पितृ देवो भव।
आचार्य देवो भव।
अतिथि देवो भव॥
Maathru Devo Bhava
Pithru Devo Bhava
Aacharya Devo Bhava
Athidhi Devo Bhava.
Honour thy Mother as God.
Honour thy Father as God.
Honour thy Teacher as God.
Honour thy Guest as God.
Be one to whom a Mother is as God, Be one to whom a Father is as God, Be one to whom a Teacher is as God, Be one to whom a Guest is as God.
These verses are from Taittiriya Upanishad [तैत्तिरीय उपनिषद्], which has been originated in the Vedic era and describe the prayers and benedictions, instruction on phonetics and praxis, advice on ethics and morals, treatise on allegory and philosophical instruction etc. for the graduating students of ancient Vedic Gurukul (schools).
As all the Beings are the manifestations of God, the entire Beings are to be considered as the part of God! The Beings who are acquired more resultant spiritual power will be honoured by their descendants or next generations! Mother and Father are the cause for the birth of their offspring and thus they are being considered as God! The ideal or real Teachers covey the ultimate knowledge or truth to the Disciples / Students / Beings and thus they are being honoured as God! The Great Souls or the blessings of God are always come to us as Guests and thus they are being interpreted as God!
Indian culture teaches that all living and non-living things are to be respected, loved and worshipped each other conceptionally considered as one as per “Adwaitham” or non-duality! When the Parents respect their parents, their children and upcoming generation will also follow their custom. “Paadapooja” is one of the honourable and devotional performances of which the Individual Souls wash the feet of others who are elder than them and considered as God in their ongoing birth. When children perform “Paadapooja” by washing the feet of their parents or teachers, the it results as follows,
- The Parents and Teachers are got realized of their Godly position and induce the spiritual energy and shower over the children as blessings or applicative spiritual energy or simply as positive energy.
- It makes a solid bond between Parent / Teacher and children / disciples alike to the relational dimensions of Deities and Devotees.
- It is induced the progressive respect and love in children for their parents and teachers.
- It even makes the parents to re-establish the respect and love with their parents that they were in fact ignoring before!
- A normal Mother, Father, Teacher & Guest who is spiritually not so prominent would ask themselves that who they are to be worshipped like that and they are not worthy of such thing! This way of thinking definitely guide them to a virtuous level where they would be an ideal mother, father, teacher and guest!
