Text 45] Pṛthu Mahārāja's Meeting with the Four Kumāras
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are recognized by the state as  rāya . A great devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was called Rāmānanda Rāya because he was governor of Madras and very rich. There are still many holders of the title  rāya —Rāya Bāhādur, Rāya Chaudhuri and so on. The  dārāḥ , or wife, is not permitted to be offered to the  brāhmaṇas . Everything is offered to worthy persons who are able to accept charity, but nowhere is it found that one offers his wife; therefore in this case the reading  rāyaḥ  is more accurate than  dārāḥ . Also, since Pṛthu Mahārāja offered everything to the Kumāras, the word  kośaḥ  (treasury) need not be separately mentioned. Kings and emperors used to keep a private treasury which was known as  ratna-bhāṇḍa . The  ratna-bhāṇḍa  was a special treasury room which contained special jewelries, such as bangles, necklaces and so on, which were presented to the king by the citizens. This jewelry was kept separate from the regular treasury house where all the collected revenues were kept. Thus Pṛthu Mahārāja offered his stock of private jewelry to the lotus feet of the Kumāras. It has already been admitted that all the King's property belonged to the  brāhmaṇas  and that Pṛthu Mahārāja was simply using it for the welfare of the state. If it were actually the property of the  brāhmaṇas , how could it be offered again to them? In this regard, Śrīpāda Śrīdhara Śvāmī has explained that this offering is just like the servant's offering of food to his master. The food already belongs to the master, for the master has purchased it, but the servant, by preparing food, makes it acceptable to the master and thus offers it to him. In this way, everything belonging to Pṛthu Mahārāja was offered to the Kumāras.
TEXT 45
सैनापत्यं च राज्यं च दण्डनेत्त्वमेव च । सर्वलोकाधिपत्यं च वेदशास्त्रविदर्हति ॥४५॥
saināpatyam ca rājyam ca daṇḍa-netṛtvam eva ca sarva-lokādhipatyam ca veda-śāstra-vid arhati
saināpatyam —post of commander-in-chief;  ca —and;  rājyam —post of ruler over the kingdom;  ca —and;  daṇḍa —ruling;  netṛtvam —leadership;  eva —certainly;  ca —and;  sarva —all;  loka-adhipatyam —proprietorship of the planet;  ca —and;  veda-śāstra-vit —one who knows the purport of Vedic literature;  arhati —deserves.