Agni Purana — Raja-dharma, Shloka 44
Chapter 238 — राजधर्माः (Rājadharmāḥ) | Duties of Kings
कुर्यादुद्योगसम्पन्नानध्यक्षान् सर्वकर्मसु कृषिर्वणिक्पथो दुर्गं सेतुः कुञ्जरबन्धनं
kuryādudyogasampannānadhyakṣān sarvakarmasu kṛṣirvaṇikpatho durgaṃ setuḥ kuñjarabandhanaṃ
ဘုရင်သည် အစိုးရလုပ်ငန်းအားလုံးတွင် ကြိုးပမ်းအားထုတ်တတ်၍ ထိရောက်ကျွမ်းကျင်သော အုပ်ချုပ်ရေးမှူးများ (အဓ്യക്ഷ) ကို ခန့်အပ်သင့်သည်—စိုက်ပျိုးရေး၊ ကုန်သွယ်လမ်းကြောင်းများ၊ ကာကွယ်ရေးခံတပ်များ၊ တံတား/တံတားလမ်းများ၊ နှင့် ဆင်များကို ချည်နှောင်ထိန်းသိမ်း စီမံခန့်ခွဲခြင်းတို့အတွက် ဖြစ်သည်။
Lord Agni (in dialogue with sage Vasiṣṭha)
Vidya Category: {"primary_vidya":"Arthashastra","secondary_vidya":"Samanya","practical_application":"Public administration: appoint competent superintendents for key state sectors—agriculture, trade routes, fortifications, bridges/causeways, and elephant management—ensuring infrastructure and security.","sutra_style":true}
Encyclopedic Reference: {"reference_type":"List","entry_title":"State superintendents for works: agriculture, trade routes, forts, bridges, elephants","lookup_keywords":["adhyakṣa","kṛṣi","vaṇikpatha","durga","setu","kuñjara-bandhana"],"quick_summary":"Effective governance requires specialized, energetic officers for each major public work and strategic asset. Sectoral oversight stabilizes food supply, commerce, defense, connectivity, and war-elephant readiness."}
Weapon Type: Elephants (gaja) as war asset; forts as defensive system
Concept: Dharma of rulership expressed as competent delegation (adhyakṣa system) and maintenance of the material bases of prosperity and security.
Application: Modern analogue: ministries/departments with accountable leadership for agriculture, transport, defense infrastructure, and strategic assets.
Khanda Section: Rajadharma (Governance, administration, and public works)
Primary Rasa: vira
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A montage of state works: an officer overseeing ploughing and granaries; merchants on a trade road; engineers building a bridge; soldiers inspecting a fort; mahouts managing tethered elephants.","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural, segmented narrative panels: kṛṣi fields, vaṇikpatha with caravans, durga with ramparts, setu over river, kuñjara-bandhana with elephants and mahouts, bold outlines and traditional palette","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore painting, gold accents on royal insignia and fort gates, five vignettes around a central king appointing adhyakṣas, ornate borders","mysore_prompt":"Mysore painting, technical-instructional feel: labeled scenes ‘kṛṣi’, ‘vaṇikpatha’, ‘durga’, ‘setu’, ‘kuñjara-bandhana’, fine detailing of tools, bridge structure, and elephant gear","mughal_miniature_prompt":"Mughal miniature, panoramic administrative landscape: cultivated fields, bustling road with traders, stone bridge, hill-fort, elephant stables, naturalistic animals and architecture"}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"instructional","suggested_raga":"Bhairav","pace":"medium","voice_tone":"instructional"}
Sandhi Resolution Notes: कुर्यादुद्योगसम्पन्नानध्यक्षान् = कुर्यात् + उद्योगसम्पन्नान् + अध्यक्षान्; कृषिर्वणिक्पथो = कृषिः + वणिक्पथः
Related Themes: Agni Purana Rajadharma material on forts, roads, taxation, and army organization (near 238–240)
FAQs
Administrative vidyā (rāja-nīti): selecting capable superintendents (adhyakṣas) to oversee key sectors—agriculture, commerce routes, fortification, bridge/embankment works, and elephant management.
It treats practical statecraft alongside religious lore, detailing governance infrastructure—trade roads, forts, bridges, and war-logistics (elephants)—showing the text’s wide coverage beyond purely ritual or mythic topics.
By ensuring orderly administration and well-managed public works, a ruler supports dharma (social stability and welfare), which is traditionally held to generate merit through protection and prosperity of subjects.