Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 98
अस्य मे जननी हेतुः पावकस्य यथारणिः । माता देहारणिः पुंसः सर्वस्यार्थस्य निर्वृतिः
asya me jananī hetuḥ pāvakasya yathāraṇiḥ | mātā dehāraṇiḥ puṃsaḥ sarvasyārthasya nirvṛtiḥ
For me, my mother is the very cause of my coming forth, just as fire is born from the araṇi (fire-stick). The mother is the body’s araṇi for a man—the source from which all aims of life find fulfilment and peace.
Lomaharṣaṇa (Sūta), contextually addressing the sages (deduced from Māheśvarakhaṇḍa narration style)
Scene: A mother is depicted as the sacred araṇi: two fire-sticks being churned, from which a bright flame arises, visually paralleling childbirth and the emergence of life; the son offers reverence as if before a sacred fire.
FAQs
It teaches that honoring the mother is foundational, because she is the origin through whom life and life’s aims become possible.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; it functions as a dharma-teaching within the Kaumārikākhaṇḍa.
No explicit ritual is prescribed; the implied practice is reverence and service to the mother as dharma.