SB 1.12.18 (1964)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT No. 18
Sri Raja Uvacha Api esha banshan rajarshin punyslokan mahatmanah Anurvartitaswid yasasa sadhuvadena sattamah.
ENGLISH SYNONYMS
Sri Raja—the all good king (Maharaj Yudhisthir), Uvacha—said, Api—whether, Esha—this, Banshan—family, Rajarshin—of sainly kings, Punyaslokan—pious by the very name, Mahatmanan—all great souls, Anuvartita—follower, Swid—will it be, Yasasa—by achievements, Sadhuvadena—by glorification, Sattamah—oh the great souls.
TRANSLATION
The all good King enquired, "Oh the geat souls, will he become as saintly a king, pious by the very name and famous and glorified by achievements, as those who appeared in this great royal family?"
PURPORT
The forefathers of King Yudhisthir were all great saintly kings pious by the very name and glorified by their great achievements. They were all saints on the Royal Throne. And, therefore, all the members of the state were happy, pious, well behaved, prosperous, and spiritually enlightened. Under strict guidance of the great souls and spiritual injuctions such great saintly Kings were trained up and as results of that, the kingdom was full of saintly persons and a happy land of spiritual life. Maharaj Yudhisthir was himself a prototype of his ancestors and he desired that the next King after him shall also become exactly his great forefathers. He was happy to learn from the learned Brahmins by astrological calculations mentioned above,-that the child is born a first-grade devotee of the Lord and to be more confident he wants to know whether the child was going to follow the footprints of the great forefathers. That is the way of monarchical state. The reigning king should be pious, chivalrous, devotee of the Lord, fear personified for the upstarts and must leave an heir apparent equally qualified to rule over the innocent citizens. In the modern set up of democratic states, the people themselves are fallen to the qualities of the Sudras or less than them, and the Government is run by their representative without any scriptural mode of administrative education. As such the whole atmosphere is surcharged with Sudra quality manifested by lust and avarice. Such administrators quarrel every day between themselves: The cabinet of ministers change often on party and group selfishness. Everyone wants to exploit the state resources till he dies. Nobody retires from political life unless they are forced to do so. How such low grade man can do any good to the people. The result is corruption, intrigue and hypocrisy. They should learn from the Srimad Bhagwatam how ideal the administrators must be before they can be given over the charge of different posts.