Pitru devo bhava and father's day....

Pitru devo bhava and father's day....

Today is father's day. My day began by reading a beautiful mesaage sent by my batchmate which stated, "पितरि प्रीतिमापन्ने सर्वाः प्रीयन्ति देवताः " "Pitari preetimaapanne sarvaahaa priyanti devataahaa", meaning, "If father is happy, all deities are pleased."
This famous shloka from the Mahabharata set me thinking about the rich cultural traditions of India. I delved a little deeper and found that all our scriptures emphasise on reverence to our fathers. In fact the above shloka from the Shantiparva of Mahabharata reads as ,
"पिता स्वर्गः पिता धर्मः पिता परमकं तपः | 
पितरि प्रीतिमापन्ने सर्वाः प्रीयन्ति देवताः ||२०|| 
My father is my heaven, my father is my dharma, he is the ultimate penance of my life. If he is happy, all deities are pleased!"

Dharma is a really broad term which essentially encompasses the path of law, of righteousness, of duty and is actually the right way of living.

We owe our existence to our father and mother, keeping them happy is therefore our foremost duty.

In fact the Garuda Purana says,
पितॄन्नमस्ये निवसन्ति साक्षाद्ये देवलोकेऽथ महीतले वा ॥
तथान्तरिक्षे च सुरारिपूज्यास्ते वै प्रतीच्छन्तु मयोपनीतम् ॥ 89.27 ॥
पितॄन्नमस्ये परमार्थभूता ये वै विमाने निवसन्त्यमूर्त्ताः ॥
यजन्ति यानस्तमलैर्मनोभिर्योगीश्वराः क्लेशविमुक्तिहेतून् ॥ 89.28 ॥
पितॄन्नमस्ये दिवि ये च मूर्त्ताः स्वधाभुजः काम्यफलाभिसन्धौ||
प्रदानशक्ताः सकलेप्सितानां विमुक्तिदा येऽनभिसंहितेषु ॥ 89.29 ॥

I bow before my father, in whom all the deities of all realms reside, truly he is my deity. 
I bow before my father who resides in the formless guise of Paramartha, who is worshipped by blameless yogis for liberation from all conflict (of samsara).
I bow before my father, in whom I see all Gods and who fulfills all my aspirations. He is the inspiration for achievements, and he relieves me from all worries. I pay my obseisance to my revered father. 

If we close our eyes for a moment and ponder about all that our parents do for us since the time we were infants this shloka would become so relevant. Fathers stand by us as we roll, crawl, take our first baby steps, walk, run. They also help us to fire our imagination, set goals for ourselves and encourage us to achieve them. They are not daunted by our failures and such is their belief in us that they are forevet encouraging us in all our endeavours. They guide us and mentor us or silently support us till we reach our goals.
As children I don't think any of us remember being worried about anything with our fathers around. Depriving themselves of every little comfort they ensure that the smallest of our needs are satisfied. As children we rarely doubt the propriety of our father. In fact we have full faith in his ability and strength to guide us.
At times we are blinded by the brightness and the glamour of youth. On such occasions it is very easy to forget our duty towards our father.
Only somebody extraordinary like Maryada Purushottam Ram in Ramayana can put forth the thought,
" यतः मूलम् नरः पश्येत् प्रादुर्भावम् इह आत्मनः |
कथम् तस्मिन् न वर्तेत प्रत्यक्षे सति दैवते || २-१८-१६ meaning, A man can see his father as the cause of his existence, (so) why wouldn't he want to behave (towards his father) as if his father were visible God (pratyaksha devata).

Lord Ram is an example of that ethereally dutiful son. Maybe a bit too much to expect in modern times. However what prevents us from doing little things which makes our father and our parents happy?
For a country deep-rooted in the culture of " Matru-devo bhava, pitru devo bhava, acharya devo bhava, where our parents and our gurus, teachers are our Gods , Father's Day can just be a reminder of our glorious tradition.

We are a family of four siblings. Being the youngest, I have not only had the privilege of being my father's pet but also the pleasure of being pampered. At 91,  our father is more accomodating than any of us. He does not find it difficult to adjust with any of his children despite the fact that each one of us is  so different. My brother  who speaks less  or my sister who is homely and  simple. My second brother who is happy go lucky  or me who is really demanding. He manages to keep not only all of us but our spouses also happy. In fact he is more popular with each of the grand chidren. One look at him and my worries melt.
Many of you must be feeling similarly. So let's not limit our love and respect for our father to this single day. Let this be a reminder of the dharma or duty towards our father to be practised everyday.....
Let everyday be father's day.....