Agni Purana — Raja-dharma, Shloka 60
Raṇadīkṣā (War-Consecration) — Agni Purāṇa Adhyāya 235
सेनानीर्निहताश्चायं भूपतिश्चापि विप्लुतः विद्रुतानान्तु योधानां मुखं घातो विधीयते
senānīrnihatāścāyaṃ bhūpatiścāpi viplutaḥ vidrutānāntu yodhānāṃ mukhaṃ ghāto vidhīyate
Cuando el comandante ha sido abatido y el rey también queda sumido en confusión, entonces, para los guerreros que huyen, se prescribe un golpe de frente (esto es, herirlos en el rostro o en la parte frontal).
Lord Agni (instructional narration to Vasiṣṭha in the Agni Purana’s encyclopedic discourse)
Primary Rasa: raudra
Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka
Sandhi Resolution Notes: सेनानीर्निहताश्चायम् = सेनानीः निहतः च अयम्; भूपतिश्चापि = भूपतिः च अपि; विद्रुतानान्तु = विद्रुतानाम् तु.
FAQs
It gives a Dhanurveda/Niti rule of battlefield control: when leadership collapses (commander slain, king unsettled), the prescribed tactical response is to strike the fleeing troops from the front to check their flight and restore order.
Beyond theology, the Agni Purana compiles practical statecraft and war-science. This verse is a compact procedural maxim on troop-management under crisis, illustrating its coverage of governance and military discipline alongside ritual and doctrine.
By framing battlefield conduct as 'vidhi' (a rule), it implies that even warfare should follow regulated duty (dharma) rather than panic or lawlessness—reducing adharma born from disorder and protecting the polity through disciplined action.