Mathru Panchakam

This is a sloka composed by Adi Shankara in praise of his mother. The status of a mother is that of godhood. The Vedas declare 'Mathru devo bhava'. The Mother is extolled as the god in many of our scriptures. We are all well aware of this.

But in these five verses, Adi Shankara is not simply extolling the mother as the god or vice versa. Though a sanyasin who had renounced the world, he laments at the death of his mother and feels bad that he was not able to do the duty of a son at the time of her death.