"There is nothing in the world sweeter than the love of a mother for the
child. For the well-being of the child the mother is ready to sacrifice her all,
including her life. Such nectarine sweetness is manifest only in the mother
who is the embodiment of the Divine".

- Sanathana Sarathi August 1994 p 214

The worship of God as Mother has been traditionally practiced in many religions all over the world. Where as the Hindus worship Divinity as "the primordial Energy" (Adi Paraasakthy Maa), the Catholics adore Virgin Mary as the Holy Mother, and in Egypt Isis and in Babylon, Ashtar were worshipped as Mothers.

Swami has stressed from time immemorial, the importance of respecting and honoring our mothers. He says "Motherhood is the most precious gift of God. Mothers are the makers of the nation's fortune or misfortune"

- Sathya Sai Speaks Vol VII, Chap 6, pp. 22.

Worshipping God as Mother is one of the easiest ways to feel close to God. Shirdi Sai was called Dwarka Maayi (Mother of Dwarka), and our beloved Bhagavan is fondly known as Sai - which means Divine Mother. Swami says "Sai is your Mother. Whatever I give to the world, I give like a Mother. My love is the love of a thousand Mothers."

The role of a mother is similar to that of a queen without a crown where her word is usually respected and followed as the law by everyone. In an ideal mother we find a fusion of love and law.

Hence the Vedas have rightly declared "Mathru Devo Bhava" meaning "Honor your Mother as God." This serves as a reminder that everyone should obey their Mother's wishes to the best of their ability.

According to Baba, in ancient times, mothers taught their children devotion and detachment. It was because of these strong values, that India stood out as a land of sacrifice, full of wisdom and contentment. Nowadays mothers do not bring their children up in this spirit, thus India has ceased to be a land of sacrifice and is fast becoming a nation where desires and pleasures are widely sought. Such pleasures are leading to "disease" and "distress" in society.

Our ancient Hindu scriptures, have shown us varied examples of how great kings, seers and leaders have honored their mothers and these examples will serve to inspire us for generations to come. Rama went to the forest for 14 years to obey the command of Queen Kaikeyi whom he regarded as his mother. Even the demon Ravana performed severe penance to obtain a Shiva lingam only to fulfill his mother Kaikasi's wish.

Hanuman was prepared to fight a duel with His beloved Rama only to obey his mother Anjani Devi's wishes.

A Mother is the very embodiment of selfless love, sacrifice and strength. From the moment a woman conceives, her concern always rests with the welfare of her infant. A mother is the child's first teacher. She prepares her children in their quest to earn a good name and to obtain fame.

Hence the saying "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world".

Baba lists mothers of great inspiration to us in the following poem:

"By being born of Kaushalya, Rama fulfilled His divine role. Brought up by the exemplar of womanhood, Sita, the twins Lava and Kusha achieved glory. By the loving care and tutoring of Jijia Bai, Shivaji became a great warrior. Fostered and guided by Putalibai, Gandhi became a Mahatma (great soul). The first letter of the spiritual primer is Amma (Mother). Is there anything greater in the world than the sprit that protects all living beings all the time"

(The Power of Women by R Sita Lakshmi pp.61).

Great people have great mothers. Gandhi became such a great person because of his Mother, Putali Bai. She transformed her shy son into a man of strong will, dedicated to truth and righteousness. Everyday she would observe a ritual whereby she would only eat her breakfast after she heard the cry of the cuckoo bird. However, one day she waited a long time but there was no sign of the daily calling of the cuckoo, so she wouldn't eat. After several hours went by, Gandhi, then a little child, was worried that his mother was going hungry, so he went outside and imitated the sound of a cuckoo bird and then he came inside and told his mother that she should then eat since the cuckoo bird had called. His mother was filled with sadness. She slapped him and asked "What sin have I committed that such a liar should be born to me!" "Please forgive me oh Lord for giving birth to such a liar". Deeply moved by his mother's words, Gandhi made a promise to her "In my life, henceforth, I shall never utter a falsehood again!" Thus Gandhi was always an embodiment of truth.

