Almost every Indian must have watched the movies Baghban and Rajiv Bhatia a.k.a Akshay Kumar's 100th movie, Waqt. This article's something like those movies.
A 20 year old boy went up to a sage of high repute and said to him, "I'm tired of this mortal world, I want freedom from the circle of life. Please help me attain enlightenment and I promise I will give up all worldly distractions and take haven in the Lord's feet for He's the only one I seek." expecting a pleasant and proud smile from the sage, the young lad bowed his head and touched the Brahmin's feet.
"Then why are you running away from Him," replied the sage, "He lives right with you in your house and you have come to me seeking Him? Your old parents need you at this stage and if you support them He will come asking for you. So, don't be a fool, go back and serve your parents as they are the ones because of whom you exist."The lad was surprised and dejected. Naturally, he had to leave having learnt a BASIC lesson.
There are four reasons why parents are equivalent to God or sometimes greater than Him too:
God helps those, who help themselves. But parents do and will always help you no matter what you may or may not do.
God is the creator of all things including you. Parents are my creators and if it weren't for them, all creations of God would've been a waste for me as I wouldn't have existed to relish them.
You have to pray day and night rigorously to please God. It's very difficult to please Him and He has a tendency to sometimes answer our prayers a bit late when it's no longer needed. But parents are there for you whenever and wherever you need them. You don't have to do anything to please them, you don't have to fast for days or make any sacrifices and unlike God they never doubt your affection by testing you at every stage of life. Parents don't write down your faults and mistakes anywhere and then evaluate you at the end of the day. They understand that you're human and as long as you are learning from your mistakes they never bother you with your faults, so unlike God.
If we are all children of God, why does he have to make us and then see us suffer through our lives and then put us under the fear of whether we're going to Hell or Heaven? Why does he rejoice in killing his own children and even when he knows what is going to happen next, he sits in Heaven and just watches the old movie over and over again? If he really is so powerful why can't he destroy the evil and rid the earth of so much nuisance. Further more, why does he have to, in the first place, create demons and other evil structures? He loves it when people cry out His name in agony. He's just a selfish arrogant piece of our imagination. Does any of this hold true for the beings addressed by the first word of the article's title?
Another name for Him comes from the phrase, 'the one who forgives' but is it really true? When you see someone suffering they say he's paying the price for his/her misdeeds. But if God really forgives all the sins why not this time? Why do all things He does which we cannot comprehend have to be covered up with the blanket of the word Maya? Why can't he uncover all his mysteries and let us know about them if we really are the dearest to Him? Why does he have to disguise himself if he ever comes down to earth? What's the harm if we see him in his true avatar, don't we deserve to see our true parent?
There are hundreds of more questions which scream that God is just an imagination and His true form exists only in parents. They may not know any magic or cast any illusion upon us but they are the only ones who have sacrificed their blood for us and for those who are a staunch believers of God, all holy scriptures give account of the holiness of one's parents. Even Lord Rama used to touch His parents' feet.
The relation between a parent and the child doesn't end at any stage of life. The souls of the parents and their children are connected with a such a strong bond that it may be weakened but it's impossible to break it completely. There have been instances of people killing their parents but it's an undeniable fact that they do regret it now or will at some point in the future because nobody has the capability to love you as much as your parents do. No matter how strong a person is, his/her child(ren) are always his weakness and it's the duty of the children to be their strengths too. We shouldn't be a liability, we should be an asset.
A person can win all the wars but the war he/she fights against his own child. Akbar, one of the greatest emperor's in the history of India lost to his own son Jahangir who went on to be defeated by his son Shah Jahan and Shah Jahan in turn lost to Aurangzeb. Even in Mahabharata, Duryodhan was able to manipulate his blind father, the king of Hastinapur, at his own will. We having read and understood a lot from history should be knowing what we ought to do but that really is not the case. We tend to forget our parents once we find a good job and settle down with our families. We forget that our family is incomplete without our parents, we are incomplete with our parents and we owe our lives to them. Today, it becomes a burden for a person if he/she has to take his/her ill mother/father to a doctor everyday forgetting that his/her mother woke up the whole night when he/she was sick during childhood. A person can go on tours with his/her wife/husband and children but will never take his/her parents with him/her. We have to realise that all visits to places of pilgrimage are useless unless we learn to respect and love our parents. Then there wouldn't be any need to take up any such visit as God is residing right with us under a common roof.
So it's time we realise that our parents are priceless and no matter how much we do for them, it's never going to be enough. They are the real God we should be worshipping.
