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Smart Quote of the Day, March 3, 2020

"The king of the country or the emperor of the empire must be so trained that by nature he renounces sense gratification. It is not that because one becomes king he should unnecessarily spend money for sense gratification. As soon as kings became degraded, spending money for sense gratification, they were lost. Similarly, at the present moment, monarchy having been lost, the people have created democracy, which is also failing."

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This is from the Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.1.7

[This chapter of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, entitled " The Manus, Administrators of the Universe," gives a list of ancient dynastic histories, and the spiritually advanced personalities responsible for universal administration in bygone ages.]

TRANSLATION

Svayambhuva Manu, the husband of Satarupa, was by nature not at all attached to enjoyment of the senses. Thus he gave up his kingdom of sense enjoyment and entered the forest with his wife to practice austerities.

PURPORT:

As stated in Bhagavad-gita (4.2), evam parampara-praptam imam rajarsayo viduh: “The supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way.”

All the Manus were perfect kings. They were rajarsis. In other words, although they held posts as kings of the world, they were as good as great saints. Svayambhuva Manu, for example, was the emperor of the world, yet he had no desire for sense gratification. This is the meaning of monarchy.

The king of the country or the emperor of the empire must be so trained that by nature he renounces sense gratification. It is not that because one becomes king he should unnecessarily spend money for sense gratification. As soon as kings became degraded, spending money for sense gratification, they were lost. Similarly, at the present moment, monarchy having been lost, the people have created democracy, which is also failing.

Now, by the laws of nature, the time is coming when dictatorship will put the citizens into more and more difficulty. If the king or dictator individually, or the members of the government collectively, cannot maintain the state or kingdom according to the rules of Manu-samhita, certainly their government will not endure.


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