धर्मपालो नरपतिः स तु सम्राड्बृहच्छ्रवाः ।
साक्षान्महाभागवतो राजर्षिर्हयमेधयाट् ।
क्षुत्तृट्श्रमयुतो दीनो नैवास्मच्छापमर्हति ॥४६॥

dharma-pÄlo nara-patiḥ
sa tu samrÄḠbá¹›hac-chravÄḥ
sÄká¹£Än mahÄ-bhÄgavato
rÄjará¹£ir haya-medhayÄá¹­
kṣut-tṛṭ-śrama-yuto dīno
naivÄsmac chÄpam arhati

 dharma-pÄlaḥ - the protector of religion; nara-patiḥ - the King; saḥ - he; tu - but; samrÄá¹­ - Emperor; bá¹›hat - highly; Å›ravÄḥ - celebrated; sÄká¹£Ät - directly; mahÄ-bhÄgavataḥ - the first-class devotee of the Lord; rÄja-ṛṣiḥ - saint amongst the royal order; haya-medhayÄá¹­ - great performer of horse sacrifices; ká¹£ut - hunger; tṛṭ - thirst; Å›rama-yutaḥ - tired and fatigued; dÄ«naḥ - stricken; na - never; eva - thus; asmat - by us; Å›Äpam - curse; arhati - deserves.


Text

The Emperor Parīkṣit is a pious king. He is highly celebrated and is a first-class devotee of the Personality of Godhead. He is a saint amongst royalty, and he has performed many horse sacrifices. When such a king is tired and fatigued, being stricken with hunger and thirst, he does not at all deserve to be cursed.

Purport

After explaining the general codes relating to the royal position and asserting that the king can do no wrong and therefore is never to be condemned, the sage ÅšamÄ«ka wanted to say something about Emperor ParÄ«ká¹£it specifically. The specific qualification of MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it is summarized herein. The King, even calculated as a king only, was most celebrated as a ruler who administered the religious principles of the royal order. In the Å›Ästras the duties of all castes and orders of society are prescribed. All the qualities of a ká¹£atriya mentioned in the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (18.43) were present in the person of the Emperor. He was also a great devotee of the Lord and a self-realized soul. Cursing such a king, when he was tired and fatigued with hunger and thirst, was not at all proper. ÅšamÄ«ka Ṛṣi thus admitted from all sides that MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it was cursed most unjustly. Although all the brÄhmaṇas were aloof from the incident, still for the childish action of a brÄhmaṇa boy the whole world situation was changed. Thus Ṛṣi ÅšamÄ«ka, a brÄhmaṇa, took responsibility for all deterioration of the good orders of the world.