‘Ma’ (Mother)
‘Ma’
said the temple flag and waved a warm invitation to folks approaching in all
the directions.
She
wore a body once. She yearned for one child to pour her infinite love. Her
god-husband foretold that she would give birth to millions of children and would
one day tire of being called ‘Ma’ all day and night by one and all.
Her
stricken children struggling in the fiery cauldron that is the wide world,
cried ‘Ma’. The menials who were sent to her on errands found a mate in her and
called her ‘Ma’. The villagers found in her a god-neighbor and called her Ma.
The robber who came to rob her saw his daughter in her and called her Ma. The
calf in distress called to her ‘Ma’. The little cowboy muttered ‘Ma’ in his
pain to see her rushing to minister to him. The mynah bird learnt to call her
‘Ma’.
Born
from the dust of a land that called her daughters as mother throughout their
lives from infancy to old age, she fitted in so well that every one called her
Ma.
She,
like all who are called incarnations of God, began as a seed within the sack of
a human body.
As
the sack deteriorates a shaft of light emerges. Some people keep watching the
sack and are fooled. Historians observe the root and follow its course towards
the bowels of the earth. Some wise people follow the light and break out of the
ground. They stand dazed at the mighty tree of light and spirit that stands
tall and vast.
Reach
us thy kindly light, our dear Ma!
Swami
Sampurnananda,