Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 16
नास्ति मातृसमो बन्धुर्बालानां क्षीरजीविनाम् । नास्ति मातृसमो नाथो नास्ति मातृसमा गतिः
nāsti mātṛsamo bandhurbālānāṃ kṣīrajīvinām | nāsti mātṛsamo nātho nāsti mātṛsamā gatiḥ
പാലിൽ ജീവിക്കുന്ന കുഞ്ഞുങ്ങൾക്ക് അമ്മയെപ്പോലെ ബന്ധുവില്ല; അമ്മയെപ്പോലെ രക്ഷകനില്ല; അമ്മയെപ്പോലെ ശരണം-ഗതിയുമില്ല.
Narrator (contextual teaching within the dialogue)
Scene: A calm tableau of mother and child: the mother seated, the child leaning close; the verse reads like a moral inscription, emphasizing refuge and protection.
FAQs
It establishes the mother as the highest worldly refuge for the vulnerable, making reverence and service to her a central pillar of dharma.
The verse is a general dharma maxim within a tīrtha-māhātmya chapter; no site is explicitly identified in the line.
No ritual act is specified; the instruction is moral—treat the mother as one’s foremost protector and refuge.