Acharya Mahaprajna
Shishu and Vriddha Svasthya
It is also important from the point of view of the child's health not to create the atmosphere of fear. Bhagvan Mahavira paid the greatest attention to the power of abhaya. Without abhaya there is no non-violence and without nonviolence there is no health. Without health there is no progress in the direction of Dharma nor is there the necessary development of the body.
Out of selfishness, some women show the tendency of threatening and frightening the child. If the child cries or obstructs her work she promptly says, "The ghost would come if you don't behave". The child is so scared that it sinks into silence. Every time the mother frightens the child that way, the child is seized with terror. That feeling or fear sinks so deep within that the child can never be without fear. He has to face the consequences of that feeling all through his life. Because of her own selfishness, the mother sows in the child's mind the seeds of the fear complex. If any fear has got to be inspired in the mind of the child, the mother should say, "You would fall ill if you don't eat this food."
Fear may at times be necessary from the point of view of health and discretion in eating. But when the mother drives the child into a fear complex for her own selfish purpose, it can become a problem from the point of view of his health.