Swami has stressed the importance of how significant the mother's role is in molding her child's future and has given two different examples of mothers in the Mahabharata. Kunti and Gandhari. Modern mothers should learn a great lesson from this as to how to raise their children. From the moment of her husband's death, Kunti solely took care of her sons. She never handed her sons over to a nanny or caregiver. She was with them always, guiding them, telling them right from wrong, teaching them always to keep God in their hearts. She kept her sons completely under control. Her sons, the Pandavas became examples of righteous conduct.

Gandhari, the mother of the Kauravas, on the other hand, was completely responsible for the death of her 100 sons. She blindfolded herself in order to honor her blind husband Dhritrashtra. She never so much as even glanced at any of her 100 sons. She did not feed them, take care of them, nor did she set them on the right path. She denied and deprived them of the love and care that a mother should shower on her children. She was completely oblivious to all their needs. So how could they earn the grace and vision of God? Ultimately, they all perished!

Swami stresses that mothers should raise their own children without the aid of an "ayah" (nanny or maidservant). He says that before the age of five a mother should be at home with her child so that she can instill good values in the child, otherwise the child will start to imbibe the values of the "ayah" or caregiver. Swami says that a mother should only go and earn a living, if there is a dire need to, otherwise she should stay at home and care for her home and children.

"The child should grow with the mother for the first five years of life. Many children do not know what the Prema of the mother is like. The mother should not hand over her responsibility during those years to some one else and be called simply "Mummy" as if she is some doll with which the child likes to play. Now the children of rich and educated parents are severely handicapped. They are deprived of the care and love of parents. They are handed over to the care of servants and nannies and they grow up in their company and learn their vocabulary and habits and styles of thought. This is very undesirable."

- Sathya Sai Speaks Vol II, Chapter 34, p 204-205

A Mother's influence on her child starts right from when the child is in her womb. Let's take the example of Prahlad. He was actually born in a demon family. But when his mother Leelavathy was pregnant, she went to live in Sage Narada's hermitage where she was constantly listening to the chanting and glories of Lord Vishnu. These sacred vibrations had such a positive influence on Prahlad, that he was a devotee of Lord Vishnu right from when he was a little child. Nothing and nobody could shake his faith in the Lord.

Then there was Abhimanyu, Arjuna's son. During the Mahabharata war, there was a magical maze-like war formation that only Lord Krishna and Arjuna knew how to enter and exit. In the midst of the war, whilst Arjuna and Krishna were occupied, Abhimanyu decided to take on the challenge of entering this maze. When asked how he knew about this strategic maze, he said that when he was in the womb of his pregnant mother, his father Arjuna had once explained the formation of this magical maze to his mother. Unfortunately she had only listened to the part of "how to enter the maze" but had fallen asleep when Arjuna had explained "how to exit" the maze. Thus during the battle Abhimanyu only knew how to enter the maze but owing to his lack of knowledge on exiting the maze, he was killed in the battle.

Knowing what Swami says about how a mother can influence every aspect of her child, when I was pregnant with my son Bharat, I was very careful about what I took in through all my five senses, especially the books I read and the films I watched. So I read and watched spiritual material alone. For instance, one of the things I watched during my pregnancy was the whole Ramayan series. I was very careful not to even pick up the newspaper or any magazine. The result of this is that my son has been very interested in religion and spirituality since he was very young. At three months, I used to lay him down on the bed with Baba's picture over him and he would lie there looking at Swami's picture saying "Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba". He started saying stothras and singing bhajans when he was 2 years old. Such is my personal experience on the influence a mother has on her unborn child.

Good mothers discipline and correct their children's behavior. Swami says that if we pray to God but are unpleasant to our Mother, then our prayers to God are futile. Our mother is the very embodiment of God. We have to love and worship our mothers first and then God will be happy with our prayers and us.