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Mahārāja Pṛthu Becomes Angry at the Earth
673
प्रजा निरन्त्रे क्षितिगृह एत्य
क्षुत्क्षामदेहाः पतिमभ्यवोचन् ॥ ९ ॥
maitreya uvāca yadābhiṣiktaḥ pṛthur aṅga viprair āmantrito janatāyāś ca pālaḥ prajā niranne kṣiti-pṛṣṭha etya kṣut-kṣāma-dehāḥ patim abhyavocan
maitreyaḥ uvāca —the great sage Maitreya said;  yadā —when;  abhiṣiktaḥ —was enthroned;  pṛthuḥ —King Pṛthu;  aṅga —my dear Vidura;  vipraiḥ —by the  brāhmaṇas ;  āmantritaḥ —was declared;  janatāyāḥ —of the people;  ca —also;  pālaḥ —the protector;  prajāḥ —the citizens;  niranne —being without food grains;  kṣiti-pṛṣṭhe —the surface of the globe;  etya —coming near;  kṣudh —by hunger;  kṣāma —skinny;  dehāḥ —their bodies;  patim —to the protector;  abhyavocan —they said.
TRANSLATION
The great sage Maitreya continued: My dear Vidura, at the time King Pṛthu was enthroned by the great sages and brāhmaṇas and declared to be the protector of the citizens, there was a scarcity of food grains. The citizens actually became skinny due to starvation. Therefore they came before the King and informed him of their real situation.
PURPORT
Information is given herein concerning the selection of the king by the  brāhmaṇas . According to the  varṇāśrama  system, the  brāhmaṇas  are considered to be the heads of the society and therefore to be situated in the topmost social position. The  varṇāśrama-dharma , the institution of four  varṇas  and four  āśramas , is very scientifically designed. As stated in  Bhagavad-gītā ,  varṇāśrama-dharma  is not a man-made institution but is God-made. In this narration it is clearly indicated that the  brāhmaṇas  used to control the royal power. When an evil king like Vena ruled, the  brāhmaṇas  would kill him through their brahminical powers and would select a proper ruler by testing his qualifications. In other words, the  brāhmaṇas , the intelligent men or great sages, would control the monarchical powers. Here we have an indication of how the  brāhmaṇas  elected King Pṛthu to the throne as the protector of the citizens. The citizens, being skinny due to hunger, approached the King and informed him that necessary action should be taken. The structure of the  varṇāśrama-dharma  was so nice that the  brāhmaṇas  would guide the head of state. The head