834 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 4, Ch. 21
TEXT 21
way
Als WTA AF Tava | LEVTAT: |
ae faarahdatarted aacthtay 112211
rajovaca
sabhyah srnuta bhadram vah
sadhavo ya ihagatah
satsu jijiasubhir dharmam
avedyam sva-manisitam
raja uvaca—the King began to speak; sabh yah—addressing the ladies and
gentlemen; srnuta—kindly hear; bhadram—good fortune; vah—your;
sddhavah—all great souls; ye—who; iha—here; agatah—present; satsu—
unto the noble men; jijriasubhih—one who is inquisitive; dharmam—
religious principles; avedyam—must be presented; sva-manisitam—con-
cluded by someone.
TRANSLATION
King Prthu said: O gentle members of the assembly, may all good for-
tune be upon you! May all of you great souls who have come to attend
this meeting kindly hear my prayer attentively. A person who is actually
inquisitive must present his decision before an assembly of noble souls.
PURPORT
In this verse the word sadhavah (‘‘all great souls’’) is very significant.
When a person is very great and famous, many unscrupulous persons be-
come his enemies, for envy is the nature of materialists. In any meeting
there are different classes of men, and it is to be supposed, therefore, that
because Prthu Maharaja was very great, he must have had several enemies
present in the assembly, although they could not express themselves.
Maharaja Prthu, however, was concerned with persons who were gentle,
and therefore he first addressed all the honest persons, not caring for the
envious. He did not, however, present himself as a royal authority em-
powered to command everyone because he wanted to present his state-
ment in humble submission before the assembly of great sages and saintly
persons. As a great king of the entire world, he could have given them
orders, but he was so humble, meek and honest that he presented his state-
ment for approval in order to clarify his mature decision. Everyone within
this material world is conditioned by the modes of material nature and
