Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 108
रहस्यानां रहस्यं तु गोपनीयं प्रयत्नतः । नास्तिकाय न दातव्यं न च पापरताय च
rahasyānāṃ rahasyaṃ tu gopanīyaṃ prayatnataḥ | nāstikāya na dātavyaṃ na ca pāparatāya ca
এটি রহস্যেরও রহস্য; একে যত্নসহকারে গোপন রাখতে হয়। নাস্তিককে এটি দেওয়া উচিত নয়, আর পাপে আসক্ত ব্যক্তিকেও নয়।
Śiva
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra
Type: kshetra
Listener: Devī
Scene: A solemn moment: Śiva lowers his voice, indicating secrecy; Devī listens intently. The environment suggests a sanctum-like privacy—dim lamps, closed pavilion, manuscript wrapped in cloth—symbolizing guarded rahasya.
FAQs
Sacred knowledge requires adhikāra (fitness); it must be protected from disbelief and immoral living.
The verse is part of Prabhāsa-kṣetra’s māhātmya discourse, linking right transmission to the sanctity of the place.
A prescription of restraint: do not transmit the rahasya to nāstikas or pāpa-ratas.