Agni Purana — Raja-dharma, Shloka 13
Adhyaya 222 — राजधर्माः
Rājadharmāḥ): Duties of Kings (Administrative Order, Protection, and Revenue Ethics
रक्षिता तद्भयेभ्यस्तु राज्ञो भवति सा प्रजाअप्_२२२०१२च्दरक्षिता सा भवति तेषामेवेह भोजनं दुष्टसम्मर्दनं कुर्याच्छास्त्रोक्तं करमाददेत्
rakṣitā tadbhayebhyastu rājño bhavati sā prajāap_222012cdarakṣitā sā bhavati teṣāmeveha bhojanaṃ duṣṭasammardanaṃ kuryācchāstroktaṃ karamādadet
ထိုအန္တရာယ်များမှ ပြည်သူတို့ကို ကာကွယ်နိုင်လျှင် သူတို့သည် မင်း၏ ပြည်သူအဖြစ် အမှန်တကယ် ဖြစ်၏။ မကာကွယ်လျှင် သူတို့သည် မင်း၏ မဟုတ်တော့။ ဤနိုင်ငံတွင် မင်း၏ အာဟာရနှင့် အသက်မွေးမှုသည် သူတို့ထံမှသာ ဖြစ်သဖြင့်၊ မကောင်းသူတို့ကို နှိမ်နင်းကာ သာස්တရအမိန့်အတိုင်း အခွန်ကို ကောက်ယူရမည်။
Lord Agni (in instruction on rajadharma, narrating to Vasiṣṭha)
Vidya Category: {"primary_vidya":"Arthashastra","secondary_vidya":"Dharmashastra","practical_application":"Defines the social contract: protection creates allegiance; revenue is justified only from protected subjects; mandates suppression of criminals and śāstra-compliant taxation.","sutra_style":true}
Encyclopedic Reference: {"reference_type":"Description","entry_title":"Protection-based sovereignty, suppression of the wicked, and śāstric taxation","lookup_keywords":["rakṣita prajā","daṇḍa","duṣṭa-sammardana","kara","śāstroktam"],"quick_summary":"Protected people truly ‘belong’ to the king and sustain the realm; therefore he must crush the wicked and levy taxes strictly according to śāstra."}
Weapon Type: Sword/Mace (generic daṇḍa as coercive power)
Concept: Daṇḍa and kara are legitimate only when aligned with rakṣaṇa and śāstra; protection is the basis of political belonging.
Application: Link revenue policy to service delivery; enforce rule-of-law taxation; prioritize internal security against predatory actors.
Khanda Section: Rajadharma (Kingship, Law, and Governance)
Primary Rasa: vira
Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A king with guards driving away wicked men while citizens stand safely; an official collecting tax according to a written śāstra/ledger, emphasizing lawful revenue.","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural, king with raised daṇḍa (scepter) and guards subduing bandits, protected villagers behind, a scroll labeled ‘śāstra’ near the tax chest, bold moral tableau.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore painting, king in regal posture with gold-leaf throne, subdued criminals at feet, orderly tax collection with a scripture/ledger, luminous court setting.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore painting, two-part instructional scene: (1) policing action against duṣṭas, (2) tax collection with measured scales and written rule; fine lines and calm clarity.","mughal_miniature_prompt":"Mughal miniature, city gate security scene with captured thieves, adjacent revenue office with clerks and measured tax, architectural realism and narrative sequencing."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"authoritative","suggested_raga":"Darbari Kanada","pace":"medium","voice_tone":"epic"}
Sandhi Resolution Notes: tadbhayebhyastu → tadbhayebhyaḥ + tu; teṣāmeveha → teṣām + eva + iha; kuryācchāstroktaṃ → kuryāt + śāstroktaṃ; karamādadet → karam + ādadet. The string 'ap_222012cd' is treated as an editorial marker and excluded from pada analysis.
Related Themes: Agni Purana Rajadharma chapters on daṇḍanīti, taxation rates, and protection of subjects; Agni Purana Nīti material on suppressing thieves and maintaining order
FAQs
It imparts rajadharma as practical statecraft: a king must provide security, suppress criminals, and levy taxes only according to śāstric rules.
Beyond theology, it codifies political ethics and administration—linking public protection, revenue, and punishment—showing the Agni Purana’s coverage of governance alongside ritual and doctrine.
Protection of subjects is treated as a king’s dharma; just taxation and restraining the wicked uphold order (dharma), generating merit and preventing the karmic fault of exploitation or negligence.