Shloka : 157

मदाश्रितैर्नृपैर्धर्मशास्त्रमाश्रित्य चाखिला: ।

प्रजा:स्वा: पुत्रवत्पाल्या धर्म: स्थाप्यो धरातले ॥ 157 ॥

અને અમારે આશ્રિત એવા જે સત્સંગી રાજા, તેમણે ધર્મશાસ્ત્રને આશરીને પોતાના પુત્રની પેઠે પોતાની પ્રજાનું પાલન કરવું. અને પૃથ્વીને વિષે ધર્મનું સ્થાપન કરવું. ॥ 157 ॥

And my devotee, who is a king, should follow the religious scriptures and look after his subjects like his own son and he should spread the religion throughout the world. || 157 ||

Commentary

A ‘King’ means the Kshatriya devotee of Shri Hari who has been appointed to the throne through proper ceremony. He should follow the code of conduct of a king explained in the scripture 'Satsan­gijeevan' and look after his subjects as his own son. The ul­timate duty of a king is to please his subjects. Therefore, a king should please his subjects through good character, behaviour and virtues and look after the subjects as per the religious code of conduct. Throughout his kingdom, he should make everyone follow their respective code of conduct as per their caste and category and as per their eligibility. And he should properly punish the people who don’t follow the code of conduct and make them behave within the limitations set by the religion. He should establish the code of conduct, the structure of economy and the heirarchy which are not against the scriptures and as per time and place.

Moreover, a king, who collects the taxes from his subjects with­out teaching them the proper code of conduct, is responsible for all the sins committed by his subjects. And the power of that king gets destroyed. If the king follows the code of conduct, his subjects also follow the code of conduct. If the king indulges into commiting the sins, his subjects also do the same. And if the king behaves in a sane and balanced manner, his subjects also behave in the same way. The subjects always follow their king. Therefore, the subjects behave in the same manner as the king behaves.