TEXT 9
yad venam utpatha-gatam dvija-vakya-vajra-
nisplusta-paurusa-bhagam niraye patantam
tratvarthito jagati putra-padam ca lebhe
dugdha vasuni vasudha sakalani yena
SYNONYMS
yatwhen; venamunto King Vena; utpatha-gatamgoing astray from the righteous path; dvijaof the brahmanas; vakyawords of cursing; vajrathunderbolt; nisplustabeing burnt by; paurusagreat deeds; bhagamopulence; nirayeinto hell; patantamgoing down; tratvaby delivering; arthitahso being prayed for; jagation the world; putra-padamthe position of the son; caas well as; lebheachieved; dugdhaexploited; vasuniproduce; vasudhathe earth; sakalaniall kinds of; yenaby whom.
TRANSLATION
Maharaja Vena went astray from the path of righteousness, and the brahmanas chastised him by the thunderbolt curse. By this King Vena was burnt with his good deeds and opulence and was en route to hell. The Lord, by His causeless mercy, descended as his son, by the name of Prthu, delivered the condemned King Vena from hell, and exploited the earth by drawing all kinds of crops as produce.
PURPORT
According to the system of varnasrama-dharma, the pious and learned brahmanas were the natural guardians of society. The brahmanas, by their learned labor of love, would instruct the administrator-kings how to rule the country in complete righteousness, and thus the process would go on as a perfect welfare state. The kings or the ksatriya administrators would always consult the council of learned brahmanas. They were never autocratic monarchs. The scriptures like Manu-samhita and other authorized books of the great sages were guiding principles for ruling the subjects, and there was no need for less intelligent persons to manufacture a code of law in the name of democracy. The less intelligent mass of people have very little knowledge of their own welfare, as a child has very little knowledge of its future well-being. The experienced father guides the innocent child towards the path of progress, and the childlike mass of people need similar guidance. The standard welfare codes are already there in the Manu-samhita and other Vedic literatures. The learned brahmanas would advise the king in terms of those standard books of knowledge and with reference to the particular situation of time and place. Such brahmanas were not paid servants of the king, and therefore they had the strength to dictate to the king on the principles of scriptures. This system continued even up to the time of Maharaja Candragupta, and the brahmana Canakya was his unpaid prime minister.
Maharaja Vena did not adhere to this principle of ruling, and he disobeyed the learned brahmanas. The broad-minded brahmanas were not self-interested, but looked to the interest of complete welfare for all the subjects. They wanted to chastise King Vena for his misconduct and so prayed to the Almighty Lord as well as cursed the king.
Long life, obedience, good reputation, righteousness, prospects of being promoted to higher planets, and blessings of great personalities are all vanquished simply by disobedience to a great soul. One should strictly try to follow in the footsteps of great souls. Maharaja Vena became a king, undoubtedly due to his past deeds of righteousness, but because he willfully neglected the great souls, he was punished by the loss of all the above-mentioned acquisitions. In the Vamana Purana the history of Maharaja Vena and his degradation are fully described. When Maharaja Prthu heard about the hellish condition of his father, Vena, who was suffering from leprosy in the family of a mleccha, he at once brought the former king to Kuruksetra for his purification and relieved him of all sufferings.
Maharaja Prthu, the incarnation of God, descended by the prayer of the brahmanas to rectify the disorders on earth. He produced all kinds of crops. But, at the same time, he performed the duty of a son who delivers his father from hellish conditions. The word putra means one who delivers from hell, called put. That is a worthy son.

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