Satyopanisad

[Guest guest]

Swami! Everywhere we hear people speaking of `brain drain'. Statistics indicate

that from year to year the number of educated people going abroad is increasing.

Is this good?

 

This is not good. It is not proper on the part of the young people to leave this

country and settle in foreign countries. Here, in Bharat, according to

tradition, you have five mothers almost equally venerable. These five are the

most revered and ranked along with one's own mother. Who are those five mothers?

The first and foremost, of course; is the dehamata, the physical mother. It is

this mother who has given you birth, struggled hard serving you and sacrificed

everything for your comfort and upbringing. So, she has to be revered. The

second is gomata, the cow. It is the cow that gives you milk and helps to

nurture and strengthen your body. You have to be grateful to the cow. The third

is bhumata, Mother Earth. It is on the earth that we live. We cultivate the land

and grow grains. All the metal ores we extract and use are treasured in the

Earth. The fourth is Vedamata, Mother Scripture. It is the Vedas, that teach you

the aim and the goal of life while showing you the spiritual path as well. We

should be grateful to Mother Scripture, as we should be to our mothers. The

fifth is des'amata, Motherland. Your culture, tradition, and rich heritage are

all embodied in this land where you are born. You have to treat your des'a ,

country, as your mother. So it is called des'amata , Motherland. des'a

 

For the simple reason that a woman you meet happens to be more beautiful than

your mother, you will not call her `amma', mother. This message is conveyed in

the Ramayana. At the end of the war, after Ravana had died, Lakshmana said to

Rama: " O Brother! This Lanka is prosperous and exceedingly beautiful. Our

enemies have all died, and we have every right to rule this land. O Lord! Why

don't you become its king? Bharata has been already been there for fourteen

years as the king of Ayodhya. We can as well ask him to continue his reign

there, and we stay here and rule this kingdom. " Then Rama replied, " O Lakshmana!

Your motherland is greater than heaven itself. Your mother may be ugly and

another woman you have seen may be beautiful. Yet, you don't address the

beautiful woman as `amma'. "

 

Whatever may be the country you belong to, it is your Motherland. Everyone must

be patriotic. Everyone must love his or her own country. You should serve your

country.