Bowing to All Mothers and Women on Mother's Day
By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
09 May 2026
“Sweater, noun. A garment worn by a child when its mother is feeling chilly.”
― Ambrose Bierce, The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary
Can one ever think of a word that sounds better than the word 'mother'? In all tongues, even in the defunct ones, the most beautiful word has always been 'mother.' Words assume importance and depth when emotions are accrued over a period of time. 'Mother' is one word that has always moved humans. Here, I'm not talking about the English Romantic poet Lord Byron and the great German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. Both the legends disliked, rather hated, their biological mothers. But then, exceptions prove the rule. Don't they? By the way, both Byron and Schopenhauer were born in the same year, 1788.
Mother and child's umbilical attachment is for good. It's her abiding faith in the innate abilities of her offspring that makes all the difference. The Spanish great Pablo Picasso said, " My mother said to me, 'If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the Pope.' Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso." A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in theworld . It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things and crushesdown remorselessly all that stands in itspath.
A mother's love is something that no one can explain — It is made of deep
devotion and of sacrifice and pain. It is endless and unselfish and enduring,
come what may, for nothing can destroy it or take that love away. It is
patientand forgiving when all others are forsaking, and it never fails or
falters even though the heart is breaking.
Mother's love is the essence and root of (all) love. It's the archetypal love from which ensues love of all types. Sigmund Freud's misconstrued Oedipus Complex has this kind of love that's not actually sexual or erotic when delved deep. According to modern psychoanalytic studies, Oedipus and Jocasta in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, are the prototypes or metaphors for the deepest form of love which is not necessarily physical or carnal. The belief that every woman, regardless of her age, ethnicity and creed, is fundamentally a mother has a component of Oedipus Complex. A girl or a woman should have motherly instincts even if she's not a (biological) mother. This motherliness sublimates not just a woman, it pervades and permeates all humans. That's why the Buddha advised his disciple Anand to feel like a mother and act like a man. Mother's love is the benchmark to assess worldly love. On Mother's Day that falls on Sunday, May 10, I not only pay rich tributes to all mothers but also to all women because a mother is hidden in every woman. To comprehend this further, please read my middle, 'A mother figure in Tehran' in The Tribune, Chandigarh (May 9): https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/musings/a-mother-figure-in-tehran/
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A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/bowing-all-mother-and-women-mother-day/d/139965
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