सर्वत्रास्खलितादेशः सप्तद्वीपैकदण्डधृक् ।
अन्यत्र ब्राह्मणकुलादन्यत्राच्युतगोत्रतः ॥१२॥

sarvatrÄskhalitÄdeÅ›aḥ
sapta-dvÄ«paika-daṇá¸a-dhá¹›k
anyatra brÄhmaṇa-kulÄd
anyatrÄcyuta-gotrataḥ

 sarvatra - everywhere; askhalita - irrevocable; ÄdeÅ›aḥ - order; sapta-dvÄ«pa - seven islands; eka - one; daṇá¸a-dhá¹›k - the ruler who holds the scepter; anyatra - except; brÄhmaṇa-kulÄt - brÄhmaṇas and saintly persons; anyatra - except; acyuta-gotrataḥ - descendants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead (Vaiṣṇavas).


Text

MahÄrÄja Pá¹›thu was an unrivaled king and possessed the scepter for ruling all the seven islands on the surface of the globe. No one could disobey his irrevocable orders but the saintly persons, the brÄhmaṇas and the descendants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead [the Vaiṣṇavas].

Purport

Sapta-dvÄ«pa refers to the seven great islands or continents on the surface of the globe: (1) Asia, (2) Europe, (3) Africa, (4) North America, (5) South America, (6) Australia and (7) Oceania. In the modern age people are under the impression that during the Vedic period or the prehistoric ages America and many other parts of the world had not been discovered, but that is not a fact. Pá¹›thu MahÄrÄja ruled over the world many thousands of years before the so-called prehistoric age, and it is clearly mentioned here that in those days not only were all the different parts of the world known, but they were ruled by one king, MahÄrÄja Pá¹›thu. The country where Pá¹›thu MahÄrÄja resided must have been India because it is stated in the eleventh verse of this chapter that he lived in the tract of land between the rivers Ganges and YamunÄ. This tract of land, which is called BrahmÄvarta, consists of what is known in the modern age as portions of Punjab and northern India. It is clear that the kings of India once ruled all the world and that their culture was Vedic.

The word askhalita indicates that orders by the king could not be disobeyed by anyone in the entire world. Such orders, however, were never issued to control saintly persons or the descendants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu. The Supreme Lord is known as Acyuta, and Lord Kṛṣṇa is addressed as such by Arjuna in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (senayor ubhayor madhye rathaá¹ sthÄpaya me ’cyuta). Acyuta refers to one who does not fall because He is never influenced by the modes of material nature. When a living entity falls down to the material world from his original position, he becomes cyuta, which means that he forgets his relationship with Acyuta. Actually every living entity is a part and parcel, or a son, of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When influenced by the modes of material nature, a living entity forgets this relationship and thinks in terms of different species of life; but when he again comes to his original consciousness, he does not observe such bodily designations. This is indicated in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (5.18) by the words paṇá¸itÄḥ sama-darÅ›inaḥ.

Material designations create differentiation in terms of caste, color, creed, nationality, etc. Different gotras, or family designations, are distinctions in terms of the material body, but when one comes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness he immediately becomes one of the Acyuta-gotra, or descendants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and thus becomes transcendental to all considerations of caste, creed, color and nationality.

Pá¹›thu MahÄrÄja had no control over the brÄhmaṇa-kula, which refers to the learned scholars in Vedic knowledge, nor over the Vaiṣṇavas, who are above the considerations of Vedic knowledge. It is therefore said:

arcye viṣṇau Å›ilÄ-dhÄ«r guruá¹£u nara-matir vaiṣṇave jÄti-buddhir
 viṣṇor vÄ vaiṣṇavÄnÄá¹ kali-mala-mathane pÄda-tÄ«rthe ’mbu-buddhiḥ
Å›rÄ«-viṣṇor nÄmni mantre sakala-kaluá¹£a-he Å›abda-sÄmÄnya-buddhir
 viṣṇau sarveÅ›vareÅ›e tad-itara-sama-dhÄ«r yasya vÄ nÄrakÄ« saḥ

“One who thinks the Deity in the temple to be made of wood or stone, who thinks of the spiritual master in the disciplic succession as an ordinary man, who thinks the Vaiṣṇava in the Acyuta-gotra to belong to a certain caste or creed or who thinks of caraṇÄmá¹›ta or Ganges water as ordinary water is taken to be a resident of hell.†(Padma PurÄṇa)

From the facts presented in this verse, it appears that people in general should be controlled by a king until they come to the platform of Vaiṣṇavas and brÄhmaṇas, who are not under the control of anyone. BrÄhmaṇa refers to one who knows Brahman, or the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth, and a Vaiṣṇava is one who serves the Supreme Personality of Godhead.