Devanagari
एवं सदा कर्मकलापमात्मन:
परेऽधियज्ञे भगवत्यधोक्षजे ।
सर्वात्मभावं विदधन्महीमिमां
तन्निष्ठविप्राभिहित: शशास ह ॥ २१ ॥
Verse text
evaṁ sadā karma-kalāpam ātmanaḥ
pare ’dhiyajṣe bhagavaty adhokṣaje
sarvātma-bhāvaṁ vidadhan mahīm imāṁ
tan-niṣṭha-viprābhihitaḥ śaśāsa ha
Synonyms
evam
—
thus (living a devotional life)
;
sadā
—
always
;
karma
—
kalāpam — the prescribed occupational duties as a kṣatriya king
;
ātmanaḥ
—
of himself, personally (the head of the state)
;
pare
—
unto the supreme transcendence
;
adhiyajṣe
—
unto the supreme proprietor, the supreme enjoyer
;
bhagavati
—
unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
adhokṣaje
—
unto He who is beyond material sense perception
;
sarva
—
ātma — bhāvam — all different varieties of devotional service
;
vidadhat
—
executing, offering
;
mahīm
—
the planet earth
;
imām
—
this
;
tat
—
niṣṭha — who are faithful devotees of the Lord
;
vipra
—
by such brāhmaṇas
;
abhihitaḥ
—
directed
;
śaśāsa
—
ruled
;
ha
—
in the past .
Translation
In performing his prescribed duties as king, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa always offered the results of his royal activities to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, who is the enjoyer of everything and is beyond the perception of material senses. He certainly took advice from brāhmaṇas who were faithful devotees of the Lord, and thus he ruled the planet earth without difficulty.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Performing devotional acts daily with rati by his mind and senses to the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, whose worship is superior to other processes, he ruled the world, taking advice from devotee brāhmaṇas.
Always offering his devotion actions with rati, using his mind and senses (sarvātma-bhāvam) to the supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, whose worship is superior to jṣāna and austerity (adhiyajṣe), he ruled the world taught by devotee brāhmaṇas who said, “Worship the Lord twenty-four hours a day with all your senses and mind and assign the task of ruling the world to competent representatives.”
Purport
As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā
(5.29)
:
bhoktāraṁ yajṣa-tapasāṁ
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
jṣātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati
People are very much anxious to live in peace and prosperity in this material world, and here in
Bhagavad-gītā
the peace formula is given personally by the Supreme Personality of Godhead: everyone should understand that Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the ultimate proprietor of all the planets and is therefore the enjoyer of all activities, political, social, cultural, religious, economic and so on. The Lord has given perfect advice in
Bhagavad-gītā,
and Ambarīṣa Mahārāja, as the ideal executive head, ruled the entire world as a Vaiṣṇava, taking advice from Vaiṣṇava
brāhmaṇas.
The
śāstras
enjoin that even though a
brāhmaṇa
may be well versed in the occupational brahminical duties and may be very learned in Vedic knowledge, he cannot give advice as a
guru
until he is a Vaiṣṇava.
ṣaṭ-karma-nipuṇo vipro
mantra-tantra-viśāradaḥ
avaiṣṇavo gurur na syād
vaiṣṇavaḥ śva-paco guruḥ
Therefore, as indicated here by the words
tan-niṣṭha-viprābhihitaḥ,
Mahārāja Ambarīṣa took advice from
brāhmaṇas
who were pure devotees of the Lord, for ordinary
brāhmaṇas
who are merely learned scholars or experts in performing ritualistic ceremonies are not competent to give advice.
In modern times, there are legislative assemblies whose members are authorized to make laws for the welfare of the state, but according to this description of the kingdom of Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, the country or the world should be ruled by a chief executive whose advisors are all devotee
brāhmaṇas.
Such advisors or members of the legislative assembly should not be professional politicians, nor should they be selected by the ignorant public. Rather, they should be appointed by the king. When the king, the executive head of the state, is a devotee and he follows the instructions of devotee
brāhmaṇas
in ruling the country, everyone will be peaceful and prosperous. When the king and his advisors are perfect devotees, nothing can be wrong in the state. All the citizens should become devotees of the Lord, and then their good character will automatically follow.
yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiṣcanā
sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ
harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā
manorathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ
“One who has unflinching devotion for the Personality of Godhead has all the good qualities of the demigods. But one who is not a devotee of the Lord has only material qualifications that are of little value. This is because he is hovering on the mental plane and is certain to be attracted by the glaring material energy.” (
Bhāg.
5.18.12
) Citizens under the guidance of a Kṛṣṇa conscious king will become devotees, and then there will be no need to enact new laws every day to reform the way of life in the state. If the citizens are trained to become devotees, they will automatically become peaceful and honest, and if they are guided by a devoted king advised by devotees, the state will not be in the material world but in the spiritual world. All the states of the world should therefore follow the ideal of the rule or administration of Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, as described here.