Shloka 105
भरतश्रेष्ठ! बड़ी बहिन भी माताके समान है। इसी तरह बड़े भाईकी पत्नी तथा बचपनमें जिसका दूध पिया गया हो, वह धाय भी माताके समान है ।। इति श्रीमहा भारते अनुशासनपर्वणि दानधर्मपर्वणि ज्येष्ठकनिष्ठवृत्तिर्नाम पञ्चाधिकशततमो<ध्याय:
bharataśreṣṭha! bṛhatī bhaginī api mātṛ-samānā. tathā bṛhataḥ bhrātuḥ patnī tathā ca bālye yasyāḥ stanyaṃ pītaṃ sā dhātrī api mātṛ-samānā.
Bhishma said: “O best of the Bharatas, an elder sister is to be regarded as equal to one’s mother. In the same way, the wife of one’s elder brother—and also the nurse from whom one drank milk in childhood—should likewise be treated as equal to one’s mother.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a rule of dharmic conduct: certain women in one’s family and upbringing—elder sister, elder brother’s wife, and the wet-nurse—must be honored with the same reverence and restraint one shows to one’s mother.
In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on norms of righteous behavior. Here he specifies who should be regarded as ‘mother-like’ (mātṛ-samā) to guide proper respect, boundaries, and gratitude within the household and society.