Text 22]                      The Activities of Mahārāja Priyavrata
43
ruled this planet earth. Svāyambhuva Manu, however, appears to have been in charge of the entire universe, and he entrusted to his son, Mahārāja Priyavrata, the responsibility for maintaining and protecting all the planetary systems.  Dharā-maṇḍala  means “planet.” This earth, for instance, is called  dharā-maṇḍala .  Akhila , however, means “all” or “universal.” It is therefore difficult to understand where Mahārāja Priyavrata was situated, but from this literature his position certainly appears greater than that of Vaivasvata Manu, for he was entrusted with all the planetary systems of the entire universe.
Another significant statement is that Svāyambhuva Manu took great satisfaction from abnegating the responsibility for ruling all the planetary systems of the universe. At present, politicians are very eager to take charge of the government, and they engage their men in canvassing from door to door to get votes to win the post of president or a similar exalted office. On the contrary, however, herein we find that King Priyavrata had to be persuaded by Lord Brahmā to accept the post of emperor of the entire universe. Similarly, his father, Svāyambhuva Manu, felt relieved to entrust the universal government to Priyavrata. Thus it is evident that the kings and executive heads of government in the Vedic age never accepted their positions for sense enjoyment. Such exalted kings, who were known as  rājarṣis , ruled only to maintain and protect the kingdom for the welfare of the citizens. The history of Priyavrata and Svāyambhuva Manu describes how exemplary, responsible monarchs performed the duties of government with disinterest, keeping themselves always aloof from the contamination of material attachment.
Material affairs have herein been compared to an ocean of poison. They have been described in a similar way by Śrīla Narottama dāsa Thākura in one of his songs:
saṁsāra-viṣānale,      divā-niśi hiyā jvale, juḍāite nā kainu upāya
“My heart is always burning in the fire of material existence, and I have made no provisions for getting out of it.”
golokera prema-dhana,      hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, rati nā janmila kene tāya