तस्यानुविहितोऽनाथा नाथ पाहि प्रजाः प्रभो ॥१७॥
tasmÄd idaá¹ daiva-tantraá¹
vyavasya bharatará¹£abha
tasyÄnuvihito 'nÄthÄ
nÄtha pÄhi prajÄḥ prabho
tasmÄt - therefore; idam - this; daiva-tantram - enchantment of providence only; vyavasya - ascertaining; bharata-ṛṣabha - O best among the descendants of Bharata; tasya - by Him; anuvihitaḥ - as desired; anÄthÄḥ - helpless; nÄtha - O master; pÄhi - just take care of; prajÄḥ - of the subjects; prabho - O Lord.
O best among the descendants of Bharata [Yudhiá¹£á¹hira], I maintain, therefore, that all this is within the plan of the Lord. Accepting the inconceivable plan of the Lord, you must follow it. You are now the appointed administrative head, and, my lord, you should now take care of those subjects who are now rendered helpless.
The popular saying is that a housewife teaches the daughter-in-law by teaching the daughter. Similarly, the Lord teaches the world by teaching the devotee. The devotee does not have to learn anything new from the Lord because the Lord teaches the sincere devotee always from within. Whenever, therefore, a show is made to teach the devotee, as in the case of the teachings of Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ, it is for teaching the less intelligent men. A devotee’s duty, therefore, is to ungrudgingly accept tribulations from the Lord as a benediction. The PÄṇá¸avas were advised by BhÄ«á¹£madeva to accept the responsibility of administration without hesitation. The poor subjects were without protection due to the Battle of Kuruká¹£etra, and they were awaiting the assumption of power by MahÄrÄja Yudhiá¹£á¹hira. A pure devotee of the Lord accepts tribulations as favors from the Lord. Since the Lord is absolute, there is no mundane difference between the two.
