Living the Values of Parenting in the Current Realm

While learning the concepts of Parenting in the spiritual context, I took many cues to understand this huge role from Rudyard Kipling’s work The Jungle Book (since I am a movie buff and an avid reader of fantasy stories 😄).

One of the most significant characters of this Story yet very rarely spoken of was Raksha, the female Wolf- one of the pillars of the Seeonee Pack. She was the one who had mothered her cubs alongwith Mowgli (a tiny human being). ‘Raksha’ means Protect in common parlance and the name suited her character the best.

Mowgli was left at the entrance of their den by Bagheera (Panther) for he believed in the Wolf Pack to take the best care possible of the child’s growth. When Raksha first saw the baby, she was curious as well as fascinated to find it at the threshold of her den. She developed instant love for him and convincing her husband was not difficult to accept the boy as their child and raise him equally as their other cubs. They name the child Mowgli, meaning frog, due to his negligible hair on the body.
    Throughout the story, Raksha is shown to be caring and protective towards Mowgli and her other cubs. She taught him the ways of living in the jungle and how to survive through. She allowed Mowgli to be trained under Bagheera to hone his instinctive skills and keep growing in the Jungle life. Raksha always provided the freedom to Mowgli to preserve his human character while living with the Seeonee pack. Throughout the story, Raksha is shown to be motivated by the love of her family and derived ample strength through it.
   Mowgli always remained in love with his brother wolves and respected Raksha and Father Wolf as his parents. He had great respect for Bagheera and Baloo who always were as a friend and guide for him. Raksha always gave the necessary freedom to Mowgli and her other cubs to hone their skills as they wanted to be. Mowgli was allowed to preserve his human characteristics while adapting to the ways of the Jungle.
The ferocity of Raksha was shown when Sher Khan demanded handing over of Mowgli to him in pursuit of his killing nature for sport and fun towards human beings. Raksha retaliated with more intensity and stated:

“And it is I, Raksha, who answers. The man’s cub is mine–mine to me! He shall not be killed. He shall live to run with the Pack and to hunt with the Pack; and in the end, look you, hunter of little naked cubs–frog-eater– fish-killer–he shall hunt thee! Now get hence, or by the Sambhur that I killed (I eat no starved cattle), back thou goest to thy mother, burned beast of the jungle, lamer than ever thou camest into the world! Go!”

Raksha always stood as a shield for her family, moreso particularly for Mowgli. However, when it was decided to let Mowgli reunite with the Man-Village, Raksha was initially reluctant with the decision. However, understanding the necessity to protect Mowgli and her family and also to allow Mowgli to get back to living with human beings, she agrees to let him go for his betterment. Raksha though embraces Mowgli by saying
‘You're mine. Mine, to me. No matter where you go, or what they may call you. You will always be my son.’

In the end when there a battle ensues between Mowgli and Sher Khan, Raksha comes there as an ally and bruises Sher Khan in order to prevent him from getting to Mowgli. We all know how it ends eventually

Raksha played a pivotal role in the grooming of the hero of our story. Raksha’s character portrays how she bloomed her children with her LOVE, CARE and SUPPORT. She taught Mowgli to stand, walk and run and at the same time showered CONFIDENCE in him to learn to catch up on his speed gradually and use his unique skills to survive in the Forest. She always provided the necessary FREEDOM to him to mould his habits while balancing his human traits living under the Wolf Pack. She TRUSTed in the instincts of Mowgli and allowed Bagheera to facilitate in the honing of his skills. She had an unspoken communication with Mowgli – of FAITH, UNCONDITIONAL LOVE, and RESPECT. She showed UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE in Mowgli’s upbringing, though he was different from the Seeonee Pack, all were brought up together in a harmonious manner reflecting brotherly love for each other and portrayed a strong family unit. Raksha learnt to LET GO of Mowgli when it was deemed best for the safety and growth of the latter. She showed her valour and STRENGTH whenever required to stand up for her son in defiance to the most feared animal of the Jungle.
These deepest beliefs of parenting plays out in our lives at all points of time. We live these beliefs towards not only our children/grandchildren but also towards our spouse, friends, plants/flowers, animals/pets. The beauty of seeing them grow gives us the necessary impetus to recognise our simultaneous growth from within. After all change is the only constant thing in life. Thus we enjoy seeing our buds bloom through us. Have fun in this world of parenting 🙃