Text 19] Maharaja Prthu’s Going Back Home 999

is the most confidential servitor of the Lord.” Thus Prthu Maharaja can
also be called Prabhupada, or, as described herein, prabhu. Another ques-
tion may be raised in this connection. Since Prthu Maharaja was a power
incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, saktyavesa-avatara,
why did he have to execute the regulative principles in order to become a
prabhu? Because he appeared on this earth as an ideal king and because it
is the duty of the king to instruct the citizens in the execution of devo-
tional service, he followed all the regulative principles of devotional service
in order to teach others. Similarly, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, although Krsna
Himself, taught us how to approach Krsna as a devotee. It is said: apani
dcari’ bhakti sikhdinu savare. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu instructed
others in the process of devotional service by setting the example Himself
through His own personal actions. Similarly, Prthu Maharaja, although a
Saktyavesa-avatara incarnation, still behaved exactly as a devotee in order
to achieve the position of prabhu. Furthermore, svariipasthah means com-
plete liberation. As it is said, hitvanyatha rupam svarupena avasthitih:
when a living entity abandons the activities of maya and attains the posi-
tion from which he can execute devotional service, his state is called
svarupasthah, or complete liberation.

TEXT 19

SPTATA HEI AIT TAT |
AEA a aTerat KAT Wa 12S

tat-patny anugata vanam
sukumary atad-arha ca
yat-padbhyam sparsanam bhuvah

wife of Maharaja Prthu; anugata— who followed her husband; vanam—in the

Worest ; sukumari— very delicate body; a-tat-arha—who did not deserve; ca—
also; yat-padbhyam—by the touch of whose feet; sparsanam—touching;
bhuvah—on the earth.

TRANSLATION

The Queen, the wife of Prthu Maharaja, whose name was Arci, followed
her husband into the forest. Since she was a queen, her body was very
delicate. Although she did not deserve to live in the forest, still she
voluntarily touched her lotus feet to the ground.
