OM PITRI DEVO BHAVA, MATRI DEVO BHAVA !

OM PITRI DEVO BHAVA, MATRI DEVO BHAVA !

If we wish to achieve greatness in life in the real sense, we need to revere our parents and others' parents, too. In the absence of such reverence, greatness is well nigh impossible to achieve. It is this absence of 'shraddhaa' (worshipful reverence for all that is holy and good, for elders, for tradition and values) that our country has sunk to such a cultural low.

Atheism will not do in this country, neither religious bigotry nor narrowness. What we need is a broad sympathy for all, a wonderful harmony of 'the head and the heart' (Vivekananda) and a concentrated aspiration for achieving the higher ends of life, highest among which is the realisation of God.

Sri Ramakrishna had appeared at the onset of this decadent age of scepticism and sin to set the standards of this intense aspiration for the higher values of life, values that have formed the backbone of Indian civilisation for 'scores of shining centuries' (Vivekananda). No amount of mockery of our culture and our civilisation will make any headway in this country of profound spiritual roots. No amount of attempted alienation of the masses from their native culture through the propagation of agnosticism, atheism, communism and antitheism will gain ground in this holy land that has for ages been sanctified by the dust of the feet of countless seers and sages. Here have flown the Ganga, the Sindhu and the Saraswati to set the scale of the national symphony, the 'raag Bharatvarsha'. Those that mock our spiritual culture, seek to pervert our masses and uproot them from their secure soil are themselves going to be side-lined in the long run.

Hence, with utmost shraddha we must cultivate our culture in its manifold variation and enhance it. In it lies our highest good, for in the life of a rejuvenated nation lies our own rejuvenation as individual selves. And in this holy task let us seek the blessings of our parents first for they are the visible representatives of God. For those who have lost their parents, their memory ought to serve as beacons in this darkened world of little delight. Then their lives will fill up as well with bliss and inspire them unto golden thoughts and deeds.

Written by Sugata Bose