mAtru devO bhava, pitru devO bhava, AchArya devO bhava, atithi devO bhava.

My first attempt....

mAtru devO bhava, pitru devO bhava, AchArya devO bhava, atithi devO bhava. 

Regard the mother as god, father as god, guru as god and guest as god. What a blissful statement it is. Such a Universal approach it has. I feel, indirectly that statement conveys oneness and equality in respect to each and every person born on this earth.

When we interpret it -mother, father, guru- are specific persons in each individual’s life. Atithi, meaning guest, includes every other person in the world to the individual.

We might worship god in different forms, but the ultimate feel; respect; devotion we have is the same towards the supreme power. I feel the sloka suggests oneness and equality by regarding every individual as the supreme power. 

Then while interpreting further, I wondered as why it did not include “aham devO bhava”. As we all know that the same Upanishads also said “aham brahmAsmi” = “I am the Brahma”. So accordingly I felt that we can also say aham devO bhava. Regarding one’s self as the supreme power and looking for it in others also. Thus the ‘individual’ comes in unity with ‘others’. 

 Every individual breathes the same air. Lungs purify the air. The heart works in a same manner. Mechanism in which the body works is the same. Not different to a rich, poor, intelligent, ignorant, illiterate or a literate. It is the energy and thoughts that differ. That results into different kinds of people with different intensities of emotions, feelings and experiences. 

Thus we all are connected. We have to realize that we are sharing this planet and we must learn to behave responsibly. Then every being on this earth lives a happy and a contented life.