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Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 1, Ch. 10]
infallible Lord Kṛṣṇa;  pravṛtta —being engaged in;  vijñāna —perfect knowledge;  vidhūta —completely washed;  vibhramaḥ —all misgivings;  śaśāsa —ruled over;  gām —the earth;  indra —the king of the heavenly planet;  iva —like;  ajita-āśrayaḥ —protected by the invincible Lord;  paridhyupāntām —including the seas;  anuja —the younger brothers;  anuvartitaḥ —being followed by them.
TRANSLATION
Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, after being enlightened by what was spoken by Bhīṣmadeva and Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the infallible, engaged himself in matters of perfect knowledge because all his misgivings were eradicated. Thus he ruled over the earth and seas and was followed by his younger brothers.
PURPORT
The modern English law of primogeniture, or the law of inheritance by the first-born, was also prevalent in those days when Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira ruled the earth and seas. In those days the King of Hastināpura (now part of New Delhi) was the emperor of the world, including the seas, up to the time of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the grandson of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. His younger brothers were acting as his ministers and commanders of state, and there was full cooperation between the perfectly religious brothers of the king. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was the ideal king or representative of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa to rule over the kingdom of earth and was comparable to King Indra, the representative ruler of the heavenly planet. The demigods like Indra, Candra, Sūrya, Varuṇa, Vāyu, etc., are representative kings of different planets of the universe, and similarly Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was also one of them, ruling over the kingdom of the earth. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was not a typically unenlightened political leader of modern democracy. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was instructed by Bhīṣmadeva and the infallible Lord also, and therefore he had full knowledge of everything in perfection.
The modern elected executive head of a state is just like a puppet because he has no kingly power. Even if he is enlightened like Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, he cannot do anything out of his own good will due to his constitutional position. Therefore, there are so many states over the earth quarreling because of ideological differences or other selfish motives. But a king like Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira had no ideology of his own. He had but to follow the instructions of the infallible Lord and the Lord's representative and the authorized agent, Bhīṣmadeva. It is instructed in the  śāstras