Shloka 26
पापात्म-धर्मात्म-लक्षणम् तथा निर्वेदेन मोक्षमार्गः | Marks of the Sinful and the Righteous; Dispassion (Nirveda) as a Path to Liberation
माता देहारणि: पुंसां सर्वस्यार्तस्य निर्व॒ति: । मातृलाभे सनाथत्वमनाथत्वं विपर्यये
mātā dehāraṇiḥ puṁsāṁ sarvasyārtasya nirvṛtiḥ | mātṛlābhe sanāthatvam anāthatvaṁ viparyaye ||
Bhishma said: “A mother is the kindling-stick (araṇi) that brings forth the fire of a person’s embodied life. For all beings in distress, she is the source of comfort and relief. So long as one has one’s mother, one feels protected and not alone; when she is absent, one becomes truly orphaned.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the ethical and emotional centrality of the mother: she is the primary source of life’s nurture and the foremost refuge for the distressed; her presence gives a sense of protection (sanāthatva), and her absence creates profound vulnerability (anāthatva).
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and right conduct, Bhishma is teaching Yudhishthira through moral reflections; here he highlights the mother’s unique role as the giver of embodied life and as the natural shelter and consolation for suffering beings.