Shloka 31
पापात्म-धर्मात्म-लक्षणम् तथा निर्वेदेन मोक्षमार्गः | Marks of the Sinful and the Righteous; Dispassion (Nirveda) as a Path to Liberation
“जब मातासे विछोह हो जाता है, उसी समय मनुष्य अपनेको बूढ़ा समझने लगता है, दुखी हो जाता है और उसके लिये सारा संसार सूना प्रतीत होने लगता है ।।
mātā-viyoge jāte tu tadāiva puruṣo naraḥ | vṛddhaṃ manyate cātmānaṃ duḥkhī bhavati caiva hi | tasya sarvaṃ jagac chūnyaṃ pratibhāti || nāsti mātṛ-samā chāyā nāsti mātṛ-samā gatiḥ | nāsti mātṛ-samaṃ trāṇaṃ nāsti mātṛ-samā priyā ||
Bhīṣma said: When separation from one’s mother occurs, a person at that very moment begins to think of himself as old; he becomes sorrowful, and the whole world appears empty to him. There is no shade like a mother’s—no refuge comparable to her sheltering presence. There is no support like a mother, no protection equal to hers, and for a child there is nothing as dear as the mother.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A mother’s presence is portrayed as the unmatched source of shelter, support, protection, and affection; losing her makes life feel suddenly aged and empty. Ethically, it urges reverence, gratitude, and care toward one’s mother as a foundational dharmic duty.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and right conduct. Here he emphasizes the unique role of the mother in human life, using vivid psychological effects of maternal separation to teach the value of familial bonds and duty.