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
हे रहस्यांतीलही परम रहस्य आहे; ते प्रयत्नपूर्वक गुप्त ठेवावे. नास्तिकाला देऊ नये, आणि पापात रत असणाऱ्यालाही देऊ नये.
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.