. May the holy scriptures and the codes of conduct—the shruti and the smriti—protect you. May all the adepts and mystics, the guardians of all quarters protect you.
May all the mountains, the oceans and their master Lord Varuna, the meeting points of every day called the Sandhya Kala, the units of time in minutes and seconds ever bless your path.
May you never have any fear from all the violent beings. May there be no monkeys, scorpions, biting insects, mosquitoes, slithering reptiles and worms along your path.
May all the violent lions, tigers, bears and other sharp-teethed animals, angry wild buffaloes and horned creatures never be hostile to you. May all the gods to whom I have prayed to all along protect you from those man-eating humans and other categories of beings that cause harm. May all auspiciousness be on your path to and back from the forest.
She invokes the different elements and gods to bless Sri Rama and sends him off with all cheer, taking the crown of his head and smelling it with all love. She wishes him well on his path.
(www.sharanyachaitanya.blogspot.in)