Agni Purana — Raja-dharma, Shloka 2
Chapter 237 — Rāma’s Teaching on Nīti (रामोक्तनीतिः)
राम उवाच न्यानेनार्जनमर्थस्य वर्धनं रक्षणं चरेत् सत्पात्रप्रतिपत्तिश् च राजवृत्तं चतुर्विधं
rāma uvāca nyānenārjanamarthasya vardhanaṃ rakṣaṇaṃ caret satpātrapratipattiś ca rājavṛttaṃ caturvidhaṃ
ရာမက မိန့်တော်မူသည်– တရားသောနည်းလမ်းဖြင့် ဥစ္စာကို ရယူရမည်၊ တိုးပွားစေရမည်၊ ကာကွယ်ထိန်းသိမ်းရမည်၊ ထို့ပြင် သင့်လျော်သော လက်ခံသူများထံ ခွဲဝေပေးရမည်။ မင်း၏ မှန်ကန်သော အကျင့်အကြံသည် လေးမျိုးရှိသည်။
Rama
Vidya Category: {"primary_vidya":"Arthashastra","secondary_vidya":"Dharmashastra","practical_application":"A four-part royal financial ethic: earn righteously, grow revenue, protect assets, and distribute to worthy recipients—usable as a governance checklist for treasury and charity policy.","sutra_style":true}
Encyclopedic Reference: {"reference_type":"Definition","entry_title":"Rājavṛtta—fourfold conduct regarding artha","lookup_keywords":["rājavṛtta","artha-arjana","vardhana","rakṣaṇa","satpātra"],"quick_summary":"Royal conduct is fourfold in relation to wealth: righteous acquisition, augmentation, protection, and proper allocation to deserving persons/institutions."}
Concept: Artha is legitimate when governed by nyāya and directed by satpātra-pratipatti; kingship is stewardship, not mere accumulation.
Application: Implement treasury policy with four ledgers: (1) lawful revenue sources, (2) growth investments, (3) safeguards/audits, (4) grants to satpātra (learned, needy, public works, dharmic institutions).
Khanda Section: Rājadharma (Governance and Statecraft)
Primary Rasa: Śānta
Secondary Rasa: Vīra
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A king in council with four symbolic actions: collecting lawful taxes, investing in granaries/irrigation, guarding the treasury, and giving gifts to worthy recipients (scholars, poor, temples).","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural, king with ministers, four-panel narrative: just tax collection, building granary, guards at treasury, dāna to satpātra; flat iconic figures, earthy palette, clear storytelling bands.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore painting, central king with gold ornaments; surrounding medallions showing the four duties, heavy gold leaf accents on treasury and gifts, temple-like arch framing.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore style, instructional tableau with labeled four scenes, refined lines, soft gradients; emphasis on administrative tools—scrolls, seals, granary, guarded chest, gift-giving gesture.","mughal_miniature_prompt":"Mughal miniature, detailed court administration: accountants with ledgers, irrigation works, armed guards, charitable distribution; architectural depth, fine textiles, naturalistic faces."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"instructional","suggested_raga":null,"pace":"medium","voice_tone":"instructional"}
Sandhi Resolution Notes: nyānenārjanamarthasya = nyānena + arjanam + arthasya; pratipattiś ca = pratipattiḥ + ca.
Related Themes: Agni Purana 237 (nīti section: rājadharma and conduct)
FAQs
It imparts rājadharma as a practical governance-vidyā: the fourfold management of state wealth—earn it lawfully, expand it, protect it, and distribute it to worthy recipients (satpātra).
Alongside ritual and theology, the Agni Purana also systematizes applied disciplines like polity and economics; this verse condenses treasury ethics and public-benefit distribution into a concise four-part framework.
Wealth gained and used through nyāya (justice) and given to satpātras is framed as dharmic artha—reducing wrongdoing in governance and generating merit through responsible stewardship and righteous giving.