Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 24
अत्रेः तपोबलप्रकाशः तथा च्यवनस्य सोमाधिकारः
Atri’s Illumination by Tapas; Cyavana and Soma-Entitlement
प्रायश्षित्तं च शान्तिं च जुहुयात् तेन मुच्यते । सावित्री रैवतीमिष्टिं कृूष्माण्डमघमर्षणम्
prāyaścittaṃ ca śāntiṃ ca juhuyāt tena mucyate | sāvitrīṃ raivatīm iṣṭiṃ kūṣmāṇḍam aghamarṣaṇam ||
毗湿摩说：“应当行赎罪之仪（prāyaścitta）并作息灾安抚之供（śānti-homa）；由此便能从过失中解脱。又当奉献萨维特丽（Savitrī）与赖伐蒂（Raivatī）的 iṣṭi 祭，并修行能‘磨灭’罪垢的库什曼达（Kūṣmāṇḍa）仪轨。”
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral and ritual faults are not treated as irreversible: one should undertake prescribed expiation (prāyaścitta) and pacificatory rites (śānti), including specific iṣṭis, to cleanse wrongdoing and restore auspicious order; through such disciplined remedial action one is released from the burden of sin.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma, he lists concrete remedial sacrifices/oblations—prāyaścitta and śānti offerings, along with Savitrī and Raivatī iṣṭis and the Kūṣmāṇḍa/aghāmarṣaṇa sin-dispelling rite—as means by which a person becomes freed from a transgression’s impurity and consequences.