Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 14, Shloka 57
Adhyaya 14 — The Messenger of Yama Explains Karmic Retribution and the Causes of Naraka Torments
गोबाह्मणाग्नयः स्पृष्टा यैरुच्छिष्टैर्नरेश्वर ।
तेषामेतेऽग्निकुम्भेषु लेलिह्यन्त्याहिताः कराः ॥
gobāhmaṇāgnayaḥ spṛṣṭā yairucchiṣṭairnareśvara / teṣāmete 'gnikumbheṣu lelihyantyāhitāḥ karāḥ
大王啊，凡以自身食余不净（ucchiṣṭa）而触及母牛、婆罗门与圣火者——其人之手被置于火器之中，在彼处恒为火焰所舔噬。
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FAQs
Purity rules are not mere externalism here: they encode reverence and restraint. Careless defilement of sacred recipients (cow, Brāhmaṇa, fire) is treated as sacrilege, with punishment directed at the offending organ—hands.
Dharma/karmaphala instruction; not pañcalakṣaṇa.
Hands symbolize agency (kartṛtva). Fire symbolizes moral law and transformation. The image teaches that misused agency is ‘processed’ by the very principle it offended—Agni as purifier becomes Agni as tormentor.