chapter

5 RESPECTING
OUR MOTHERS

Our mother feeds us with milk for a few months, but mother cow feeds us for the whole life.

Mother gives service to the child without taking anything in return.

We should hold all mothers in a position of respect.

Let’s T H I N K About It

1. How many mothers do we have?

2. Cow is the mother of all living beings. Is it true? How one can reciprocate
with the service of mother cow?
Let’s R E A D and Learn

In this world, there is no comparison to a mother’s love, for a mother loves

her child without any expectation of return. When you look at your mother,
you are looking at the purest love available in the worldly realm. This is love
at first sight, from the moment you open your eyes. Of all the gifts that life has
to offer, a loving mother is the best one. A mother’s love is a treasure, lying
deep in the core of our hearts, always there to comfort us. Someone has rightly
said, “A mother’s love begins before the child is born and lasts through time
and difficulties and differences and many wounds and days of joy and days of
sorrow.”

This love is found universally and transcends all barriers of time, space and
species. From a tiny ant to a gigantic elephant, all mothers love their babies.
There are documented cases where animal mothers have died of heartbreak
after losing their babies.

The grief-stricken mothers spent days carrying around the tiny new born baby.
Story Time
Forbearance Of A Mother

A little boy came up to his mother in the kitchen one evening while she was making
supper, and he handed her a piece of paper that he had been writing on. After his mom
dried her hands on an apron, she read it, and this is what it said:

• For cutting the grass: Rs 50/-

• For cleaning my room this week: Rs 100/-
• For going to the store for you: Rs 10/-
• Baby-sitting my kid brother while you went shopping: Rs 30/-
• Taking out the garbage: Rs 10/-
• For getting a good report card: Rs 200/-
• For cleaning up and raking the yard: Rs 150/-
Total owed: Rs 550/-

Well, his mother looked at him standing there, and the boy could see the memories
flashing through her mind. She picked up the pen, turned over the paper he had written
on, and this is what she wrote:
• For the nine months I carried you while you were growing inside me: No Charge.
• For all the nights that I’ve sat up with you, doctored and
prayed for you: No Charge.
• For all the trying times, and all the tears that you’ve caused
through the years: No Charge.
• For all the nights filled with dread, and for the worries I
knew were ahead: No Charge.
• For the toys, food, clothes, and even wiping your nose:
No Charge.
• When you add it up, the cost of my love is: No Charge.
When the boy finished reading what his mother had written, there were big tears in his
eyes, and he looked straight up at his mother and said, “Mom, I sure do love you.”

And then he took the pen and in great big letters he wrote:
“PAID IN FULL.”
MORAL OF THE STORY
No language could express the power of forbearance of a mother’s love for her child.
Always remember,
a. Help your parents.
b. Listen to your parents.
c. Smile at your parents.
d. Spend time with them.
e. Buy your parents gifts.
f. Be good to your parents’ friends and relatives.
g. Be thankful to your parents for whatever they do for you. PAID IN FULL

h. Always ask your parents if you can help them with anything.
i. Study hard and lead a good life so that your parents become happy.
j. Always pray to God who has given you your parents.

Even the most selfless kind of love in this (material) world—that

of a mother for her children—disappears in time as the children
grow up and the mother grows old and dies. But spiritual love is
eternally fresh and blissful. It is the act of giving ecstatic pleasure
to the supremely worthy object of love, the Supreme Lord. When
we love God as our friend, lover, or master, we are never cheated.
Our Mothers

Mother Cow Mother Earth One’s natural mother

Mother cow
Cow protection and care was once the culture of India.
About 5000 years ago, King Parikshit was ruling the
entire planet earth. While he was touring the earth, he
witnessed a black man, dressed as a king, trying to kill
a cow. The saintly king of the world had never even
imagined that anyone would think of harming mother
cow. A king’s duty is to protect all citizens, which
includes humans, animals, plants; in fact, all living
creatures. So, King Pariksit at once caught hold of him
to punish him.

When the British arrived in India, there were no

slaughter houses. In fact, Tipu Sultan and Mughal rulers
including Babar, Akbar and Aurangzeb, banned cow
slaughter in their kingdom. Anyone who slaughtered a
cow was punished by cutting off their hands.
Even today in Nepal, the penalty for killing a cow is life imprisonment.
After all, the cow simply serves human society – even the urine and stool of
the cow is used in the service of human being.

Sacred cows
a. Sanskrit is the oldest language and is considered
the mother of all languages. In ancient India, when
the cows were worshipped, the language in use
was Sanskrit. By liberal use of cow milk products,
people’s brains were so sharp that until 5000
years ago, there was no need for written records!
All the knowledge existed in oral traditions and a
student would simply memorize and understand
everything just by hearing once from the teacher.

b. The generous cow gives milk from which come

cream, yogurt and cheese, butter and ice cream, ghee and buttermilk.
Everything that a cow produces, including urine and stool, and every inch of
her body, are meant for the absolute good of the world.
c. Cow Dung and Urine – Supremely
valuable products!

