Agni Purana — Raja-dharma, Shloka 4
Chapter 231 — शकुनानि (Śakunāni) | Omens in Governance, Travel, and War
प्रोषितागमकृत्काकः कुर्वन् द्वारि गतागतं रक्तं दग्धं गृहे द्रव्यं क्षिपन्वह्निवेदकः
proṣitāgamakṛtkākaḥ kurvan dvāri gatāgataṃ raktaṃ dagdhaṃ gṛhe dravyaṃ kṣipanvahnivedakaḥ
အိမ်ရှင်မရှိချိန်တွင် ဝင်ထွက်ရန် အကြောင်းပြချက်များကို စီစဉ်ကာ၊ တံခါးဝ၌ သွားလာလှုပ်ရှားနေပြီး၊ အိမ်ထဲသို့ အနီရောင် သို့မဟုတ် မီးလောင်ထားသော ပစ္စည်းများကို ပစ်ချသူသည် “ကျီးကဲ့သို့” ပြုမူသူဖြစ်၍ မီးလောင်မှု (မီးရှို့မှု) ကို ညွှန်ပြ သို့မဟုတ် ပြင်ဆင်နေသူဖြစ်သည်။
Lord Agni (narrating Rajadharma material, traditionally to Vasiṣṭha)
Vidya Category: {"primary_vidya":"Arthashastra","secondary_vidya":"Dharmashastra","practical_application":"Identify suspicious behavior indicating theft/arson preparation: repeated doorway loitering during owner’s absence and planting burnt/red materials; enables preventive policing and evidence gathering.","sutra_style":true}
Encyclopedic Reference: {"reference_type":"Description","entry_title":"Arsonist/thief indicators: kāka-vṛtti at the doorway and planting burnt/red matter","lookup_keywords":["chora","agni-daha","arson","doorway","kaka-vritti"],"quick_summary":"A suspect who repeatedly comes and goes at the door when the master is away, and who throws red/burnt substances into the house, is marked as an informer/preparer of fire—an actionable forensic sign for guards."}
Concept: Rakṣaṇa (protection) and apramāda (non-negligence) in civic life; adharma manifests as covert harm like arson.
Application: Institutionalize vigilance: neighborhood watch, gatekeeping, and rapid response to fire-signs.
Khanda Section: Rajadharma / Chora-nigraha (Signs of thieves and arson; forensic indicators)
Primary Rasa: bhayanaka
Secondary Rasa: vira
Type: Kingdom
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A suspicious man lurks at a doorway while the homeowner is away, repeatedly entering and exiting; he discreetly tosses burnt/red material inside as guards observe from concealment.","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural, street-front house with prominent doorway, suspicious figure pacing, guards hidden behind a pillar, burnt/red fragments shown clearly, bold narrative clarity and flat colors","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore, dramatic doorway scene with gold accents on doorframe and guard ornaments, culprit mid-gesture dropping burnt material, strong contrast, moralizing tone","mysore_prompt":"Mysore painting, investigative tableau: guard notes, suspect’s repeated path drawn, evidence items (burnt/red) displayed, calm didactic composition","mughal_miniature_prompt":"Mughal miniature, detailed urban lane, textured walls and door, suspect in subtle motion, guards watching, small evidence pieces rendered precisely, realistic expressions"}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"instructional","suggested_raga":"Shankarabharanam","pace":"medium","voice_tone":"instructional"}
Sandhi Resolution Notes: proṣitāgamakṛt-kākaḥ = proṣita-āgama-kṛt-kākaḥ; gatāgataṃ = gata-āgatam; kṣipanvahnivedakaḥ = kṣipan vahni-vedakaḥ.
Related Themes: Agni Purana 231 (nimittas connected to crime and protection)
FAQs
Practical statecraft and security knowledge: behavioral markers for identifying a suspicious person who may be scouting a house for theft or arson, especially when the homeowner is away.
It shows the Purana’s coverage beyond theology—into governance and public safety—by listing concrete, observable indicators of criminals (including potential arson), functioning like an early manual of policing and risk detection.
By enabling prevention of harm (fire, loss of property, danger to life), the instruction supports dharmic kingship and household protection; averting violence and destruction is treated as upholding dharma and reducing collective harm (pāpa).