Modern day Shravan Kumar Mothers Day Inspiration

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,Here is a report to remember our own Mothers.

"Indian Shravan Kumar on

pilgrimage in Nepal"

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Feb82009/foreign20090208117316.asp?s....

 

Kathmandu, IANS:

Native of Wargi village in India's

Madhya Pradesh state a devoted Indian son has been on a foot pilgrimage to

Hindu shrines for 13 years, carrying his 83-year-old blind mother Kirti Devi on

his shoulders.

A devoted Indian son, who hit the headlines in his own country for embarking

on a 13-year pilgrimage carrying his blind mother, has now touched the heart of

neighbour Nepal, where people are likening him to an epic character hailed as

the perfect son.

"Indian Shravan Kumar on pilgrimage in Nepal,"

Nepal's Maoist-controlled

official media said Sunday, carrying a front-page photograph of the native of

Wargi village in India's

Madhya Pradesh state who has been on a foot pilgrimage to Hindu shrines for 13

years, carrying his 83-year-old blind mother Kirti Devi on his shoulders.

The frail 36-year-old, wearing the saffron dhoti favoured by Hindu pilgrims,

his torso bare and his long hair tied on the top of his head, has become an

object of admiration and awe in Nepal's

Janakpur town in southern Dhanusha district where he has arrived to offer

worship at the famed Ram and Janaki temple.

Towns people, especially women, are flocking to see the Indian, who carries

a bamboo pole on his shoulder from which are slung two wicker baskets.

In one of them, sits his mother Kirti Devi, clad in white and garlanded by

people. In the other, to balance her weight, are the meagre possessions of the

pair, topped by a photograph of his father Ram Shripal, who died when he was

only 10.

His real name is Kailash Giri. But moved by his filial devotion, people call

him the Shravan Kumar of modern times.

According to the Indian epic Ramayan, Shravan Kumar was a devoted son who

carried his blind parents on his shoulders and tended to them selflessly. He

was killed by the mighty King Dasharath on a dark stormy night when he had gone

to fetch water for his thirsty parents and the king shot him with his arrow,

mistaking him to be a deer.

"It is now 13 years, two months and eight days that I have been

travelling with my mother," the Indian wayfarer told the state-run

Gorkhapatra daily.

The seeds of the journey were sown when Giri, an eight-year-old, fell from a

tree and broke his hand.

He says it was healed due to his mother incessantly praying for his

recovery. As she pledged to the gods that she would offer her thanks at a holy

shrine, Giri, when he became an adult, began carrying her to shrines all over

India to make her wish come true.

Though the mother and son are penniless, wherever they go, villagers offer

them food and shelter. Women come to touch the blind mother, in the hope that

their sons would be as filial as hers.

After visiting the Ram and Janaki temple in Nepal,

Giri will head for Sitamarhi in Bihar across

the border to visit the Janaki temple there.

The journey of love and piety, the devoted son told the daily, would end

after reaching the Dwarka temple in Gujarat.

Besides making his mother's wish come true, the son, who remained a bachelor

to look after her, has another mission.

He wants to send out the message that parents are a son's gods and should be

served to the best of one's ability.

At a time Nepal is

angered by allegations of encroachment by India on its territory and the

recent assault of Nepali students in a train in Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh, the

Indian Shravan Kumar's humble visit goes a long way in creating camaraderie

between the two neighbours.

Sincerely, Udayabhanu Panickar aum namaH ShivAya OUR BODY IS THE ABODE OF THE JEEVATMAN, WHICH IS IN FACT THE PARABRAHMAN. LET US NOT MAKE IT A GRAVEYARD. LET US NOT EAT FLESH,

LET US BE VEGETARIANS AND STAY HEALTHY.