1474
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 4, Ch. 29]
to the great King Prācīnabarhi, Nārada Muni departed and also invited him to Siddhaloka.
TEXT 81
प्राचीनबहीं राजर्षिः प्रजासगामिरक्षणे । आदिश्य पुत्रानगमतपसे कपिलाश्रमम् ॥८१॥
prācīnabarhī rājarṣiḥ prajā-sargābhirakṣaṇe ādiśya putrān agamat tapase kapilāśramam
prācīnabarhiḥ—King Prācīnabarhi; rāja-rṣiḥ—the saintly king; prajā-sarga—the mass of citizens; abhirakṣaṇe—to protect; ādiśya—after ordering; putrān—his sons; agamat—departed; tapase—for undergoing austerities; kapila-āśramam—to the holy place known as Kapilāśrama.
TRANSLATION
In the presence of his ministers, the saintly King Prācīnabarhi left orders for his sons to protect the citizens. He then left home and went off to undergo austerities in a holy place known as Kapilāśrama.
PURPORT
The word  prajā-sarga  is very important in this verse. When the saintly King Prācīnabarhi was induced by the great sage Nārada to leave home and take to the devotional service of the Lord, his sons had not yet returned from their austerities in the water. However, he did not wait for their return but simply left messages to the effect that his sons were to protect the mass of citizens. According to Vīrarāghava Ācārya, such protection means organizing the citizens into the specific divisions of the four  varṇas  and four  āśramas . It was the responsibility of the royal order to see that the citizens were following the regulative principles of the four  varṇas  (namely the  brāhmaṇas ,  kṣatriyas ,  vaiśyas  and  śūdras ) and the  āśramas  ( brahmacarya ,  grhastha ,  vānaprastha  and  sannyāsa ). It is very difficult to rule citizens in a kingdom without organizing this  varṇāśrama-dharma . To rule the mass of citizens in a state and keep them in a complete progressive order is not possible simply by passing laws every year in a legislative assembly. The  varṇāśrama-dharma  is essential in a good government. One class of men (the  brāhmaṇas ) must be intelligent and brahminically qualified, another