Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 58
नराणामशुभं सर्वे व्यपोहन्ति प्रकीर्तिता: । साक्षिभूता महात्मान: पापस्य सुकृतस्य च,ये महात्मा सब मनुष्योंके पाप-पुण्यके साक्षी हैं। इनका नाम लेनेपर ये सब लोग मानवोंके अमंगलका नाश करते हैं
narāṇām aśubhaṁ sarve vyapohanti prakīrtitāḥ | sākṣibhūtā mahātmānaḥ pāpasya sukṛtasya ca ||
Bhishma said: “When these great-souled ones—who stand as witnesses to human sin and merit—are praised and their names are proclaimed, they dispel every inauspiciousness that befalls people.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Remembering and praising truly great and righteous beings—those who embody moral awareness and stand as ‘witnesses’ to virtue and vice—has a purifying, protective effect: it helps dispel inauspiciousness and turns the mind toward dharma.
In Bhishma’s instruction to Yudhishthira in the Anushasana Parva, he describes the power and moral authority of ‘mahātmans’ who witness human conduct; he states that their praise or invocation removes misfortune for people.