''Child is the Father of Man''

[shivsena]

Dear bk and pbk brothers.

What is the meaning of the famous proverb "Child is the Father of man"?

How and why this proverb was quoted and became popular ??
Does it have any relation to what happened in Confluence Age, as most of the proverbs of Bhakti marg are somehow related to what happened in Sangamyug.

Views of my brothers are eagerly awaited.
shivsena.

[mbbhat]

Just some thoughts.
1) A Child does not have any knowledge (of either soul or body). It is not gender consciousness to a large extent. As it becomes man(grows) it gets knowledge of body and becomes gender conscious, considers itself as Hindu, Muslim, Rich, poor, etc. So it gets half knowledge. But does not gets the knowledge of the soul. Hence as a child grows(in hell) it becomes dangerous to the society. Hence it is called half Knowledge is Dangerous.

2)In heaven this proverb may not fit well. But it is very correct to say that child state is better than man state since it consumes less from nature. Even in heaven man(eg: Narayan) would be consuming more than Krishna. The descending kala would be more due to stage of Narayan than Krishn.

In hell: A child has no fear of death. But man has! As a child becomes man it is moving towards death.

3)If we take the whole Kalpa(Cycle) then the initial stage (Deities) is the child and the later stage(Human beings) is man. Deities did not have knowledge of both soul and body. They were not gender conscious. They did not know about God. They did not know even about soul. They were just aware that they are different than body and will shed one body and take a new one. They were not knowing about karmic account, 84 births, etc.

But in hell(man) comes to know about God, soul more than in heaven. He believes in karmic account. But there is just half knowledge. So there is danger. Man commits sin in the name of God and religion.
So deity is Father of man(of hell). That is why human beings worship deities.

[shivshankar]

Good understanding, brother:)
Thank you for sharing.

[mbbhat]

Krishna is another example for the above proverb.

SM 17-10-2000(2):- Krishn kaa naam unke Maa baap se bhee bahut baalaa hai. Krishn ke Maa-baap kaa naam itnaa baalaa nahee hai. ....To siddh hotaa hai unke Maa baap ne itnaa purushaarth naheen kiyaa hai jitnaa krishn ne kiyaa hai. ..... Isliye krishn kaa naam baalaa hai. Maa baap kaa naheen.

SM 17-10-2000(2):- = Name of Krishn is more famous than his parents. Krishna’s parents’ names are not so famous. .. So it is clear that Krishna’s parents’would not have put effort to the extent to that of Krishna. .... Hence name of Krishna is famous. Not of his parents’.