Srimad Bhagavatam – 1.17.10~11 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | 17 September 2025!
Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya
Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya
Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya
nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracharine
nirvishesha-shunyavadi-pashchatya-desha-tarine
jaya sri-krishna-chaitanya
prabhu nityananda
sri-adwaita gadadhara
shrivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Reading from Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Chapter 17 Verse 10-11.
ŚB 1.17.10-11
यस्य राष्ट्रे प्रजा: सर्वास्त्रस्यन्ते साध्व्यसाधुभि: ।
तस्य मत्तस्य नश्यन्ति कीर्तिरायुर्भगो गति: ॥ १० ॥
एष राज्ञां परो धर्मो ह्यार्तानामार्तिनिग्रह: ।
अत एनं वधिष्यामि भूतद्रुहमसत्तमम् ॥ ११ ॥
yasya rāṣṭre prajāḥ sarvās
trasyante sādhvy asādhubhiḥ
tasya mattasya naśyanti
kīrtir āyur bhago gatiḥ
eṣa rājñāṁ paro dharmo
hy ārtānām ārti-nigrahaḥ
ata enaṁ vadhiṣyāmi
bhūta-druham asattamam
Synonyms
yasya — one whose; rāṣṭre — in the state; prajāḥ — living beings; sarvāḥ — one and all; trasyante — are terrified; sādhvi — O chaste one; asādhubhiḥ — by the miscreants; tasya — his; mattasya — of the illusioned; naśyanti — vanishes; kīrtiḥ — fame; āyuḥ — duration of life; bhagaḥ — fortune; gatiḥ — good rebirth; eṣaḥ — these are; rājñām — of the kings; paraḥ — superior; dharmaḥ — occupation; hi — certainly; ārtānām — of the sufferers; ārti — sufferings; nigrahaḥ — subduing; ataḥ — therefore; enam — this man; vadhiṣyāmi — I shall kill; bhūta-druham — revolter against other living beings; asat-tamam — the most wretched.
Translation
O chaste one, the king’s good name, duration of life and good rebirth vanish when all kinds of living beings are terrified by miscreants in his kingdom. It is certainly the prime duty of the king to subdue first the sufferings of those who suffer. Therefore I must kill this most wretched man because he is violent against other living beings.
Purport
When there is some disturbance caused by wild animals in a village or town, the police or others take action to kill them. Similarly, it is the duty of the government to kill at once all bad social elements such as thieves, dacoits and murderers. The same punishment is also due to animal killers because the animals of the state are also the prajā. Prajā means one who has taken birth in the state, and this includes both men and animals. Any living being who takes birth in a state has the primary right to live under the protection of the king. The jungle animals are also subject to the king, and they also have a right to live. So what to speak of domestic animals like the cows and bulls.
Any living being, if he terrifies other living beings, is a most wretched subject, and the king should at once kill such a disturbing element. As the wild animal is killed when it creates disturbances, similarly any man who unnecessarily kills or terrifies the jungle animals or other animals must be punished at once. By the law of the Supreme Lord, all living beings, in whatever shape they may be, are the sons of the Lord, and no one has any right to kill another animal, unless it is so ordered by the codes of natural law. The tiger can kill a lower animal for his subsistence, but a man cannot kill an animal for his subsistence. That is the law of God, who has created the law that a living being subsists by eating another living being. Thus the vegetarians are also living by eating other living beings. Therefore, the law is that one should live only by eating specific living beings, as ordained by the law of God. The Īśopaniṣad directs that one should live by the direction of the Lord and not at one’s sweet will. A man can subsist on varieties of grains, fruits and milk ordained by God, and there is no need of animal food, save and except in particular cases.
The illusioned king or executive head, even though sometimes advertised as a great philosopher and learned scholar, will allow slaughterhouses in the state without knowing that torturing poor animals clears the way to hell for such foolish kings or executive heads. The executive head must always be alert to the safety of the prajās, both man and animal, and inquire whether a particular living being is harassed at any place by another living being. The harassing living being must at once be caught and put to death, as shown by Mahārāja Parīkṣit.
