Questioner (Q): Sir, what should be the right role of parents in the life of a child?
Acharya Prashant (AP): The role of the father and mother is to give birth. Really to give birth not just physically. Physically it is very easy—hormonal, chemical, simply biology, really to give birth.
Q: In which many fail.
AP: Hardly anybody succeeds.
To be a father or mother is not something physical, it is not about having sex, getting impregnated, bearing a baby and nursing it. It is about not only giving a body but also taking the kid to That which is beyond the body. That’s the role of parents—to not only give the body but also then unburden the child of the body.
Q: Sir, what happens to the child when parents operate through their conditioned patterns?
AP: We see this world around us, that’s what happens. When those kids become adults, they turn violent, loveless, and insecure. You look at the trees that have been hacked down, it’s the work of somebody who was once a child; you look at the shops down the road; you look at the quantity of liquor flowing at the crossing; you look at the animals been butchered. All the shops selling lamb, mutton, chicken, and the rest of it. What do you think, those butchers were born adults? They too are once kids and if you were a kid who does not have really illuminated parents then it is very bad for you.
