Agni Purana — Vyavahara, Shloka 31
वाक्पारुष्यादिप्रकरणम्
The Topic of Verbal Abuse and Related Offences
वृषक्षुद्रपशूनाञ्च पूंस्त्वस्य प्रतिघातकृत् साधारणस्यापलोपी दासीगर्भविनाशकृत्
vṛṣakṣudrapaśūnāñca pūṃstvasya pratighātakṛt sādhāraṇasyāpalopī dāsīgarbhavināśakṛt
Celui qui tue un taureau ou d’autres bêtes de petit bétail ; celui qui détruit la virilité d’un homme ; celui qui détourne un bien commun ; et celui qui provoque la fausse couche (destruction du fœtus) d’une esclave — tous sont comptés parmi les grands délinquants.
Lord Agni (in discourse to Sage Vasiṣṭha, the Agni Purana’s primary narration frame)
Vidya Category: {"primary_vidya":"Dharmashastra","secondary_vidya":"Arthashastra","practical_application":"Enumerates grievous offences affecting livelihood, bodily integrity, communal property, and reproductive harm—useful for classifying crimes and assigning heavier penalties.","sutra_style":true}
Encyclopedic Reference: {"reference_type":"List","entry_title":"Grievous offenders: cattle-killing, virility injury, common-property theft, miscarriage of a slave","lookup_keywords":["vṛṣa-vadha","puṃstva-pratighāta","sādhāraṇa-apalopa","dāsī-garbha-vināśa","mahāpātaka"],"quick_summary":"The verse groups serious harms—killing cattle (bull etc.), destroying a man’s virility, misappropriating common property, and causing miscarriage—marking them as grave offences warranting strong sanction."}
Concept: Protection of life, fertility, and shared resources is central to social dharma; violations are treated as aggravated wrongdoing.
Application: Prioritize enforcement against violent bodily harms and theft from communal assets; treat reproductive violence as a major offence.
Khanda Section: Rajadharma & Vyavahara (Dharma-shastra / Criminal Law and Social Offences)
Primary Rasa: raudra
Secondary Rasa: karuna
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A moral-legal tableau: a slain bull, a communal granary with someone stealing shared goods, a scene of assault causing virility injury, and a distressed pregnant slave woman—followed by a judge declaring these as grave offences.","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural, four-panel narrative with strong outlines: bull lying near a cowshed, communal storehouse theft, assault scene restrained but clear, pregnant woman protected by attendants; judge in final panel with danda staff","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore style, central justice figure with gold ornamentation, surrounding vignettes of the four offences, symbolic depiction (broken plough for cattle loss, sealed granary for common property), rich gold highlights","mysore_prompt":"Mysore painting, didactic composition with labeled scenes, emphasis on civic protection: cowshed, granary, court; muted depiction of bodily harm, clear moral instruction","mughal_miniature_prompt":"Mughal miniature, detailed rural and urban settings: cowshed with bull, granary accounting scene, court inquiry, expressive faces showing grief and anger, intricate textiles and architecture"}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"epic","suggested_raga":"Todi","pace":"medium","voice_tone":"instructional"}
Sandhi Resolution Notes: वृषक्षुद्रपशूनाञ्च → वृषक्षुद्रपशूनाम् + च; साधारणस्यापलोपी → साधारणस्य + अपलोपी.
Related Themes: Agni Purana 257 (graded offences; daṇḍa for bodily harms and property crimes)
FAQs
This verse imparts vyavahāra/dharma-vidyā: a technical classification of specific acts—animal-killing (especially a bull), emasculation/impairing virility, theft of communal goods, and causing miscarriage—as serious social and moral transgressions relevant to legal and expiatory frameworks.
By cataloging concrete offences with juridical-moral specificity, it shows the Agni Purana functioning not only as a mythic text but also as a practical digest of governance and law (rājadharma and vyavahāra), alongside its many other disciplines.
The verse frames these acts as heavy pāpa (sin) generating severe karmic consequence, indicating that harm to life, reproductive capacity, and shared/public resources is spiritually corrosive and demands restraint and (elsewhere in the text) appropriate prāyaścitta (expiation).