Cow dung is accepted to have purifying

Cow Dung Curd
and antiseptic properties. It is used as a Butter

fertilizer, fuel, in tile making, housing,

religious rituals, medicines, and as a
cleaning agent. Cow
Cow Urine Milk
Cow urine is capable of curing several
diseases, even ones considered incurable.

d. Vedas declare that ‘gomaye vasati Ghee

lakshmi’, goddess of fortune resides in Cheese Ice-cream
cow dung. Indeed, at a time when cows
 outnumbered people, India used to be the riches nation in the world!

e. Cow and Bull: World’s father and mother

Cow is the provider of all human necessities. Cow is a mobile dispensary. We
should learn about medicines prepared from cow products known as panchagavya.
f. Five thousand years ago Lord Krishna, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, appeared on earth to protect
His devotees and to demonstrate His pastimes.
Among those pastimes was His childhood role as
a cowherd boy. The cows were very dear to Him
because of their affectionate and gentle nature as
well as their contributions to human society, and
in return He was kind to them and protected them.
We should follow His example.

Honor Thy Father And Thy Mother

(Love and respect your father and mother)
— Lord Jesus Christ in Bible
Mother earth
Mother earth provides us everything in our life. Our bodies, foods, homes, books,
and even our computers are all ultimately coming from the earth. Even though she
is harassed and plundered by so many people, she continues to serve. Greedy people
are drilling the earth for oil, cutting lush green forests to grow tobacco, crops for
production of alcohol and fodder for cattle exclusively raised for slaughter, soaking
the land with the blood of innocent animals and military soldiers, and polluting the
air and water with toxic waste from factories. Although subjected to untold abuse and
harassment, Mother Earth continues to provide all necessities for all living beings.

From Mother Earth, we learn that we must

tolerate hardships in our lives and continue
serving in all circumstances.
Miracles of mother earth

A little brown seed sown in brown soil, watered by rain

produces a beautiful, very smooth, soft, and fragrant
lotus flower. No one can make anything like this, no
matter how hard he tries. This is one of the many
miracles that mother nature unfolds every day.

We see different types of flowers,

fruits, leaves, vegetables, colours,
scents, and flavours in our gardens.
From where are they coming?

It is coming from the earth, which is working

under the direction of the Supreme Lord. The
earth can manifest all these colours, flavours to
produce wide variety of fruits and flowers, but
independently, we cannot.

Let’s A N S W E R

1. Tick mark () the appropriate way of expressing love and respect to your parents.

‰‰ Never listen to them

‰‰ Help them

‰‰ Buy your parents gifts

‰‰ Shout at them

‰‰ Smile at them
 ‰‰ Be thankful to them for whatever they do for you

‰‰ Ignore them

‰‰ Study nicely for their pleasure

‰‰ Offer prayers to God, thanking Him for everything he has given

you through the medium of your parents

2. Below is a list of 16 different items or activities Categorise them as either

“hurtful” or “helpful” to mother earth in the corresponding boxes on the
following page.

Polluting Industries Slaughter House Cow Protection Plastic Bag

Planting Trees Reusuable Bag Cutting Trees Chanting God’s Name

Meat Eating Quarrel Devotion to God Intoxication

Dust Bin River Pollution Polluting Vehicles Switching Off

 Hurtful

helpful

3. Match the following.

Column ‘A’ Column ‘B’

1. Cow Urine a. Sharp brain

2. Cow Dung b. Panchgavya

3. Bull c. Mother

4. Cow d. Father

5. Medicines from cow product e. Goddess of fortune

6. Cow’s milk f. Cures several diseases

4. Pick out some practical ways to connect yourself with mother cow. Tick
mark () the one’s you feel inspired for.

‰‰ Daily drinking cow’s milk.

 ‰‰ Always being grateful to mother cow while eating ice-creams, curd,
milky bars, etc.

‰‰ Never eating beef, i.e., cow’s flesh.

‰‰ Knowing more about mother cow by reading related books, etc.

‰‰ Sharing this wonderful knowledge with others.

‰‰ Finding a goshala nearest to your home and visiting it.

‰‰ Using cow products like toothpaste, oils, incense, tablets, soap, etc.

‰‰ Daily setting aside a chapati (Indian bread) that gets cooked at home
for mother cow. Also, collecting the peels of fruits and vegetables
and feeding them to mother cow.

‰‰ Always remember, happy cows denote a happy human society and

distressed condition of cows denote humanity in distress.

‰‰ Saving some money, even if one Rupee, on a daily basis for go-seva.

5. Do you agree with these statements? State Yes/No.

a. I have a right to pollute the earth because she is my father’s property.

b. We need to be concerned about plants and animals as much as we are

concerned about ourselves. They are also innocent children of God.

c. Deforestation is good. It creates more living space for us.

d. It is better to use renewable sources of energy.

e. It is the responsibility of the government to be concerned about the

wasted materials and it is not my personal responsibility.