Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 18, Shloka 7
Adhyaya 18 — Arjuna Declines the Throne; Garga Directs Him to Dattatreya; The Gods Defeat the Daityas through Dattatreya’s Vision and the Movement of Lakshmi
गृह्णतो बलिषड्भागं नृपतेर्नरको ध्रुवम् ।
निरूपितमिदं राज्ञः पूर्वै रक्षणवेतनम् ॥
gṛhṇato bali-ṣaḍbhāgaṃ nṛpater narako dhruvam /
nirūpitam idaṃ rājñaḥ pūrvair rakṣaṇa-vetanam
जो राजा यथोचित रक्षा किए बिना बलि और छठा भाग लेता है, उसके लिए नरक निश्चित है। प्राचीनों ने इसे राजा की रक्षा-सेवा का वेतन ठहराया है; अर्थात् कर-ग्रहण केवल संरक्षण के बदले ही उचित है।
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FAQs
The verse defines taxation as remuneration for protection; extracting revenue without fulfilling that duty is not merely inefficient but gravely sinful with assured negative afterlife consequences.
Dharma (especially rājadharma) embedded in vaṃśānucarita; it supports Purāṇic moral governance as part of societal maintenance.
‘Rakṣaṇa-vetana’ encodes a dharmic economy: authority must circulate benefit. When circulation stops (taking without giving), the ruler’s spiritual trajectory collapses (naraka as the symbol of that collapse).