Devanagari
तोकानां पितरौ बन्धू दृश: पक्ष्म स्त्रिया: पति: ।
पति: प्रजानां भिक्षूणां गृह्यज्ञानां बुध: सुहृत् ॥ १२ ॥
Verse text
tokānāṁ pitarau bandhū
dṛśaḥ pakṣma striyāḥ patiḥ
patiḥ prajānāṁ bhikṣūṇāṁ
gṛhy ajṣānāṁ budhaḥ suhṛt
Synonyms
tokānām
—
of children
;
pitarau
—
the two parents
;
bandhū
—
the friends
;
dṛśaḥ
—
of the eye
;
pakṣma
—
the eyelid
;
striyāḥ
—
of the woman
;
patiḥ
—
the husband
;
patiḥ
—
the protector
;
prajānām
—
of the subjects
;
bhikṣūṇām
—
of the beggars
;
gṛhī
—
the householder
;
ajṣānām
—
of the ignorant
;
budhaḥ
—
the learned
;
su
—
hṛt — the friend .
Translation
As the father and mother are the friends and maintainers of their children, as the eyelid is the protector of the eye, as the husband is the maintainer and protector of a woman, as the householder is the maintainer and protector of beggars, and as the learned is the friend of the ignorant, so the king is the protector and giver of life to all his subjects. The trees are also subjects of the king. Therefore they should be given protection.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The king protects the citizens just as the parents protect the children, the eyelid protects the eye, the husband protects his wife, the householder protects those who beg food, and the intelligent person protects the ignorant.
You are the protectors of the population. The trees and other entities are the population. The population should be protected. You must protect them. You cannot destroy them. Five examples are given. Tokānām means children. Striyāḥ patiḥ is a husband. Prajānām patiḥ is a king.
Purport
By the supreme will of the Personality of Godhead, there are various protectors and maintainers for helpless living entities. The trees are also considered
prajās,
subjects of the king, and therefore the duty of the monarch is to protect even the trees, not to speak of others. The king is duty-bound to protect the living entities in his kingdom. Thus although the parents are directly responsible for the protection and maintenance of their children, the duty of the king is to see that all parents do their duty properly. Similarly, the king is also responsible for overseeing the other protectors mentioned in this verse. It may also be noted that the beggars who should be maintained by the householders are not professional beggars, but
sannyāsīs
and
brāhmaṇas,
to whom the householders should supply food and clothing.