Shankara learned the true meaning of the Vedic words “matru devo bhava pitru devo bhava” (revere God as mother and father). One day his father, leaving home, said to him:
- My dear son! Every day I make an offering to God and distribute blessed food to people. While my mother and I are not at home, please do the same.
Shankara promised to fulfill all this without fail. He poured milk into a cup, placed it in front of the image of the goddess and began to pray to her:
- Mother! Take the milk that I offer you.
Although he asked her for a very long time, Mother did not take the milk and did not appear before him. He was upset and asked again.
- Mother! Mother! Every day you accepted the offerings that my father offered you. What sin have my hands committed that you refuse to accept milk from me?
His pleas came from the depths of his heart, he was even ready to sacrifice his life and said to himself: “My father asked me to donate milk to the goddess, but I cannot do it because the goddess does not accept my offering. I'd rather die." He left the house and returned with a large stone to kill himself. The Mother of the Universe was full of compassion and was very touched by Shankara's sincerity. She immediately appeared before him and began to drink the milk offered. She drank all the milk and placed an empty cup in front of him. The boy was very happy that the Universal Mother appeared and drank the milk, but now there was not a drop left in the cup to distribute it to people. He thought that his father, upon returning, would certainly ask about what had been done.
He was afraid that his father would think that he himself drank all the remaining milk and would scold him. So he turned to the goddess:
- Goddess, give me back at least a drop of milk so that I can give it to my father.
But the goddess did not come. He continued to pray to her with all sincerity. The goddess was moved and appeared. But she could not give him the milk she drank, so she filled the cup with her own milk.
There is a belief that thanks to the divine milk tasted by Shankara, he acquired the highest knowledge and wisdom, filled with divine meaning. Thus the nectar of the goddess's grace became the essence of Shankara's teachings. In order to please his father, he tried his best and was able to earn the appearance of the Mother of the Universe.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru