A Salutation to Mother

In Jan 2020, I was at my sister’s house where I happened to witness the greatness of a Dog Mother. It had given birth to eight small puppies few days before. What I saw there was an amazing act of selfless love and affection by a mother to her offspring. The video explains the greatness without any words.

The mother dog is not that healthy but still she is milking all her puppies bearing all what they do to her during the process. Not even she turned or showed any uneasiness. Only a mother can show such care and affection.

Adi Shankaracharya’s Mathru Panchakam

Adi Shankaracharya wrote five shlokas called “Mathru Panchakam” on the greatness of Mother during her last moments, which came out deep from his mind. Mother in any living creature is of prime importance, the divine power we call as “God”, whom we can see, touch and feel.

I was reminded of the Mathru Panchakam and I could not stop myself from capturing the video of what I saw there. The shlokas are in Sanskrit and probably this could be the one and only work of Adi Shankaracharya, not describing any god or not explaining his philosophy.

Here is the first shloka of Mathru Panchakam reproduced for your reading with its English translation.

The meaning of the shloka translates as follows.

“At the time of delivery (giving birth to me), who suffered an unbearable acute pain, who became weak due to distaste (caused by me while she was carrying me), and after my birth, for one year or used to sleep on the bed made dirty by my faeces and urine, let alone all these things, (no one can do anything in return), just one thing, that my mother bore my weight in her womb (for nine months), at that time the distress she suffered, even the most exalted of offspring is not able to compensate. My Salutations to that mother.”

Translation provided by “Aham Brahmaasmi”

You can read all the five shlokas of Mathru Panchakam here