562
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 4, Ch. 13]
kim —why;  vā —also;  aṁhaḥ —sinful activities;  vene —unto Vena;  uddiśya —seeing;  brahma-daṇḍam —curse of a  brāhmaṇa ;  ayūyujan —they desired to award;  daṇḍa-vrata-dhare —who carries the rod of punishment;  rājñi —unto the king;  munayaḥ —the great sages;  dharma-kovidāḥ —completely conversant with religious principles.
TRANSLATION
Vidura also inquired: How is it that the great sages, who were completely conversant with religious principles, desired to curse King Vena, who himself carried the rod of punishment, and thus awarded him the greatest punishment [brahma-śāpa]?
PURPORT
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  brāhmaṇas , and if needed the  brāhmaṇas  would dethrone the king or would kill him, not with any weapon, but with the  mantra  of a  brahma-śāpa . The  brāhmaṇas  were so powerful that simply by their cursing one would immediately die.
TEXT 23
नावध्येयः प्रजापालः प्रजामिरघवानपि । यदसौ लोकपालानां विमर्त्योजः स्वतेजसा ॥२३॥
nāvadhyeyaḥ prajā-pālaḥ prajābhir aghavān api yad asau loka-pālānāṁ bibharty ojaḥ sva-tejasā
na —never;  avadhyeyaḥ —to be insulted;  prajā-pālaḥ —the king;  prajābhiḥ —by the citizens;  aghavān —ever sinful;  api —even though;  yat —because;  asau —he;  loka-pālānāṁ —of many kings;  bibharti —maintains;  ojaḥ —prowess;  sva-tejasā —by personal influence.
TRANSLATION
It is the duty of all citizens in a state never to insult the king, even though he sometimes appears to have done something very sinful. Because