Devanagari
अराजकभयादेष कृतो राजातदर्हण: ।
ततोऽप्यासीद्भयं त्वद्य कथं स्यात्स्वस्ति देहिनाम् ॥ ९ ॥
Verse text
arājaka-bhayād eṣa
kṛto rājātad-arhaṇaḥ
tato ’py āsīd bhayaṁ tv adya
kathaṁ syāt svasti dehinām
Synonyms
arājaka
—
being without a king
;
bhayāt
—
out of fear
;
eṣaḥ
—
this Vena
;
kṛtaḥ
—
was made
;
rājā
—
the king
;
a
—
tat — arhaṇaḥ — though not qualified for it
;
tataḥ
—
from him
;
api
—
also
;
āsīt
—
there was
;
bhayam
—
danger
;
tu
—
then
;
adya
—
now
;
katham
—
how
;
syāt
—
can there be
;
svasti
—
happiness
;
dehinām
—
of the people in general .
Translation
Thinking to save the state from irregularity, the sages began to consider that it was due to a political crisis that they made Vena king although he was not qualified. But alas, now the people were being disturbed by the king himself. Under such circumstances, how could the people be happy?
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Fearing a state without a King, they had made Vena King though he was not qualified. Therefore there was now fear of him. How will the people be happy?
Atad-arhaṇaḥ means “not qualified to be King.”
Purport
In
Bhagavad-gītā
(18.5)
it is stated that even in the renounced order one should not give up sacrifice, charity and penance. The
brahmacārīs
must perform sacrifices, the
gṛhasthas
must give in charity, and those in the renounced order of life (the
vānaprasthas
and
sannyāsīs
) must practice penance and austerities. These are the procedures by which everyone can be elevated to the spiritual platform. When the sages and saintly persons saw that King Vena had stopped all these functions, they became concerned about the people’s progress. Saintly people preach God consciousness, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, because they are anxious to save the general populace from the dangers of animalistic life. There must be a good government to see that the citizens are actually executing their religious rituals, and thieves and rogues must be curbed. When this is done, the people can advance peacefully in spiritual consciousness and make their lives successful.