Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, 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 ||
Wika ni Skanda: “Kahit ang tao’y nakagawa ng mga kasalanan—basta’t hindi kabilang sa mga dakilang kasalanang nakamamatay—kapag napakinggan niya ang lihim na aral ng dharma na ito, mapapalaya siya mula sa lahat ng mga kasalanang iyon.”
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.