Devanagari
मैत्रेय उवाच
भृग्वादयस्ते मुनयो लोकानां क्षेमदर्शिन: ।
गोप्तर्यसति वै नृणां पश्यन्त: पशुसाम्यताम् ॥ १ ॥
Verse text
maitreya uvāca
bhṛgv-ādayas te munayo
lokānāṁ kṣema-darśinaḥ
goptary asati vai nṝṇāṁ
paśyantaḥ paśu-sāmyatām
Synonyms
maitreyaḥ uvāca
—
the great sage Maitreya continued
;
bhṛgu
—
ādayaḥ — headed by Bhṛgu
;
te
—
all of them
;
munayaḥ
—
the great sages
;
lokānām
—
of the people
;
kṣema
—
darśinaḥ — who always aspire for the welfare
;
goptari
—
the King
;
asati
—
being absent
;
vai
—
certainly
;
nṝṇām
—
of all the citizens
;
paśyantaḥ
—
having understood
;
paśu
—
sāmyatām — existence on the level of the animals .
Translation
The great sage Maitreya continued: O great hero Vidura, the great sages, headed by Bhṛgu, were always thinking of the welfare of the people in general. When they saw that in the absence of King Aṅga there was no one to protect the interests of the people, they understood that without a ruler the people would become independent and nonregulated.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Maitreya said: Bhṛgu and other sages, seers of the people’s welfare, saw that in the absence of a king men would become like animals.
In the Fourteenth Chapter, after being installed as King by the sages, the irreligious Vena is given instructions, killed and then has his leg churned by the sages.
The sages saw that the people were similar to animals. Sāmyatam has the same meaning as samatām, “being equal to.” [Note: Svārthe ṣyaṣ Pāṇini 5.1.124, Vārtikā. ] As wolves or jackals kill sheep, so criminals would kill the citizens.
Purport
In this verse the significant word is
kṣema-darśinaḥ,
which refers to those who are always looking after the welfare of the people in general. All the great sages headed by Bhṛgu were always thinking of how to elevate all the people of the universe to the spiritual platform. Indeed, they advised the kings of every planet to rule the people with that ultimate goal of life in mind. The great sages used to advise the head of the state, or the king, and he used to rule the populace in accordance with their instruction. After the disappearance of King Aṅga, there was no one to follow the instructions of the great sages. Consequently all the citizens became unruly, so much so that they could be compared to animals. As described in
Bhagavad-gītā
(4.13)
, human society must be divided into four orders according to quality and work. In every society there must be an intelligent class, administrative class, productive class and worker class. In modern democracy these scientific divisions are turned topsy-turvy, and by vote
śūdras,
or workers, are chosen for administrative posts. Having no knowledge of the ultimate goal of life, such persons whimsically enact laws without knowledge of life’s purpose. The result is that no one is happy.