Shloka 18
मातापितृगुरुपूजा-प्रशंसा
Praise of Venerating Mother, Father, and Teacher
गुरुत्वेनाभिभवति नास्ति मातृसमो गुरु: । आचार्य सदा दस श्रोत्रियोंसे बढ़कर है। उपाध्याय (विद्यागुरु) दस आचार्योसे अधिक महत्त्व रखता है
guru-tvenābhibhavati nāsti mātṛ-samaḥ guruḥ | ācāryaḥ sadā daśa śrotriyebhyo ’dhikaḥ | upādhyāyo daśācāryebhyo ’dhikaḥ | pitā daśopādhyāyebhyo ’dhikaḥ | mātā daśa-pitṛbhyo ’py adhikā | sā ekā sva-gauraveṇa sarvāṃ pṛthivīm api tiraskaroti | ataḥ mātṛ-samaḥ anyaḥ ko ’pi guruḥ nāsti || guruḥ garīyān pitṛto mātṛtaś ca iti me matiḥ ||
ビーシュマは言った。「敬いの秤において、母に勝る者はない。母に等しい師もまた存在しない。アーチャーリヤ（ācārya）は学識あるシュロートリヤ（śrotriya）十人に勝り、ウパーディヤーヤ（upādhyāya）はアーチャーリヤ十人に勝る。父はウパーディヤーヤ十人に勝り、母はさらに父十人にも勝る。母はそのただ一つの威徳によって全大地をも凌駕する。ゆえに母に比すべきグルはない—わが判断では、グルは父より重く、母はなお重い。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma ranks sources of authority and gratitude, concluding that the mother is the highest object of reverence—greater even than learned teachers and the father—because her singular dignity and sacrifice ground one’s very life and moral formation.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma advises Yudhishthira by laying out a hierarchy of venerable figures (śrotriya, ācārya, upādhyāya, father, mother) to clarify whom one must honor most and why.