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The Pastimes of Lord Rāmacandra
95
He cared for the citizens exactly like a father, and the citizens, being fully engaged in their occupational duties of varṇa and āśrama, accepted Him as their father.
PURPORT
People are very fond of the pattern of Rāma-rājya, and even today politicians sometimes form a party called Rāma-rājya, but unfortunately they have no obedience to Lord Rāma. It is sometimes said that people want the kingdom of God without God. Such an aspiration, however, is never to be fulfilled. Good government can exist when the relationship between the citizens and the government is like that exemplified by Lord Rāmacandra and His citizens. Lord Rāmacandra ruled His kingdom exactly as a father takes care of his children, and the citizens, being obliged to the good government of Lord Rāmacandra, accepted the Lord as their father. Thus the relationship between the citizens and the government should be exactly like that between father and son. When the sons in a family are well trained, they are obedient to the father and mother, and when the father is well qualified, he takes good care of the children. As indicated here by the words  sva-dharma-niratā varṇāśrama-guṇān-vitāḥ , the people were good citizens because they accepted the institution of  varṇa  and  āśrama , which arranges society in the  varṇa  divisions of  brāhmaṇa ,  kṣatriya ,  vaiśya  and  śūdra  and the  āśrama  divisions of  brahmacarya ,  gṛhastha ,  vānaprastha  and  sannyāsa . This is actual human civilization. People must be trained according to the different  varṇāśrama  occupational duties. As confirmed in  Bhagavad-gītā  (4.13),  cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ : the four  varṇas  must be established according to varying qualities and work. The first principle for good government is that it must institute this  varṇāśrama  system. The purpose of  varṇāśrama  is to enable people to become God conscious.  Varṇāśramācāravatā puruṣeṇa paraḥ pumān viṣṇur ārādhyate . The entire  varṇāśrama  scheme is intended to enable people to become Vaiṣṇavas.  Viṣṇur asya devatā . When people worship Lord Viṣṇu as the Supreme Lord, they become Vaiṣṇavas. Thus people should be trained to become Vaiṣṇavas through the system of  varṇa  and  āśrama , as they were during the reign of Lord Rāmacandra, when everyone was fully trained to follow the  varṇāśrama  principles.