Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 24
अत्रेः तपोबलप्रकाशः तथा च्यवनस्य सोमाधिकारः
Atri’s Illumination by Tapas; Cyavana and Soma-Entitlement
प्रायश्षित्तं च शान्तिं च जुहुयात् तेन मुच्यते । सावित्री रैवतीमिष्टिं कृूष्माण्डमघमर्षणम्
prāyaścittaṃ ca śāntiṃ ca juhuyāt tena mucyate | sāvitrīṃ raivatīm iṣṭiṃ kūṣmāṇḍam aghamarṣaṇam ||
Bhīṣma said: “One should perform expiatory rites and pacificatory offerings; by that one becomes freed from the fault. One should also offer the Savitrī and Raivatī iṣṭis, and the Kūṣmāṇḍa rite that ‘rubs away’ sin.”
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral and ritual faults are not treated as irreversible: one should undertake prescribed expiation (prāyaścitta) and pacificatory rites (śānti), including specific iṣṭis, to cleanse wrongdoing and restore auspicious order; through such disciplined remedial action one is released from the burden of sin.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma, he lists concrete remedial sacrifices/oblations—prāyaścitta and śānti offerings, along with Savitrī and Raivatī iṣṭis and the Kūṣmāṇḍa/aghāmarṣaṇa sin-dispelling rite—as means by which a person becomes freed from a transgression’s impurity and consequences.