All posts in this series
- Hindu Parenting
- Walk the Talk
- Conducive Home Environment
- Family Time
- Planting Seeds of Dharma
Parenthood is a very big responsibility.
As per the Hindu view, the jiva or the individual soul first enters the father and then comes into the womb of the mother to create the child. The child is drawn to be born into a family as per the nature of parents. Householders have the potential to attract Bhagavan in the form of avatars as Jagadishwara or Bhagavati and, great rishis as children.
They could give birth to great persons like the Rani of Jhansi, and Meera bai, Maharana Pratap, Shivaji, Prahlad, and yogabhrashtas. The amount of penance or tapasya they do determines the nature of the children born to them. Traditionally followed samskaras are intended to attract the best possible jiva as an offspring, explains Jagadguru Puri Shankaracharyaji.
The period of pregnancy is of great importance. The child, present in the womb, is impacted by the mother – her activities, habits, mind-emotions, etc. Vishnu Sahasranama and Saundarya Lahari must be heard by pregnant women. Listening to the praise of Bhagavan and good discourses helps in the proper development of the child. We have known of the examples of bhakta Prahlad and Abhimanyu, and how the engagements of their mothers during pregnancy influenced their lives. To learn more on this subject read this article on motherhood.
Challenges
In the current environment, no one does any penance to have good children and neither do people care about the samskaras which are nearing extinction. Hindus are losing their existence and values owing to lopsided development. Traditional family system is destroyed due to rapid urbanization. When a joint family is not sustained, kuladharma, kulavara, kuladeva, kulaguru, kulavadhu, all become extinct. There is no purity of environment anymore.
The whole purpose of life (which is to evolve and ultimately attain moksha) is lost and man is reduced to a machine that eats and produces babies. Lack of faith has been inculcated towards Sanatani values and principles that made Bharat great at one time. This has been initiated by the British and post-independence we continue to blindly follow the West in the name of so-called “development”. Ironically, such a system is thought to be a boon by our State.
In today’s urban environment, the father leaves the house for work while children are still asleep and by the time he returns they have gone to bed. Mothers too, are working. The lifestyle is limited to earning money and filling stomachs. The family does not spend any time together and thus, it is impossible to think that children will learn anything good.
The vicious cycle of breaking of a family system is a big problem.
It is only when our family system function is as per Ramcharitmanas, such issues will solve. Even in this yuga of rocket and mobile, the Sanatana Vedic Arya Hindu methodology of education, defence, services and wealth creation remains supreme. If we follow the ideals of Marayada Purushottam Ramji and create a nation based on that, all troubles can go .
However, the existing education system is far from our traditional values and culture and is only designed for fulfilling a commercial purpose. If a sum of Rupees 25 lakhs is invested in the professional education of a youth in a family, then naturally he would wish to earn at least 25 crores. When everything is transactional then what dharma and karma would remain?
Hostels, schools do not provide appropriate education. Mathas and mandirs are govt controlled or don’t have proper facilities, and the family system is getting destroyed. In broken nuclear families, youth are disconnected from elders. Plus, there is additional negative influence of social media and cinema.
Taking the above into view, it is extremely essential that Hindu parents remain alert and execute the responsibility of parenting very carefully.
In this series we shall be exploring the guidance given by Jagadguru Puri Shankaracharyaji to facilitate the process of dharmic parenting in these challenging times.