Agni Purana — Raja-dharma, Shloka 3
Chapter 233 — Ṣāḍguṇya (The Six Measures of Royal Policy) and Foreign Daṇḍa
प्रकाशो ऽथ विषं वह्निर्विविधैः पुरुषैर् बधः दूषणञ्चैव साधूनामुदकानाञ्च दूषणं
prakāśo 'tha viṣaṃ vahnirvividhaiḥ puruṣair badhaḥ dūṣaṇañcaiva sādhūnāmudakānāñca dūṣaṇaṃ
तसेच गुपित उघड करणे, विषप्रयोग, अग्निप्रयोग, विविध व्यक्तींमार्फत वध, सज्जनांची बदनामी आणि जलस्रोतांचे दूषण—हेही (उपाय) आहेत.
Lord Agni (traditional Agni Purana narrator) addressing the sage Vasiṣṭha
Primary Rasa: bhayanaka
Secondary Rasa: raudra
Sandhi Resolution Notes: prakāśaḥ + atha → prakāśo 'tha; vahniḥ + vividhaiḥ → vahnir vividhaiḥ; dūṣaṇam + ca + eva → dūṣaṇañ caiva; sādhūnām + udakānām → sādhūnām udakānām.
FAQs
It lists major actionable harms—poisoning, arson, homicide, defamation of the virtuous, and pollution of water—used in rajadharma/danda-niti to classify serious offenses for governance and adjudication.
Beyond theology, it catalogs civic and legal concerns (public safety, reputation ethics, environmental/public-water protection), showing the text’s coverage of statecraft and social order alongside ritual and myth.
These acts are presented as grave adharma that harm society and purity; avoiding them (and restraining them through just rule) protects dharma and reduces heavy negative karma tied to violence, deceit, and communal pollution.