Story of Madalasa

It was a small village in Malnadu which was untouched by the modernity. There lived a small loving family, husband, wife and their child. That child used to play in the daytime but once the darkness descends, it used to get agitated. It starts to cry in the night daily. The mother tolerated this behavior for few days. But this behavior of the child persisted. One day it got to a high and it was very difficult to manage the crying child.

Mother told the child, “Look child, there is a demon on the hill now. It gets hold of the children and eats them. If you cry like this, you are finished” By hearing this, surprisingly the child stopped crying. Mother was pleasantly surprised as the idea worked. Whenever the child starts to cry in the night, mother used the same trick to silence it. This practice went on for years.

Now it’s been years since this happened. That child is around forty years now. He is educated and employed, brings a handsome amount of salary too. But when the darkness descends after the daylight, he becomes fidgety. He can’t face the darkness of night. Going out in the darkness is next to impossible for him. His hands and legs start shivering. This is the GIFT his mother gave him in his childhood.

Our mind is like a sensitive lens of a camera. As the images of things which fall on the lens will be captured by the camera, in the same way the things which we see and heard are stored in our mind permanently. Especially, the mind of children is very sensitive. Parents and teachers should be very careful. The frightening thoughts should never be planted in the minds of children.

When the child is in the womb, the mother-to-be should read the inspiring stories like epics, Mahabharata, Ramayana and other Puranas. By doing so, the children will be born brave and intelligent. There was a mother called Madalasa, who used to put her children to sleep by saying “child you are a pure soul, you are knowledgeable with no black spot in your character. Stay away from this ‘Maya of Samsar’.” By doing this she used to awaken the energy of their souls. Her children became saints when grew up.

Mothers like Madalasa are the need of today. The future of every unborn child is in the hands of its mother. This is the truth of life!!

-Translated version of the original article by Dr. Ganapathi Hegde, Sanskrit Professor