The
Buddhist scriptures contain numerous words for love such as ādara, atthakāma, dalhabhatti, hita, kāma, lokassādara, manāpa, mettā, paṭibaddhacitta, paṭisanthāra, pema, petteyya, piya, sambhajeyya, sampiya, siniddha, sineha and vissāsa. Some of these words are synonyms, others refer to
distinct types of love. Although it is
not always easy to find exact English equivalents for them, some can be
identified with certainty. For example paṭibaddhacitta
means infatuation, petteyya is paternal
love, kāma is erotic or sensual love,
and vissāsa means a warm trusting
acceptance. Matteyya means mother
love, both love of one’s mother and maternal love. The Buddhist tradition has
long had personifications of the different types of positive feelings; for
example Avalokitesvara can be seen as the personification of manifestation of
compassion. And if mother love or maternal love has a personification it would
be Harati.
Legend said that Harati and her husband
Pañcika lurked in the forests and rocky crags around Rajagaha. They had scores
of offspring, their favourite being Pingala. Hariti would snatch unguarded or
lone children so she and her brood could devour them. One day the distraught
citizens of Rajagaha came to the Buddha begging him to do something about
Hariti. Moved by compassion and agreeing to help, he tricked Pingala into
following him and then hid him under his alms bowl. Hariti spent a week looking
for her beloved son but without success, and in desperation finally came to the
Buddha asking for his help. The Buddha asked her why she was so upset and she
replied: “How could a mother not be upset when her child goes missing?” The
Buddha replied: “What of the mothers of all the children you have eaten? Do not
they feel the same pain as you?” Realizing the truth of this, Hariti promised
to give up her child-eating habits. To make up for all the pain she had caused
others she also promised to do everything in her powers to protect children.
Seeing the sincerity of these promises, the Buddha showed Harati where Pangala
was concealed.
For
centuries Hariti was honoured as the embodiment of maternal love. She was
believed to protect children from all kinds of harm, to see that mothers always
had sufficient milk to feed their babes, and to ease the pangs of childbirth.
She was also believed to protect from smallpox, a disease that children were
more susceptible to. Hariti was particularly popular wherever
Mahayana prevailed although shrines to her and images of her have been
found in Thailand and Indonesia and she is mentioned in the Sri Lankan epic,
the Mahavamsa. The worship of Hariti had declined
throughout most of the Buddhist world in recent centuries but she is still
popular in Nepal and in Japan, where she is known as Kariteimo.
