152 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 1, Ch. 3
members of the society. King Rsabha propagated this mission, and at the
last stage He became completely aloof from the material bodily needs,
which is a rare stage not to be imitated by foolish men, but to be wor-
shiped by all.
TEXT 14
afifaifadt aa art afta ag: |
MWA ATTRA: ZI
rsibhir yacito bheje
navamam parthivam vapuh
dugdhemam osadhir vipras
tenayam sa usattamah
rsibhih—by the sages; yacitah—being prayed for; bheje—accepted;
navamam—the ninth one; parthivam—the ruler of the earth; vapuh—body;
dugdha—milking; imam —all these; osadhih—products of the earth; viprah—
O brahmanas; tena—by; ayam—this; sah—he; usattamah—beautifully attrac-
tive.
TRANSLATION
O brahmanas, the ninth incarnation of the Lord, prayed for by sages,
was King Prthu, who cultivated the land to yield various produces, and for
that reason the earth was beautiful and attractive.
PURPORT
Before the advent of King Prthu, there was great havoc of maladministra-
tion due to the vicious life of the previous king, the father of Maharaja
Prthu. The intelligent class of men (namely the sages and the brahmanas)
not only prayed for the Lord to come down, but they also dethroned the
previous king. It is the duty of the king to be pious and thus look after the
all around welfare of the citizens. Whenever there is some negligence on
the part of the king in discharging his duty, the intelligent class of men
must dethrone him. The intelligent class of men, however, do not occupy
the royal throne because they have much more important duties for the
welfare of the public. Instead of occupying the royal throne, they prayed
for the incarnation of the Lord, and the Lord came as Maharaja Prthu.
Real intelligent men or qualified brahmanas never aspire for political
