Agni Purana — Dharma-shastra, Shloka 37
Chapter 168 — महापातकादिकथनम्
Exposition of Great Sins and Related Topics
स्त्रीशूद्रविट्क्षत्रबधो नास्तिक्यञ्चोपपातकं ब्राह्मणस्य रुजः कृत्यं घ्रातिरघ्रेयमद्ययोः
strīśūdraviṭkṣatrabadho nāstikyañcopapātakaṃ brāhmaṇasya rujaḥ kṛtyaṃ ghrātiraghreyamadyayoḥ
Bagi seorang Brāhmaṇa, membunuh perempuan, Śūdra, Vaiśya, atau Kṣatriya, serta bersikap nāstikya (ingkar iman)—digolongkan sebagai upapātaka (dosa sekunder). Demikian pula: menimbulkan luka dan derita (rujā), melakukan kṛtyā (sihir/ritus gelap), serta mencium apa yang tidak patut dicium dan bau minuman memabukkan.
Lord Agni (narrating dharma and prāyaścitta norms to Vasiṣṭha)
Primary Rasa: bhayanaka
Secondary Rasa: shanta
Sandhi Resolution Notes: Resolved: नास्तिक्यञ्चोपपातकं→नास्तिक्यम्+च+उपपातकम्; घ्रातिरघ्रेयमद्ययोः→घ्रातिः+अघ्रेयमद्ययोः.
FAQs
It classifies specific acts—certain killings, nāstikya, causing injury, kṛtyā (harmful rites), and contact with forbidden smells/liquor—as upapātakas for a Brāhmaṇa, guiding what requires prāyaścitta (ritual expiation).
Alongside ritual and theology, the text also systematizes legal-ethical categories (sin taxonomy and purity rules), showing its dharma-shāstra-like coverage within a Purāṇic framework.
By naming these as upapātakas, it signals they generate serious demerit and ritual impurity but are remediable through prescribed expiations, emphasizing accountability and restoration of dharmic conduct.