Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 473
आटद्य: प्रकीर्तितो राजन् सर्वपापप्रमोचन: । राजन! यह आदियमें होनेवाले देवता और ऋषियोंका मुख्य समुदाय अपने नामका कीर्तन करनेपर मनुष्यको सब पापोंसे मुक्त करता है
āṭadyaḥ prakīrtito rājan sarvapāpapramocanaḥ |
Bhīṣma said: “O King, Āṭadya has been proclaimed as a remover of all sins. By chanting his name, a person is freed from every sin—so declare the foremost assemblies of gods and ṛṣis that arise in the primordial age.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that sincere kīrtana (reverent chanting) of a sanctifying divine name—here Āṭadya—functions as a powerful means of moral purification, capable of releasing a person from accumulated pāpa.
In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs the king on dharma and expiatory means. Here he cites a traditional proclamation—attributed to the leading gatherings of gods and sages—that chanting Āṭadya’s name frees one from sins.