Is it necessary to declare sins publicly?

Question

I read somewhere that sins should not be kept secret. what is the scriptural opinion?

Answer 1

Declaring one's sins publicly or admitting to them is nothing but confession and according to scriptures confession is one of the means of destroying sins. See the following verses from Manu Smriti:

11.227. By confession, by repentance, by austerity, and by reciting (the Veda) a sinner is freed from guilt, and in case no other course is possible, by liberality

11.228. In proportion as a man who has done wrong, himself confesses it, even so far he is freed from guilt, as a snake from its slough.

11.229. In proportion as his heart loathes his evil deed, even so far is his body freed from that guilt

So, while it does not seem necessary but by doing so one can remove their sins effectively.

Answer 2

Yes, sins should be declared publicly. That is the scriptural opinion.

How to get rid of the effect of sins

Yudhisthira says,’…a perpetrated sin is expiated by auspicious acts, by publishing it wildly, by repentance, by alms-giving, by penances, by trips to tirthas after renunciation of everything, by constant meditation on the scriptures. Of all these, he that has practiced renunciation is believed to be incapable of committing sins anew.

Mahabharata Santi Parva Section VII

‘Vyasa said, 'By penances, religious rites, and gifts, O Bharata, a man may wash off his sins if he does not commit them again. By subsisting upon only one meal a day, that procured by mendicancy, by doing all his acts himself (without relying on the aid of a servant)....by becoming a brahmacharin (celibate) and always ready for exertion, by casting off all malice, by sleeping on bare ground, by publishing his offence to the world, by doing all this for full 12 years, a person can cleanse himself from his sin ......'

Mahabharata, Santi Parva, Section 36