Shloka 28
पापात्म-धर्मात्म-लक्षणम् तथा निर्वेदेन मोक्षमार्गः | Marks of the Sinful and the Righteous; Dispassion (Nirveda) as a Path to Liberation
पुत्रपौत्रोपपन्नोडपि जननीं यः समाश्रित: । अपि वर्षशतस्यान्ते स द्विहायनवच्चरेत्
putrapautropapanno 'pi jananīṁ yaḥ samāśritaḥ | api varṣaśatasyānte sa dvi-hāyanavad caret ||
Bhishma said: Even if a man is blessed with sons and grandsons, if he continues to live dependent upon his mother’s shelter, then even at the end of a hundred years he behaves in her presence like a two-year-old child.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Outer signs of adulthood—such as having children and grandchildren—do not automatically produce inner independence. If one remains wholly sheltered by one’s mother, one may continue to act with childlike dependence; dharma calls for maturity that balances reverence for the mother with personal responsibility.
In Bhishma’s instruction during the Shanti Parva, he uses a vivid comparison: a man who still relies on his mother’s shelter behaves before her like a two-year-old, even if he is extremely old. The statement functions as a moral observation within his broader counsel on conduct and social duties.