Text 18] The Story of King Vena 597

yasya rdstre pure caiva
bhagavan yajiia-purusah

iyyate svena dharmena
Janair varndsramanvitaih

yasya—whose; rastre—in the state or kingdom; pure—in the cities; ca—
also; eva—certainly ; bhagavan—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; yajfia-
pirusah—who is the enjoyer of all sacrifices; ijyate—is worshiped; svena—
their own; dharmena—by occupation; janaih—by the people; varna-adsrama—
the system of eight social orders; anvitaih—who follow.

TRANSLATION

The king is supposed to be pious in whose state and cities the general
populace strictly observes the system of eight social orders of varna and
asrama,and where all citizens engage in worshiping the Supreme Personality
of Godhead by their particular occupations.

PURPORT

The state’s duty and the citizen’s duty are very nicely explained in this
verse. The activities of the government head, or king, as well as the activi-
ties of the citizens, should be so directed that ultimately everyone engages
in devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The king, or
government head, is supposed to be the representative of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead and is therefore supposed to see that things go on
nicely and that the citizens are situated in the scientific social order com-
prised of four varnas and four asramas. In the Visnu Purana it is stated that
unless people are educated or situated in the scientific social order com-
prised of four varnas (brahmana, ksatriya, vaigya and sudra) and four
asramas (brahmacarya, grhastha, vanaprastha and sannydsa) society can
never be considered real human society, nor can it make any advancement
toward the ultimate goal of human life. It is the duty of the government to
see that things go on in terms of varna and asrama. Asstated herein, bhagavan
yajiia-pirusah—the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, is the
yajfia-purusa. As stated in Bhagavad-gita: bhoktaram yajiia-tapasam
(Bg. 5.29). Krgna is the ultimate purpose of all sacrifice. He is also the en-
joyer of all sacrifices; therefore He is known as yajfia-purusa. The word
yajfia-purusa indicates Lord Visnu or Lord Krgna, or any Personality of
Godhead in the category of visnu-tattva. In perfect human society, people
are situated in the orders of varna and asrama and are engaged in worship-
ing Lord Visnu by their respective activities. Every citizen engaged in an