The people’s government, or government by the people, should not allow killing of innocent animals by the sweet will of foolish government men. They must know the codes of God, as mentioned in the revealed scriptures. Mahārāja Parīkṣit quotes here that according to the codes of God the irresponsible king or state executive jeopardizes his good name, duration of life, power and strength and ultimately his progressive march towards a better life and salvation after death. Such foolish men do not even believe in the existence of a next life.
While commenting on this particular verse, we have in our presence the statement of a great modern politician who has recently died and left his will, which discloses his poor fund of knowledge of the codes of God mentioned by Mahārāja Parīkṣit. The politician was so ignorant of the codes of God that he writes: “I do not believe in any such ceremonies, and to submit to them, even as a matter of form, would be hypocrisy and an attempt to delude ourselves and others…. I have no religious sentiment in the matter.”
Contrasting these statements of a great politician in the modern age with those of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, we find a vast difference. Mahārāja Parīkṣit was pious according to the scriptural codes, whereas the modern politician goes by his personal belief and sentiments. Any great man of the material world is, after all, a conditioned soul. He is bound by his hands and feet by the ropes of material nature, and still the foolish conditioned soul thinks of himself as free to act by his whimsical sentiments. The conclusion is that people in the time of Mahārāja Parīkṣit were happy, and the animals were given proper protection because the executive head was not whimsical or ignorant of God’s law. Foolish, faithless creatures try to avoid the existence of the Lord and proclaim themselves secular at the cost of valuable human life. The human life is especially meant for knowing the science of God, but foolish creatures, especially in this Age of Kali, instead of knowing God scientifically, make propaganda against religious belief as well as the existence of God, even though they are always bound by the laws of God by the symptoms of birth, death, old age and disease.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So, this is Maharaj Parikshit speaking to the earth. And he is talking about the responsibility of the king. And the responsibility of the king is to protect the citizens. And if the citizens are frightened and suffering for some reason, the king has to solve that problem. And because the personification of Kali is giving suffering to the bull and the cow, then he says, I must kill this Kali.
So, in other words, the status quo of the earth depends on minimizing the violence. But as Prabhupada explains in the purport, one living entity has to survive of another living entity, so naturally there must be violence of some sort. And in the animal kingdom, the animals kill each other or they eat plants. Human being is bound by laws. These laws are not followed by the animals and the plants. So that is the difference between human being and animal.
Of course, some people will say, I don’t want to follow any laws. But usually we will find that all societies, all civilizations do have laws, if you don’t follow the laws, you are not part of that kingdom. But how to determine the laws? We can make up laws as what they do in modern governments, it’s all laws made up by human beings. And to a certain extent, they agree with some of the laws in scripture, because they are trying to keep peace in the society.
However, because we are not completely intelligent with all knowledge, we will miss some of the laws. So these are the laws which are contained in the scriptures. Many of the laws agree with the modern laws. And to that extent, societies try to minimize violence. But as Prabhupada points out in the purport, violence is not only to the human beings, it’s also violence to animals and plants. So the scriptures give rules for minimizing violence to human beings, to the animals, and to plants. And the king is responsible for instituting those laws. And if someone breaks the law, they must get punished.
Of course, there is another law. This is the law of karma. So if the king doesn’t punish, the law of karma will produce the punishment. So therefore, we have a whole system of rules made by a king following scripture to minimize the punishment given by the law of karma. So if you get punished by the government, then you don’t have to get the punishment from the law of karma. But if you escape the government law, then the law of karma will act. So, the system is there for the welfare of the human being. But the laws are there also for the welfare of the plants, animals, and the whole earth. And that’s why there is a relationship between dharma and the earth. Which is symbolized by the bull and the cow. So, when the laws are followed and the king implements all the laws, then that means dharma is strong. If dharma is strong, people minimize their violence. And consequently, the earth is happy. And so the earth gives proper sustenance to the human being. So this is the simple system set up by the Supreme Lord. This obviously applies to a material world where jivas have material bodies.
