Devanagari
नावध्येय: प्रजापाल: प्रजाभिरघवानपि ।
यदसौ लोकपालानां बिभर्त्योज: स्वतेजसा ॥ २३ ॥
Verse text
nāvadhyeyaḥ prajā-pālaḥ
prajābhir aghavān api
yad asau loka-pālānāṁ
bibharty ojaḥ sva-tejasā
Synonyms
na
—
never
;
avadhyeyaḥ
—
to be insulted
;
prajā
—
pālaḥ — the king
;
prajābhiḥ
—
by the citizens
;
aghavān
—
ever sinful
;
api
—
even though
;
yat
—
because
;
asau
—
he
;
loka
—
pālānām — of many kings
;
bibharti
—
maintains
;
ojaḥ
—
prowess
;
sva
—
tejasā — by personal influence .
Translation
It is the duty of all citizens in a state never to insult the king, even though he sometimes appears to have done something very sinful. Because of his prowess, the king is always more influential than all other ruling chiefs.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The King, even if sinful, should not be disregarded by the citizens because he maintains the effectiveness of the devatās by his power.
Purport
According to Vedic civilization the king is supposed to be the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is called
nara-nārāyaṇa,
indicating that Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears in human society as the king. It is etiquette that neither a
brāhmaṇa
nor a
kṣatriya
king is ever insulted by the citizens; even though a king appears to be sinful, the citizens should not insult him. But in the case of Vena it appears that he was cursed by the
nara-devatās;
therefore, it was concluded that his sinful activities were very grievous.