TEXT 22
ksatram ksayaya vidhinopabhrtam mahatma
brahma-dhrug ujjhita-patham narakarti-lipsu
uddhanty asav avanikantakam ugra-viryas
trih-sapta-krtva urudhara-parasvadhena
SYNONYMS
ksatramthe royal order; ksayayafor the sake of diminishing; vidhinaby destination; upabhrtamincreased in proportion; mahatmathe Lord in the form of the great sage Parasurama; brahma-dhrukthe ultimate truth in Brahman; ujjhita-pathamthose who have given up the path of the Absolute Truth; naraka-arti-lipsudesirous to suffer pain in hell; uddhantiexacts; asauall those; avanikantakamthorns of the world; ugra-viryahawfully powerful; trih-saptathrice seven times; krtvahperformed; urudharavery sharp; parasvadhenaby the great chopper.
TRANSLATION
When the ruling administrators, who are known as the ksatriyas, turned astray from the path of the Absolute Truth, being desirous to suffer in hell, the Lord, in His incarnation as the sage Parasurama, uprooted those unwanted kings, who appeared as the thorns of the earth. Thus He thrice seven times uprooted the ksatriyas with His keenly sharpened chopper.
PURPORT
The ksatriyas, or the ruling administrators of any part of the universe, either on this planet or on other planets, are factually the representatives of the Almighty Personality of Godhead, and they are meant to lead the subjects towards the path of God realization. Every state and its administrators, regardless of the nature of the administration-monarchy or democracy, oligarchy or dictatorship or autocracy-have the prime responsibility to lead the citizens toward God realization. This is essential for all human beings, and it is the duty of the father, spiritual master, and ultimately the state to take up the responsibility of leading the citizens towards this end. The whole creation of material existence is made for this purpose, just to give a chance to the fallen souls who rebelled against the will of the Supreme Father and thus became conditioned by material nature. The force of material nature gradually leads one to a hellish condition of perpetual pains and miseries. Those going against the prescribed rules and regulations of conditional life are called brahmojjhita-pathas, or persons going against the path of the Absolute Truth, and they are liable to be punished. Lord Parasurama, the incarnation of the Personality of Godhead, appeared in such a state of worldly affairs and killed all the miscreant kings twenty-one times. Many ksatriya kings fled from India to other parts of the world at that time, and according to the authority of the Mahabharata, the kings of Egypt originally migrated from India because of Parasurama's program of chastisement. The kings or administrators are similarly chastised in all circumstances whenever they become godless and plan a godless civilization. That is the order of the Almighty.

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