brahma-dviá¹£aḥ Å›aá¹ha-dhiyo
lubdhasya viá¹£ayÄtmanaḥ
ká¹£atra-bandhoḥ karma-doá¹£Ät
pañcatvaṠme gato 'rbhakaḥ
brahma - against brÄhmaṇas; dviá¹£aḥ - hateful; Å›aá¹ha - duplicitous; dhiyaḥ - whose mentality; lubdhasya - avaricious; viá¹£aya-Ätmanaḥ - addicted to sense gratification; ká¹£atra-bandhoḥ - of an unqualified ká¹£atriya; karma - in the performance of duties; doá¹£Ät - because of discrepancies; pañcatvam - death; me - my; gataḥ - met; arbhakaḥ - son.
[The brÄhmaṇa said:] This duplicitous, greedy enemy of brÄhmaṇas, this unqualified ruler addicted to sense pleasure, has caused my son’s death by some discrepancies in the execution of his duties.
Presuming that he himself had done nothing to cause his son’s death, the brÄhmaṇa thought it reasonable to blame King Ugrasena. In the Vedic social system, the monarch is considered responsible for everything occurring in his kingdom, good or bad. Even in a democracy, a manager who takes charge of some group or project should accept personal responsibility for any failure rather than, as is so common today, trying to place the blame on his subordinates or superiors.
