When we think of the perception of the mother in the collective subconscious, the image of Mata Yashoda and Krishna comes to mind. Lord Krishna was born in a jail and had to be ferried to the safety of Mata Yashoda’s home on a stormy night. She may not have been his biological mother, but she brought him up with such love and care, that he became the centre of her universe. Lord Krishna, of course, was equally devoted to her to the extent he was almost inseparable as a child, always wanting to be in her proximity.
Sanatan Dharma underscores the importance that the mother has to play in a child’s upbringing, starting from Garbha Sanskar, or the early impressions that a child gathers when still in the mother’s womb. She is also the first Guru, giving the child grounding in morality, education, spirituality and devotion for the divine. All the divine energies are held in reverence from the perspective of a child, whether it’s worshipping Ma Saraswati for knowledge and the arts, or Ma Lakshmi for material abundance.
In Bharatvarsha, Ma Bharti or Mother India is also revered in this form, as immortalised by Bankim Chanda Chatterjee in our national song Vande Mataram. Sujalam-Sufalam- Malayaja Sheetalam, She who quenches our thirst with the sweet nectar-like water of our rivers and lakes, she who nourishes us through her sweet fruits and golden harvests, and where the cool wind blows. We are blessed to have been born in this hallowed motherland, which has been the birthplace of numerous incarnations of our Gods and Goddesses, and our Rishis, who created the bedrock of the rich Vedic culture that we have inherited.
If that wasn’t all, then our history is also replete with the valour of our mothers who fought to protect the suzerainty and sovereignty of our Motherland, as it existed in the form of kingdoms back then. Whether it was Rani Lakshmibai fighting the British on horseback with her son strapped to her back, or Rani Abakka Chowta, who amongst others, offered the Portuguese stiff resistance and thwarted their plans for domination. When Chhatrapati’s Shivaji Maharaj’s son Rajaram was being pursued by Aurangzeb’s blood-thirsty Mughal armies, it was the brave Rani Chennamma of Keladi, who sheltered him with the compassion of a mother and saved his life.
Whilst we feel grateful to our mothers each day of the year, we are all guilty of not saying it enough. Mothers’ Day offers a great opportunity to verbalise how we feel, express our gratitude and make them feel really special. And special doesn’t have to always mean expensive, it’s more the thought and care that goes into what we do for her that counts, whether it’s curating a bouquet of experiences that she would enjoy or even just lending her a helping hand to have a day off in a job which comes with no holidays.
