Text 22]
Instructions by Mahārāja Pṛthu
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therefore has four defects. But although Pṛthu Mahārāja was above all these, still, like an ordinary conditioned soul, he presented his statements to the great souls, sages and saintly persons present there.
TEXT 22
अहं दण्डधरो राजा प्रजानामिह योजितः । रक्षिता वृत्तिदः स्वेषु सेतुषु स्थापिता पृथक् ॥२२॥
aham daṇḍa-dharo rājā prajānām iha yojitaḥ rakṣitā vṛtti-daḥ sveṣu setuṣu sthāpitā pṛthak
aham—I; daṇḍa-dharaḥ—carrier of the scepter; rājā—king; prajānām—of the citizens; iha—in this world; yojitaḥ—engaged; rakṣitā—protector; vṛtti-daḥ—employer; sveṣu—in their own; setuṣu—respective social orders; sthāpitā—established; pṛthak—differently.
TRANSLATION
King Pṛthu continued:  By the grace of the Supreme Lord I have been appointed the King of this planet, and I carry the scepter to rule the citizens, protect them from all danger and give them employment according to their respective positions in the social order established by Vedic injunction.
PURPORT
A king is supposed to be appointed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to look after the interests of his particular planet. On every planet there is a predominating person, just as we now see that in every country there is a president. If one is president or king, it should be understood that this opportunity has been given to him by the Supreme Lord. According to the Vedic system, the king is considered a representative of Godhead and is offered respects by the citizens as God in the human form of life. Actually, according to Vedic information, the Supreme Lord maintains all living entities, and especially human beings, to elevate them to the highest perfection. After many, many births in lower species, when a living entity evolves to the human form of life and in particular to the civilized human form of life, his society must be divided into four gradations, as ordered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead in  Bhagavad-gītā  ( cātur-varṇyam mayā sṛṣṭam , etc.). The four social orders—the  brāhmaṇas ,  kṣatriyas ,  vaiśyas  and  śūdras —are natural divisions of human society, and, as declared