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## Āgama Sūtra 39, Chhedasūtra-5, 'Mahānishīth'
Just as snow and ice melt from the touch of the sun, so too does atonement melt away with the touch of the sun. Even in the darkest of nights, the darkness disappears with the rising of the sun. Similarly, atonement removes sins like darkness with the rising of the sun. However, one who performs atonement must ensure that they do not hide their strength, vigor, courage, and prowess, but instead, with a pure heart, they should remove the sin-burden. Otherwise, even if they perform atonement, they will wander in the four realms for a long time. (Sūtra - 1025-1027)
O Bhagvant! To whom should one confess? Who can give atonement? To whom can atonement be given? O Gautam! One can confess to a Kevali with a pure heart, even if they are a hundred yojanas away. In the absence of a Kevali, one can confess to a Chaturjñānī, and in their absence, to an Avadhijñānī, and in their absence, to a Śruta-jñānī, whose knowledge is most pure. (Sūtra - 1028-1030)
One should confess their sins, reveal them, and accept atonement from a Guru who is a guide on the path of renunciation, who travels on the path of renunciation, who has a taste for the path of renunciation, who conducts themselves with renunciation in all aspects, who is calm in nature, who controls their senses, who is disciplined, who is an ascetic, who is a firm follower of the principles of samiti-gupti, who is pure in heart. One should confess their sins to such a Guru, either by themselves or through others, and then always perform atonement according to the Guru's instructions. (Sūtra - 1031-1035)
O Bhagvant! What is the definite atonement for this? How many and what are the stages of atonement? Please tell me. O Gautam! A Śramaṇa with good conduct who commits a transgression receives atonement, while a disciplined sādhvī receives nine times more atonement. If the sādhvī violates her conduct, she receives nine times more atonement. This is because nine lakh living beings reside between her and the ordinary beings. Only a Kevali Bhagvant can see them. Only a Kevali can see these beings with their knowledge. An Avadhijñānī can see them, but a Manahparyavjñānī cannot. (Sūtra - 1036)
When a sādhvī or any woman or man engages in sexual intercourse, the living beings in her womb are churned like the grinding of flour in a mill, becoming intoxicated with lust. The five-sense beings in the womb are churned and reduced to ashes. (Sūtra - 1037-1041)
When a woman walks, these beings experience intense pain. When she urinates, two or three beings die, and the rest suffer. O Gautam! There are countless stages of atonement. If even one of them is neglected and the person dies with the sin-burden, then the sin they accumulate is greater than that of a cruel human who rips open the bellies of a hundred thousand women and removes their seven or eight-month-old fetuses. The pain of the writhing fetus is greater than the sin of the human who rips open the bellies. A sādhvī who engages in sexual intercourse with a sādhvī accumulates nine times more sin than the human who rips open the bellies. If a sādhvī engages in sexual intercourse with a sādhvī once, she accumulates a thousand times more sin, if she does it twice, she accumulates a crore times more sin, and if she does it a third time, she loses her Bodhi-samyaktvā.
Muni Dīparatnasāgar Kṛt (Mahānishīth) Āgama Sūtra - Hindi Translation
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