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.
