Agni Purana — Dharma-shastra, Shloka 39
Chapter 168 — महापातकादिकथनम्
Exposition of Great Sins and Related Topics
सङ्कीर्णकरणं ज्ञेयं मीनाहिनकुलस्य च निन्दितेभ्यो धनादानं बाणिज्यं शूद्रसेवनं
saṅkīrṇakaraṇaṃ jñeyaṃ mīnāhinakulasya ca ninditebhyo dhanādānaṃ bāṇijyaṃ śūdrasevanaṃ
ရောနှောဇာတိ (saṅkīrṇa) မျိုးရိုးတို့၏ အလုပ်အကိုင်များဟု သိရမည်မှာ—ငါးဖမ်းခြင်းနှင့် ငါးကို သတ်/ကိုင်တွယ်၍ ရောင်းဝယ်ခြင်း၊ မောင်းဂုစ် (ichneumon) ကို သတ်/ကိုင်တွယ်၍ ရောင်းဝယ်ခြင်း၊ ပြစ်တင်ခံရသူများထံ ငွေ (ချေးငွေ သို့မဟုတ် လှူဒါန်း) ပေးခြင်း၊ ကုန်သွယ်ရေး၊ နှင့် Śūdra များအောက်တွင် အမှုထမ်းခြင်းတို့ ဖြစ်သည်။
Lord Agni (in discourse to sage Vasiṣṭha, as per the Agni Purāṇa’s dominant narration frame)
Vidya Category: {"primary_vidya":"Dharmashastra","secondary_vidya":"Arthashastra","practical_application":"Classifies censured livelihoods and social conduct for saṅkīrṇa (mixed-origin) groups and prohibited economic relations, informing occupational ethics and social regulation.","sutra_style":true}
Encyclopedic Reference: {"reference_type":"List","entry_title":"Saṅkīrṇa-vṛtti (censured mixed-origin occupations and dealings)","lookup_keywords":["saṅkīrṇa","vṛtti","matsya-vāṇijya","nindita-dhanādāna","śūdra-sevā"],"quick_summary":"Identifies occupations and transactions treated as blameworthy—especially fishing-related trades, commerce tied to censured persons, and service under Śūdras—used for dharma-based livelihood assessment."}
Concept: Dharma regulates livelihood (ājīvikā) and social association; certain trades and financial dealings are marked as nindita (censured) due to perceived harm or impurity.
Application: Guides choices of profession, patronage, and service relationships; supports community arbitration on acceptable economic conduct.
Khanda Section: Dharma-shastra / Varna–Jati–Achara (Social conduct and mixed-caste occupations)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A didactic tableau of various livelihoods: fishermen with nets, traders with scales, a servant attending a master; a teacher points to a list of censured occupations.","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural, rishi teaching with narrative panels: fishing scene by a river, marketplace with scales, household service scene; bold outlines, traditional palette, moral annotation feel.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore style, central guru with gold halo, side compartments showing fisherman, merchant, and servant; rich ornamentation, symmetrical layout, didactic icon panels.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore painting, clean instructional composition: labeled vignettes of occupations (nets, fish baskets, weighing scales), guru and students, soft shading and fine detailing.","mughal_miniature_prompt":"Mughal miniature, bustling bazaar with merchants and fishermen, a scholar in the corner reading a dharma text, realistic objects (scales, coins), layered urban scene."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"instructional","suggested_raga":"Kalyani","pace":"medium","voice_tone":"instructional"}
Sandhi Resolution Notes: saṅkīrṇakaraṇam = saṅkīrṇa-karaṇam; mīnāhinakulasya = mīna-ahi-nakulasya; śūdrasevanam = śūdra-sevanam.
Related Themes: Agni Purana 168 (varṇa-jāti-ācāra prohibitions); Agni Purana 170 (prāyaścitta for censured acts)
FAQs
It classifies certain livelihoods and associations as characteristic of saṅkīrṇa (mixed-origin) conduct—especially censured trades (e.g., fishing/animal-handling), commerce, serving Śūdras, and financial dealings with nindita (blameworthy) persons.
Beyond theology, the Agni Purāṇa catalogs practical Dharma topics—social classification, occupational norms, and ethical boundaries—showing its coverage of law-like conduct rules alongside ritual and spiritual material.
The verse implies that livelihood and association affect purity and karmic standing; engaging in nindita connections or censured work is treated as spiritually degrading and thus to be recognized and avoided by those seeking dharmic conduct.