यदाभिषिक्तः पृथुरङ्ग विप्रै
रामन्त्रितो जनतायाश्च पालः ।
प्रजा निरन्ने क्षितिपृष्ठ एत्य
क्षुत्क्षामदेहाः पतिमभ्यवोचन् ॥९॥
maitreya uvÄca
yadÄbhiá¹£iktaḥ pá¹›thur aá¹…ga viprair
Ämantrito janatÄyÄÅ› ca pÄlaḥ
prajÄ niranne ká¹£iti-pṛṣá¹ha etya
ká¹£ut-ká¹£Äma-dehÄḥ patim abhyavocan
maitreyaḥ uvÄca - the great sage Maitreya said; yadÄ - when; abhiá¹£iktaḥ - was enthroned; pá¹›thuḥ - King Pá¹›thu; aá¹…ga - my dear Vidura; vipraiḥ - by the brÄhmaṇas; Ämantritaḥ - was declared; janatÄyÄḥ - of the people; ca - also; pÄlaḥ - the protector; prajÄḥ - the citizens; niranne - being without food grains; ká¹£iti-pṛṣá¹he - the surface of the globe; etya - coming near; ká¹£ut - by hunger; ká¹£Äma - skinny; dehÄḥ - their bodies; patim - to the protector; abhyavocan - they said.
The great sage Maitreya continued: My dear Vidura, at the time King Pá¹›thu was enthroned by the great sages and brÄhmaṇas and declared to be the protector of the citizens, there was a scarcity of food grains. The citizens actually became skinny due to starvation. Therefore they came before the King and informed him of their real situation.
Information is given herein concerning the selection of the king by the brÄhmaṇas. According to the varṇÄÅ›rama system, the brÄhmaṇas are considered to be the head of the society and therefore to be situated in the topmost social position. The varṇÄÅ›rama-dharma, the institution of four varṇas and four ÄÅ›ramas, is very scientifically designed. As stated in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ, varṇÄÅ›rama-dharma is not a man-made institution, but is God-made. In this narration it is clearly indicated that the brÄhmaṇas used to control the royal power. When an evil king like Vena ruled, the brÄhmaṇas would kill him through their brahminical powers and would select a proper ruler by testing his qualifications. In other words, the brÄhmaṇas, the intelligent men or great sages, would control the monarchical powers. Here we have an indication of how the brÄhmaṇas elected King Pá¹›thu to the throne as the protector of the citizens. The citizens, being skinny due to hunger, approached the King and informed him that necessary action should be taken. The structure of the varṇÄÅ›rama-dharma was so nice that the brÄhmaṇas would guide the head of state. The head of state would then give protection to the citizens. The ká¹£atriyas would take charge of protecting the people in general, and under the protection of the ká¹£atriyas, the vaiÅ›yas would protect the cows, produce food grains and distribute them. Śūdras, the working class, would help the higher three classes by manual labor. This is the perfect social system.
