A Mother's Love...

I was emailed this story by Bhai Vijay Singh Jee:

After the Earthquake had subsided, when the rescuers reached the ruins of a young woman’s house, they saw her dead body through the cracks. But her pose was somehow strange that she knelt on her knees like a person was worshipping; her body was leaning forward, and her two hands were supporting by an object. The collapsed house had crashed her back and her head. With so many difficulties, the leader of the rescuer team put his hand through a narrow gap on the wall to reach the woman’s body. He was hoping that this woman could be still alive. However, the cold and stiff body told him that she had passed away for sure. He and the rest of the team left this house and were going to search the next collapsed building. For some reasons, the team leader was driven by a compelling force to go back to the ruin house of the dead woman. Again, he knelt down and used his had through the narrow cracks to search the little space under the dead body. Suddenly, he screamed with excitement, "A child! There is a child!" The whole team worked together; carefully they removed the piles of ruined objects around the dead woman. There was a 3 months old little boy wrapped in a flowery blanket under his mother’s dead body. Obviously, the woman had made an ultimate sacrifice for saving her son. When her house was falling, she used her body to make a cover to protect her son. The little boy was still sleeping peacefully when the team leader picked him up. The medical doctor came quickly to exam the little boy. After he opened the blanket, he saw a cell phone inside the blanket. There was a text message on the screen. It said,” If you can survive, you must remember that I love you.” This cell phone was passing around from one hand to another. Every body that read the message wept. ” If you can survive, you must remember that I love you.” Such is the mother’s love for her child!!

One can learn two things from this story. Firstly, looking at this worldly mother who loves her child so much, imagine how much Waheguru, our True and Eternal Mother (and Father), must be loving us! Secondly, the story emphasises that parents make so many sacrifices for their children, so it is the children's responsibility to respect their parents and care for their parents when they are in need (i.e. when they are old). Blessed is Guru Gobind Singh jee who sacrificed his four sons for his children - the Khalsa. No one can repay the debt of the sacrifice of the Great Guru nor one's parents. Bhai Sahib Bhai Gurdaas jee, the ideal Sikh of the Guru, writes:

ਮਾਂ ਪਿਉ ਪਰਹਰਿ ਕਰੈ ਦਾਨ ਬੇਈਮਾਨ ਅਗਿਆਨ ਪਰਾਣੀ||
maa pio parhar karai daan be-eemaan agiaan praanee||
The person who having deserted their parents but performs charities, is corrupt and ignorant.

ਮਾਂ ਪਿਉ ਪਰਹਰਿ ਵਰਤ ਕਰਿ ਮਰਿ ਮਰਿ ਜੰਮੈ ਭਰਮਿ ਭੁਲਾਣੀ||
maa pio parhar varat kar mar mar janmai bharam bhulaanee||
The person who having deserted their parents undertakes fasts, goes on to wander in the cycle of births and deaths.

ਗੁਰੁ ਪਰਮੇਸਰੁ ਸਾਰੁ ਨ ਜਾਣੀ ||੧੩||
gur parmesar saar na jaanee ||13||
That person (in fact) has not understood the essence of Guru and God.(13)
(Vaar 37, Pauree 13)