894
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 1, Ch. 17]
PURPORT
The denizens of the heavenly kingdom are called  amaras , or deathless, due to their possessing a long span of life, far greater than that of the human beings. For a human being, who has only a maximum one hundred year duration of life, a span of life spreading over millions of years is certainly considered to be deathless. For example, from the  Bhagavad-gītā  we learn that on the Brahmaloka planet, the duration of one day is calculated to be 4,300,000 x 1,000 solar years. Similarly, in other heavenly planets one day is calculated to be six months of this planet, and they get a life of ten million of their years. Therefore, in all higher planets, since the span of life is far greater than that of the human being, the denizens are called deathless by imagination, although actually no one within the material universe is deathless.
Mahārāja Parīkṣit challenges even such denizens of heaven if they torture the offenseless. This means that the state executive head must be as strong as Mahārāja Parīkṣit so that he may be determined to punish the strongest offenders. It should be the principle of a state executive head that the offender of the codes of God is always punished.
TEXT 16
राज्ञो दि परमो धर्मः स्वधर्मस्थानुपालनम् । 
  शासतोऽन्यान् यथाशास्त्रमनापद्यत्पथानिह ॥१६॥
rājño hi paramo dharmaḥ 
  sva-dharma-sthānupālanam 
  śāsato 'nyān yathā-śāstram 
  anāpady utpathān iha
rājñaḥ —of the king or the executive head;  hi —certainly;  paramaḥ —supreme;  dharmaḥ —occupational duty;  sva-dharma-stha —one who is faithful to his prescribed duty;  anupālanam —giving protection always;  śāsataḥ —while ruling over;  anyān —others;  yathā —accordingly;  śāstram —rulings of scriptures;  anāpadi —without danger;  utpathān —persons going astray;  iha —as a matter of fact.
TRANSLATION
It is the supreme duty of the ruling king to give all protection to law-abiding persons and to chastise those who stray from the ordinances of the scriptures in ordinary times, when there is no emergency.