Shloka 14
भूमिदान-प्रसङ्गः । काश्यपी-पृथिवी तथा उतथ्य-वरुण-संवादः
Land-gift episode; Pṛthivī Kāśyapī; Utathya–Varuṇa dispute
कृत्वापि पापकं कर्म महापातकवर्जितम् | रहस्यधर्म श्रुत्वेमं सर्वपापै: प्रमुच्यते,मनुष्य महापातकको छोड़कर अन्य पापोंका आचरण करके भी यदि इस रहस्य- धर्मको सुन लेगा तो उन सम्पूर्ण पापोंसे मुक्त हो जायगा
kṛtvāpi pāpakaṃ karma mahāpātaka-varjitam | rahasya-dharmaṃ śrutvemam sarva-pāpaiḥ pramucyate ||
Skanda berkata: “Walaupun seseorang telah melakukan perbuatan berdosa—selagi bukan dosa besar yang membawa kebinasaan—dengan mendengar ajaran rahsia dharma ini, dia dibebaskan daripada semua dosa itu.”
स्कन्द उवाच
Educational Q&A
Hearing and receiving a profound, ‘secret’ dharmic instruction is presented as spiritually purifying: it can free a person from accumulated sins, with the important caveat that the gravest category of sins (mahāpātaka) is excluded from this general assurance.
Skanda is speaking within a didactic section of the Anuśāsana Parva, emphasizing the efficacy of a particular rahasya-dharma (inner teaching). The verse functions as a promise of moral-spiritual release for ordinary sins through attentive hearing of that teaching.