Shloka 42
पापात्म-धर्मात्म-लक्षणम् तथा निर्वेदेन मोक्षमार्गः | Marks of the Sinful and the Righteous; Dispassion (Nirveda) as a Path to Liberation
एवं नारीं मातरं च गौरवे चाधिके स्थिताम् | अवध्यां तु विजानीयु: पशवो<प्यविचक्षणा:
evaṁ nārīṁ mātaraṁ ca gaurave cādhike sthitām | avadhyāṁ tu vijānīyuḥ paśavo ’py avicakṣaṇāḥ ||
Assim, uma mulher e uma mãe —que se encontram numa posição de reverência superior— devem ser tidas como invioláveis; até os animais, embora sem discernimento, as reconhecem como intocáveis.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that women and mothers occupy a specially protected moral status: they are to be treated as inviolable and not subjected to harm, a norm presented as so fundamental that even animals instinctively recognize it.
In Shanti Parva’s dharma-instruction, Bhishma continues advising on righteous conduct and social ethics, emphasizing the duty to honor and protect women and mothers as beings worthy of the highest reverence.