Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 6
रात्रावहनि धर्मज्ञ जपन् पापैर्न लिप्यते । तत् ते5हं सम्प्रवक्ष्यामि शूणुष्वैकमना नूप
rātrāv ahani dharmajña japan pāpair na lipyate | tat te 'haṃ sampravakṣyāmi śṛṇuṣvaikamanā nṛpa dharmajña nareśvara ||
धर्मज्ञ नरेश्वर! जो रात-दिन इस मन्त्र का जप करता है, वह पापों से लिप्त नहीं होता। वही मन्त्र मैं तुम्हें बता रहा हूँ; राजन्, एकाग्र होकर सुनो।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Steady, disciplined mantra-repetition (japa), maintained continuously “by night and by day,” is presented as a purifying practice that prevents moral taint (pāpa-lepa). The verse also stresses the learner’s inner posture: attentive, single-minded listening and receptivity to dharmic instruction.
Bhīṣma, instructing the king in the Anuśāsana Parva, introduces a specific mantra/teaching. He first states its fruit—freedom from sinful taint through constant japa—and then asks the king to listen with focused attention as he is about to reveal it.