Vamana Purana — Harihara Revelation, Shloka 16
Harihara Revelation and the Kurukshetra Tirtha Cycle: Sthanu in Vishnu and the Sanctification of Saptasarasvata
आलस्यं वै षोडशममाक्रोशं च विशेषतः सर्वस्य चाततायित्वलमावासेष्वग्निदीपनम्
ālasyaṃ vai ṣoḍaśamamākrośaṃ ca viśeṣataḥ sarvasya cātatāyitvalamāvāseṣvagnidīpanam
Sloth is indeed the sixteenth (item), and especially abusive shouting/insult. And (there is) being an ‘ātatāyin’ toward all (i.e., acting as a violent aggressor), and the kindling of fire in the dwellings of the lame/helpless (i.e., arson against the vulnerable).
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FAQs
Purāṇic ethics treats ālasya as a root-obstacle to dharma: it prevents study, worship, charity, livelihood, and self-discipline. Because it indirectly enables many other wrongs, it is catalogued alongside overt harms.
Ātatāyin is a technical dharma term for a grievous aggressor (e.g., arsonist, poisoner, armed attacker). Such acts threaten communal safety; hence the text marks them as especially condemnable and karmically weighty.
It intensifies the moral gravity by highlighting exploitation of those least able to defend themselves. Purāṇic dharma repeatedly frames sin not only as violence, but as violence compounded by targeting the vulnerable.