In the spiritual world, you don’t have to depend on food to live. There is no thirst, there is no hunger in the spiritual world. So even if you don’t eat and drink water, you’re not hungry, you’re not thirsty. The Jiva lives there eternally without any dependence on anything else. However, there is dependence on the Supreme Lord. That’s also eternal dependence. And it is that dependence which nourishes the Jiva in the spiritual world. So instead of food, we have Prema. We don’t survive on food in the spiritual world, we survive on Prema. So, spiritual world is quite different from the material world. One only gets to the spiritual world if one has Prema. And this means that one does not identify with the material body. One does not try to get enjoyment for oneself.
And the whole cause of the material world with its bodies and its laws is because living entities are trying to enjoy. So it’s because of this desire to enjoy with the body in the material world that the Jiva eats, mates, defends, etc.. But to do that, the Jiva has to commit violence against other living entities. And then he gets karma and then he suffers. So in order to enjoy, you have to end up with suffering. So, the whole purpose of that is to not desire enjoyment for the self. So we give up enjoyment of the body, etc., then we get free of the material body, we get liberation.
So this whole peculiar dependence of the material body on other living entities for surviving, is an arrangement in the material world to give us a lesson. It is impossible to have eternal happiness in the material world. And if we want eternal happiness, then we have to give up this desire to get our own enjoyment. In other words, the solution to the problem is to recognize that we are the eternal servant of the Lord. And to realize that, then we have to do bhakti yoga.
So, in the second canto of Bhagavatam, there it says that this process of bhakti yoga is an eternal process. We do it in the material world. We also do it in the spiritual world. And we can do it at any place. So any place in the material world, heaven or hell or earth or any dvipa, or in the spiritual world. And of course, we can do it even before birth, as we see in the case of someone like Prahlada hearing in the womb, or when you are dying. You can do it as a child, as we see with Prahlada and Dhruva. And of course, we have many examples of adults performing bhakti in the Bhagavatam. And it’s applicable to everyone: Sudra, Vaishya, Kshatriya, Brahmana, Mleccha, dog-eater, anybody. It’s available for anyone in any ashrama. So one may be a brahmachari, a grihastha, vanaprastha or sannyasi, but they all can do bhakti. There is bhakti in all yugas. There is bhakti throughout the day of Brahma. There is bhakti every day of Brahma for the life of Brahma. And there is bhakti eternally in the spiritual world. So therefore, bhakti is for all time and all places. So, it is eternal in the spiritual world, and by doing it in the material world, we solve all these problems described in this verse.
So, the king is responsible for implementing the rules. And if the citizens follow these rules, then they get a minimum of suffering and a maximum of material enjoyment. Of course, there is always some sort of compromise. In order to get the maximum happiness, you have to control your senses. And for some, controlling the senses means suffering. So then people will say, why should I suffer? I won’t control my senses, but then they will suffer more. So because of this, many people don’t want to follow the rules. They modify the rules so that they get maximum enjoyment. So, for the human being, it’s impossible to decide which rules to follow and how much to follow the rules, and that’s why we have scripture.
So the scriptures give us some standards that a human being is not capable of understanding. But if they are implemented properly, then the society prospers. The problem with laws is, they cannot cover every possible circumstance. Sometimes it’s difficult to decide what is crime and what is not crime. Of course, scripture provides general rule and exceptions to the rule. But then we have exceptions to that also. So, it sometimes becomes very complicated how to apply all the rules. So that is why we need a person to finally judge everything.
So the king is also responsible not only for implementing the laws, but then judging all the cases. And in this way, then finally punishment is allotted. So it is a system that requires great intelligence to apply properly. And thus, it is the Supreme Lord himself that empowers certain Jivas to take up this responsibility of ruling. And of course, sometimes this gets challenged. So, in the case of Kurukshetra war, it was a challenge to the proper authority and finally Krishna intervened and the Pandavas were put on the throne. And of course, then we see here that Parikshit is the last remaining descendant and he carries on the proper method of ruling. So that is illustrated in this whole chapter.
Hare Krsna!