Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 9 Chapter 13 Verse 12

Canto 9: Liberation | Chapter 13: The Dynasty of Mahārāja Nimi

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.13.12

arājaka-bhayaḿ nṝṇāḿ

manyamānā maharṣayaḥ

dehaḿ mamanthuḥ sma nimeḥ

kumāraḥ samajāyata

SYNONYMS

arājaka-bhayam — due to fear of the danger of an unregulated government; nṝṇām — for the people in general; manyamānāḥ — considering this situation; mahā-ṛṣayaḥ — the great sages; deham — the body; mamanthuḥ — churned; sma — in the past; nimeḥ — of Mahārāja Nimi; kumāraḥ — one son; samajāyata — was thus born.

TRANSLATION

Thereafter, to save the people from the danger of an unregulated government, the sages churned Mahārāja Nimi's material body, from which, as a result, a son was born.

PURPORT

Arājaka-bhayam. If the government is unsteady and unregulated, there is danger of fear for the people. At the present moment this danger always exists because of government by the people. Here we can see that the great sages got a son from Nimi's material body to guide the citizens properly, for such guidance is the duty of a kṣatriya king. A kṣatriya is one who saves the citizens from being injured. In the so-called people's government there is no trained kṣatriya king; as soon as someone strong accumulates votes, he becomes the minister or president, without training from the learned brāhmaṇas expert in the śāstras. Indeed, we see that in some countries the government changes from party to party, and therefore the men in charge of the government are more eager to protect their position than to see that the citizens are happy. The Vedic civilization prefers monarchy. People liked the government of Lord Rāmacandra, the government of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira and the governments of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa and Mahārāja Prahlāda. There are many instances of excellent government under a monarch. Gradually the democratic government is becoming unfit for the needs of the people, and therefore some parties are trying to elect a dictator. A dictatorship is the same as a monarchy, but without a trained leader. Actually people will be happy when a trained leader, whether a monarch or a dictator, takes control of the government and rules the people according to the standard regulations of the authorized scriptures.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness