Shloka 7

मातापितृगुरुपूजा-प्रशंसा

Praise of Venerating Mother, Father, and Teacher

Devanagari script

पिता वै गार्हपत्यो<ग्निर्मातानिनिर्दक्षिण: स्मृत: । गुरुराहवनीयस्तु साग्नित्रेता गरीयसी,पिता गार्हपत्य अग्नि हैं, माता दक्षिणाग्नि मानी गयी है और गुरु आहवनीय अग्निका स्वरूप है। लौकिक अग्नियोंसे माता-पिता आदि त्रिविध अग्नियोंका गौरव अधिक है

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | pitā vai gārhapatyo 'gnir mātā cāgnir dakṣiṇaḥ smṛtaḥ | gurur āhavanīyas tu sāgnitretā garīyasī ||

Translation

Bhishma sprach: „Der Vater ist wahrlich als das Gārhapatya-Feuer zu betrachten; die Mutter gilt als das Dakṣiṇa-Feuer; und der Lehrer ist die Gestalt des Āhavanīya-Feuers. So ist diese Dreiheit von ‘Feuern’, verkörpert in Eltern und Lehrmeister, an Ehre gewichtiger als die gewöhnlichen Ritualfeuer.“

Word by Word

पिताfather

वैindeed

गार्हपत्यःthe Gārhapatya (household) [fire]

अग्निःfire

माताmother

अनिर्दक्षिणःthe (Anir)Dākṣiṇa [fire] (i.e., the southern fire)

स्मृतःis remembered/considered

गुरुःteacher

आहवनीयःthe Āhavanīya (offering) [fire]

तुbut/and

सःhe/that (one)

अग्नित्रेताthe triad of fires

गरीयसीmore venerable/greater

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

father

mother

guru (teacher)

Gārhapatya fire

Dakṣiṇāgni (southern fire)

Āhavanīya fire

three sacred fires (agnitraya)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Parents and the teacher deserve the same (or greater) reverence as the sacred ritual fires; serving and honoring them is presented as a central ethical duty within dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma in the Shanti Parva, he uses Vedic ritual symbolism—identifying father, mother, and guru with the three fires—to emphasize their supreme sanctity and the obligation to honor them.