not above brahmins
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Imported quote 13232 It is understood that the king is able to give punishment to everyone, but in this case it appears that the great sages punished him. The king must have done something very serious, otherwise how could the great sages, who were supposed to be the greatest and most tolerant, still punish him in spite of their elevated religious consciousness? It appears also that the king was not independent of the brahminical culture. Above the king there was the control of the brahmanas, and if needed the brahmanas would dethrone the king or would kill him, not with any weapon, but with the mantra of a brahma-sapa. The brahmanas were so powerful that simply by their cursing one would immediately die.
(More...) Imported quote 13508 The word askhalita indicates that orders by the king could not be disobeyed by anyone in the entire world. Such orders, however, were never issued to control saintly persons or the descendants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu. The Supreme Lord is known as acyuta, and Lord Krsna is addressed as such by Arjuna in Bhagavad-gita (senayor ubhayor madhye ratham sthapaya me 'cyuta). Acyuta refers to one who does not fall because He is never influenced by the modes of material nature. When a living entity falls down to the material world from his original position, he becomes cyuta, which means that he forgets his relationship with acyuta. Actually every living entity is a part and parcel or a son of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When influenced by the modes of material nature, a living entity forgets this relationship and thinks in terms of different species of life; but when he again comes to his original consciousness, he does not observe such bodily designations. This is indicated in Bhagavad-gita by the words panḍitaḥ sama-darsinaḥ (Bg. 5.18).
(More...) Prthu Maharaja had no control over the brahmana-kula, which refers to the learned scholars in Vedic knowledge, nor over the Vaisnavas, who are above the considerations of Vedic knowledge. It is therefore said:
(More...) "One who thinks the Deity in the temple to be made of wood or stone, who thinks of the spiritual master in the disciplic succession as an ordinary man, who thinks the Vaisnava in the acyuta-gotra to belong to a certain caste or creed, or who thinks of caranamrta or Ganges water as ordinary water, is taken to be a resident of hell." (Padma Purana)
(More...) From the facts presented in this verse, it appears that people in general should be controlled by a king until they come to the platform of Vaisnavas and brahmanas, who are not under the control of anyone. Brahmana refers to one who knows Brahman, or the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth, and a Vaisnava is one who serves the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
(More...) Link to this page: https://prabhupadabooks.com/?qg=1329
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