12
Generation Gap
Dadashri : There is nothing wrong with showing concern.
Questioner : They can get their education from school,
but what about development of their character?
Dadashri : Entrust the development of their character to
the one who knows how to mold, the Gnani, the one who is adept
in the art of molding human beings. You can mold your children
the way you want to until they are fifteen years old. You cannot
do anything after that. And when the son eventually get married,
the task of molding becomes the wife’s responsibility. Parents try
to mold their children even when they are not skilled to do so and
that is why they fail miserably and the results therefore, are far
from agreeable.
(P.64)
Questioner : What is the definition of a certified mother
and father?
Dadashri : Uncertified parents are those whose children
do not listen to them. Their own children have no love or affection
for them and will be a constant source of aggravation to them.
Can such parents not be labeled uncertified?
It is a sure sign that the parents have not fulfilled their duty
to their children, when their children become disobedient. When
the soil is bad and the seed is bad, the crop too will be bad. So
how can parents boast that their children will be extraordinary
like Lord Mahavir? How on earth can that be possible? What
should the mother of Lord Mahavir be like? One can overlook
it if the father is incompetent, but what should that mother be
like?
(P.70)
Many parents complain to their children that they do not
listen to them. I tell the parents that it is because their speech does
not appeal to their children. If the parent’s speech pleased the