What is Mother ?
What is Mother? This is a question most of us would have never thought about as we take our mother for granted. She has been there always to take care of us. Speaking of definitions of mother, there is ample number of definitions expressing closely associated thoughts on the question what is mother?
Biologically mother is a female person, whose egg unites with a sperm, resulting in the conception of a child. A mother is the biological and/or social female parent of an offspring. In the case of a mammal such as a human, the mother gestates her child, which is called first an embryo, and then a fetus. This gestation occurs in the mother's uterus from conception until the fetus is sufficiently developed to be born. The mother then goes into labor and gives birth. Once the child is born, the mother produces milk in a process called lactation to feed the child.
What is mother: Technical definitions
To the question "what is mother" there are many technical definitions. One definition says that mother is a woman who has given birth to a child. Another technical definition says that a mother is the natural or social female parent of an offspring. Mother is the woman to whom one was born. A female person who is pregnant with or gives birth to a child is called as a “would be mother” or a mother to the new born respectively.
What is mother: Adoption of the child
It is not always necessary that somebody can only become mother if she has biologically given birth to an offspring. A woman who adopts and raises a child is more than a mother to that child. In animal kingdom also mother is referred to the female parent of an animal.
What is mother: Sacred relationship
Mother is a term or a relationship which carries lot of respect and is closely associated with birth, nurturing, love, compassion, empathy and forgiveness. That’s why yin polarity, magnetic and nurturing, healer, mediator, soul of the world are all various connotations symbolized by mother. Further mother is also referred to one’s female ancestor, a woman who holds a position of authority and responsibility, a title for women respected for her wisdom and age and women who creates, originates or founds something.
Mother is also given as a symbol to a creative source, an origin and emotions like maternal love and tenderness, compassion, empathy and nurturing.
Familiar or colloquial terms for “what is mother” in English are:
1. Mum or mummy, is used in the UK & parts of Canada (especially Eastern Canada), Australia, and New Zealand; and also in some parts of Western Pennsylvania.
2. Mom or mommy, in most of North America (especially the U.S.). Mommy is considered baby talk. Most adults in these regions switch to the term mom as they approach the teen years. This term is also used in the British West Midlands.
3. Mam or mammy, North Wales, the South Wales valleys, Ireland, North and the East Midlands of England;
4. Mama and ma, in parts of the Middle East, Latin America, other Spanish-speaking cultures and The Netherlands. Mama is often used in rural areas of the midwest and south eastern regions of the US. Ma is a common term in various parts of the US including the north east.
5. In many other languages, similar pronunciations apply; maman in French and Farsi (Persian),maadar in Farsi (Persian), or mamma in Italian, or mãe in Portuguese. Mama, borrowed from the English, is in common use in Japan. In Hebrew the word is eema, and in many south Asian cultures and the Middle East the mother is known as amma or oma or ammi or "ummi", or variations thereof. Many times these terms denote affection or a maternal role in a child's life. The word originates from the Sanskrit mothru or motharaha and has taken various forms all over the world.
What is mother: Legendary Mothers and Mother related topics
Some of the Legendary & mythological mothers are Bithiah, Gaia, Hagar , Isis , Jocasta mother of Oedipus important in Freudian psychology, Juno, Queen Maya , Euripides' Medea , Venus and Demeter
Mother is also attached to various topics related to Mary, Attachment parenting, Breastfeeding, Jungian archetypes, Lactation, Matriarch, Matricide, Mother Goose, Matrilocality, Mother insult, Mother's Day, Mothers rights, Nuclear family, Oedipus complex, Parenting, Psychological bond, Mother ship ,Mother goddess, Mother Superior or Abbess
What is Mother: Reverence of Mother and Motherhood
1. In many societies and culture God is often compared to a mother, and is worshipped in the form of the Divine Mother.
2. In social contexts as well, no person is considered as exalted and worthy of respect and service as one’s mother.
3. The tender love and care of a mother for her children is the subject of numerous artistic expressions around the world.
4. The mother is the very embodiment of love, of sacrifice, or selfless service to her children and of forbearance.
5. She is considered the first teacher of every child, and is considered the highest Guru.
6. As long as we live, we must never forget the efforts and sacrifices our mothers make to bring us up in our childhood.
7. It is said that “Since God could not appear everywhere to take care of us, He created mother.”
8. While a son can be a bad son, a mother can never be a bad mother. The mother is considered a thousand times more venerable than the father.
9. There are societies where when students graduate from their school, their teachers exhort them to consider first their mothers, followed by others, as embodiments of God.
10. Pregnant women have special privileges in many societies due to the high regard for motherhood.
11. The sanctity of motherhood was so highly regarded in many cultures that it was also extended to the animal kingdom. It was forbidden to hunt pregnant animals.
12. Reverence is also manifested in our seeing the Divine Mother in Nature, rivers and earth that nourish us.
13. Whatever may be the crime of one’s mother, she is always one’s mother and deserving of her children’s love and respect. How can we ever condemn her who nurtured us for nine months in her womb, and underwent great pains to give us birth, and to bring us up in our childhood.
After all the definitions and expression of thoughts on “what is Mother” I still feel that "what is mother" is a question that cannot be answered satisfactorily by words and one has to experience the love, nurturing, compassion and empathy of a mother at a personal level to know what is mother. That is the glory of the mother and that is "what is mother".
Article by Sanjay Nair
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