Text 32]
The Story of King Vena
607
TRANSLATION
My dear Vidura, all good fortune unto you. The foolish King, who thought himself to be very learned, thus insulted the great sages, and the sages, being brokenhearted by the King's words, became very angry at him.
TEXT 31
हन्यतां हन्यतामेष पापः प्रकृतिदारुणः ।
जीवञ्जगदसावाशु कुरुते भससादु भुवम् ॥३१॥
hanyatām hanyatām eṣa pāpaḥ prakṛti-dāruṇaḥ jīvañ jagad asāv āśu kurute bhasmasād dhruvam
hanyatām—kill him; hanyatām—kill him; eṣaḥ—this king; pāpaḥ—representative of sin; prakṛti—by nature; dāruṇaḥ—most dreadful; jīvan—while living; jagat—the whole world; asau—he; āśu—very soon; kurute—will make; bhasmasāt—into ashes; dhruvam—certainly.
TRANSLATION
All the great saintly sages immediately cried: Kill him! Kill him! He is the most dreadful, sinful person. If he lives, he will certainly turn the whole world into ashes in no time.
PURPORT
Saintly persons are generally very kind to all kinds of living entities, but they are not unhappy when a serpent or a scorpion is killed. It is not good for saintly persons to kill, but they are encouraged to kill demons who are exactly like serpents and scorpions. Therefore all the saintly sages decided to kill King Vena, who was so dreadful and dangerous to all human society. We can appreciate the extent to which the saintly sages actually controlled the king. If the king or government becomes demonic, it is the duty of a saintly person to upset the government and replace it with deserving persons who follow the orders and instructions of saintly persons.
TEXT 32
नायमर्हत्यसवृत्तो
नरदेववरासनम् ।
योऽधियङ्गपतिं विष्णुं विनिन्दत्यनपत्रपः ॥३२॥
nāyam arhaty asad-vṛtto naradeva-varāsanam