822 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 4, Ch. 21

TRANSLATION

King Prthu was greater than the greatest soul and was therefore wor-
shipable by everyone. He performed many glorious activities in ruling over
the surface of the world and was always magnanimous. After achieving
such great success and a reputation which spread throughout the universe,
he at last obtained the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

PURPORT

A responsible king or chief executive has many responsible duties to
attend to in ruling over the citizens. The most important duty of the
monarch or the government is to perform various sacrifices as enjoined in
the Vedic literatures. The next duty of the king is to see that every citizen
executes the prescribed duties for his particular community. It is the king’s
duty to see that everyone perfectly executes the duties prescribed for the
varna and asrama divisions of society. Besides that, as exemplified by King
Prthu, he must develop the earth for the greatest possible production of
food grains.

There are different types of great personalities—some are positive great
personalities, some comparative and some superlative—but King Prthu
exceeded all of them. He is therefore described here as mahattamah,
“greater than the greatest.” Maharaja Prthu was a ksatriya, and he dis-
charged his ksatriya duties perfectly. Similarly, brahmanas, vaisyas and
Sudras can discharge their respective duties perfectly and thus at the ulti-
mate end of life be promoted to the transcendental world, which is called
param padam. Parari padam, or the Vaikuntha planets, can be achieved
only by devotional service. The impersonal Brahman region is also called
param padam, but unless one is attached to the Personality of Godhead
one must again fall down to the material world from the impersonal
param padam situation. It is said, therefore, druh ya krcchrena param padam
tatah: the impersonalists endeavor very strenuously to achieve the pararh
padam or impersonal brahmajyoti, but unfortunately, being bereft of a
relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they come down
again to the material world. If one flies in outer space, he can go very
high up, but unless he reaches a planet he must come down again to earth.
Similarly, because the impersonalists who reach the param padam of the
impersonal brahmajyoti do not enter into the Vaikuntha planets, they
come down again to this material world and are given shelter in one of the
material planets. Although they may attain Brahmaloka or Satyaloka, all
such planets are situated in the material world.
