Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.15.7

sa vai sva-dharmena prajā-pālana-poshana-prīnanopalālanānuśāsana-lakshanenejyādinā ca bhagavati mahā-purushe parāvare brahmani sarvātmanārpita-paramārtha-lakshanena brahmavic-caranānusevayāpādita-bhagavad-bhakti-yogena cābhīkshnaśah paribhāvitāti-śuddha-matir uparatānātmya ātmani svayam upalabhyamāna-brahmātmānubhavo 'pi nirabhimāna evāvanim ajūgupat

SYNONYMS

sah — that King Gaya; vai — indeed; sva-dharmena — by his own duty; prajā-pālana — of protecting the subjects; poshana — of maintaining them; prīnana — of making them happy in all respects; upalālana — of treating them as sons; anuśāsana — of sometimes chastising them for their mistakes; lakshanena — by the symptoms of a king; ijyā-ādinā — by performing the ritualistic ceremonies as recommended in the Vedas; ca — also; bhagavati — unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vishnu; mahā-purushe — the chief of all living entities; para-avare — the source of all living entities, from the highest, Lord Brahmā, to the lowest, like the insignificant ants; brahmani — unto Parabrahman, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva; sarva-ātmanā — in all respects; arpita — of being surrendered; parama-artha-lakshanena — with spiritual symptoms; brahma-vit — of self-realized, saintly devotees; carana-anusevayā — by the service of the lotus feet; āpādita — achieved; bhagavat-bhakti-yogena — by the practice of devotional service to the Lord; ca — also; abhīkshnaśah — continuously; paribhāvita — saturated; ati-śuddha-matih — whose completely pure consciousness (full realization that the body and mind are separate from the soul); uparata-anātmye — wherein identification with material things was stopped; ātmani — in his own self; svayam — personally; upalabhyamāna — being realized; brahma-ātma-anubhavah — perception of his own position as the Supreme Spirit; api — although; nirabhimānah — without false prestige; eva — in this way; avanim — the whole world; ajūgupat — ruled strictly according to the Vedic principles.

TRANSLATION

King Gaya gave full protection and security to the citizens so that their personal property would not be disturbed by undesirable elements. He also saw that there was sufficient food to feed all the citizens. [This is called poshana.] He would sometimes distribute gifts to the citizens to satisfy them. [This is called prīnana.] He would sometimes call meetings and satisfy the citizens with sweet words. [This is called upalālana.] He would also give them good instructions on how to become first-class citizens. [This is called anuśāsana.] Such were the characteristics of King Gaya's royal order. Besides all this, King Gaya was a householder who strictly observed the rules and regulations of household life. He performed sacrifices and was an unalloyed pure devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He was called Mahāpurusha because as a king he gave the citizens all facilities, and as a householder he executed all his duties so that at the end he became a strict devotee of the Supreme Lord. As a devotee, he was always ready to give respect to other devotees and to engage in the devotional service of the Lord. This is the bhakti-yoga process. Due to all these transcendental activities, King Gaya was always free from the bodily conception. He was full in Brahman realization, and consequently he was always jubilant. He did not experience material lamentation. Although he was perfect in all respects, he was not proud, nor was he anxious to rule the kingdom.

PURPORT

As Lord Krishna states in Bhagavad-gītā, when He descends on earth, He has two types of business — to give protection to the faithful and annihilate the demons (paritrānāya sādhūnām vināśāya ca dushkritām [Bg. 4.8]). Since the king is the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he is sometimes called nara-deva, that is, the Lord as a human being. According to the Vedic injunctions, he is worshiped as God on the material platform. As a representative of the Supreme Lord, the king had the duty to protect the citizens in a perfect way so that they would not be anxious for food and protection and so that they would be jubilant. The king would supply everything for their benefit, and because of this he would levy taxes. If the king or government otherwise levies taxes on the citizens, he becomes responsible for the sinful activities of the citizens. In Kali-yuga, monarchy is abolished because the kings themselves are subjected to the influence of Kali-yuga. It is understood from the Rāmāyana that when Bibhīshana became friends with Lord Rāmacandra, he promised that if by chance or will he broke the laws of friendship with Lord Rāmacandra, he would become a brāhmana or a king in Kali-yuga. In this age, as Bibhīshana indicated, both brāhmanas and kings are in a wretched condition. Actually there are no kings or brāhmanas in this age, and due to their absence the whole world is in a chaotic condition and is always in distress. Compared to present standards, Mahārāja Gaya was a true representative of Lord Vishnu; therefore he was known as Mahāpurusha.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness