Verses from Scripture on Children

I am inclined to adore you, the two sages, the ministrants at the places of work and worship of men, from whom all the prosperity is derived. May you raise our offspring to a higher stature and help us to acquire precious treasures preserved amongst nature's bounties, when the worship is being conducted.

Rig Veda 7.2.7. RVP, 2355

I know not how to stretch the threads or weave or discern the pattern of those who weave in the contest. Whose son will be the one to speak so well as to surpass, advancing from below, his father?

Rig Veda 6.9.2. VE, 331-332

Keen of mind and keen of sight, free from sickness, free from sin, rich in children, may we see you rise as a friend, O Sun, till a long life's end!

Rig Veda 10.37.7. VE, 319

Never may brother hate brother or sister hurt sister. United in heart and in purpose, commune sweetly together.

Atharva Veda 3.30.3. VE, 857

To you, O Lord, the Priest, beloved of all men, we bring our praise with reverence. Keep watch over our children and ourselves, we pray. Guard both our lives and our cattle.

Atharva Veda 3.15.7. VE, 295

Let there be no neglect of the duties to the Gods and the fathers. Be one to whom the mother is a God. Be one to whom the father is a God. Be one to whom the teacher is a God. Be one to whom the guest is a God.

Krishna Yajur Veda, Taittiriya Upanishad 1.11.1-2. UPR, 537-8

If he should desire, "Let me be born here again," in whatever family he directs his attention, either the family of a brahmin or the family of a king, into that he will be born.

Shukla Yajur Veda, Jaiminiya Brahmana Upanishad 3.28.3-4. VO,115

By honoring his mother he gains this world, by honoring his father the middle sphere; but by obedience to his teacher, the world of Brahman. All duties have been fulfilled by him who honors those three.

Manu Dharma Shastras 2.232-3. LM, 72

"Sweet are the sounds of the flute and the lute," say those who have not heard the prattle of their own children.

Tirukural 66. WW

A father benefits his son best by preparing him to sit at the forefront of learned councils. The son's duty to his father is to make the world ask, "By what great austerities did he merit such a son?"

Tirukural 67, 70. WW

Of all blessings we know of none greater than the begetting of children endowed with intelligence. What pleasure it is to human beings everywhere when their children possess knowledge surpassing their own!

Tirukural 61, 68. WW

Study well. Be obedient. Hear and follow the advice of your father, mother, brothers and sisters, and your aunt and uncle. You alone always set a good example in obedience.

Natchintanai, Letter 10. NT, 22

Meditate, meditate, on God's name in five letters. Eagerly come forward to serve Sivathondan. Grow and grow, the path of tapas ne'er leaving. Live in concord with parents and other relations. Conquer, conquer the wayward mind little by little. Offer your worship to the feet of Gurunathan. Abandon, abandon sin with contrition. Have love and affection for all. Moderately, moderately eat for your sustenance. Take pains at all time to assimilate knowledge. In your youth, in your youth, learn the arts and the sciences. To the mean and the miserly be not attached. Foster, foster the friendship of well-nurtured people. Live in happiness, saying you are lacking nothing. Look after, look after your brothers and kinsfolk. Inwardly and outwardly let your life be the same. Be firm, be firm in grace -- yourself quite forgetting. Annihilate ego, forbidding doubt to arise. Then speak and speak of the greatness of the guru.

Natchintanai, "Our Duty" NT, 178

Blessing and joy to our mother and father! Joy to cattle, to beasts, and to men! May all well-being and graces be ours! Long may we see the sun! May the wind blow us joy, may the sun shine down joy on us.

Atharva Veda 7.69.6.4-5. ve 30