In plain words
“I am serving my parents, Swami,” said Puṇḍarīka. “Surely God is greater than parents! Will you not look upon Me just once?” said Pāṇḍuraṅga. “For me, my parents alone are the gods before my eyes. Until my parents fall asleep, I cannot look upon You. If You wish to give me darśan, stand on this brick until then,” Puṇḍarīka said as he tossed a brick. Then Pāṇḍuraṅga, praising Puṇḍarīka: “My child! If all had such devotion to mother and father as yours, the world would always be safe and prosperous. Good sons like you must grow in number in the world,” He said.
The lesson his mother taught the boy Gandhi
Putlibai kept a vow. She would not eat without first hearing the cuckoo's call. When Gandhi was a small child, one day he noticed that though it was three in the afternoon his mother still had not eaten, so he went behind the house and called like a cuckoo. At once he came back inside: “Mother! The cuckoo has called! Now you can eat,” he said. Seeing that her son was telling a lie, that mother, in a rage she could not hold back, dragged Gandhi by the ear and slapped him twice on the cheek. “It is my misfortune that a liar like you was born from my womb,” she said, grieving deeply. Then Gandhi repented and begged his mother to forgive his wrong. He vowed that never again in his life would he tell an untruth. In this way, in ancient times, mothers taught their children right ways and worked hard to set them on the good path. Such exemplary mothers are very rare in the world today. Mothers who hope, “My son must score high marks in the examination; he must take great degrees; he must hold a great job; he must earn lakhs,” are a hundred out of a hundred; but “My child! Pray to God. Do not forget God”: mothers who teach their children so are nowhere to be found. For that very reason the land of Bhārata has had to sink under its troubles.