Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 57
उपाध्यायाद्दशाचार्य आचार्यात्तु शतं पिता । सहस्रं तु पितुर्माता गौरवेणातिरिच्यते
upādhyāyāddaśācārya ācāryāttu śataṃ pitā | sahasraṃ tu piturmātā gauraveṇātiricyate
En vénération, l’ācārya vaut dix fois l’upādhyāya; le père vaut cent fois l’ācārya; et la mère, en dignité, dépasse le père au millième.
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Scene: A household scene in Kāśī: a devotee bows first to mother, then father, then ācārya and upādhyāya seated in a teaching hall; the order of reverence is visually explicit.
FAQs
Dharma requires graded reverence: teachers are honored, yet parents—especially the mother—are held as supremely venerable.
The teaching is embedded in Kāśī Khaṇḍa’s dharma instruction, supporting Kāśī’s reputation as a land of right values.
Not a ritual act, but a dharmic prescription of honor and conduct toward instructors and parents.