Shloka 16
उपवासविधि-प्रश्नः
Inquiry into the Discipline of Fasting
माता गरीयसी यच्च तेनैतां मन्यते जन: । ज्येष्ठो भ्राता पितृसमो मृते पितरि भारत
mātā garīyasī yac ca tenaitāṃ manyate janaḥ | jyeṣṭho bhrātā pitṛ-samo mṛte pitari bhārata ||
Bhīṣma sprach: „Weil die Mutter gewichtiger (verehrungswürdiger) ist, erweist man ihr besondere Ehre. Und, o Bharata, wenn der Vater gestorben ist, soll der älteste Bruder dem Vater gleichgeachtet werden.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a hierarchy of familial reverence and responsibility: the mother is to be honored as foremost, and after the father's death the eldest brother assumes a father-like role, deserving corresponding respect and carrying corresponding duties.
In the Anushasana Parva, Bhishma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he lays down a rule of household and kinship conduct—how one should honor the mother and how authority and care in the family should pass to the eldest brother when the father is no longer alive.