SB 4.13.19 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

यमङ्ग शेपु: कुपिता वाग्वज्रा मुनय: किल । गतासोस्तस्य भूयस्ते ममन्थुर्दक्षिणं करम् ॥ १९ ॥ अराजके तदा लोके दस्युभि: पीडिता: प्रजा: । जातो नारायणांशेन पृथुराद्य: क्षितीश्वर: ॥ २० ॥

Verse text

yam aṅga śepuḥ kupitā vāg-vajrā munayaḥ kila gatāsos tasya bhūyas te mamanthur dakṣiṇaṁ karam arājake tadā loke dasyubhiḥ pīḍitāḥ prajāḥ jāto nārāyaṇāṁśena pṛthur ādyaḥ kṣitīśvaraḥ

Synonyms

yam — him (Vena) whom ; aṅga — my dear Vidura ; śepuḥ — they cursed ; kupitāḥ — being angry ; vāk — vajrāḥ — whose words are as strong as a thunderbolt ; munayaḥ — great sages ; kila — indeed ; gata — asoḥ tasya — after he died ; bhūyaḥ — moreover ; te — they ; mamanthuḥ — churned ; dakṣiṇam — right ; karam — hand ; arājake — being without a king ; tadā — then ; loke — the world ; dasyubhiḥ — by rogues and thieves ; pīḍitāḥ — suffering ; prajāḥ — all the citizens ; jātaḥ — advented ; nārāyaṇa — of the Supreme Personality of Godhead ; aṁśena — by a partial representation ; pṛthuḥ — Pṛthu ; ādyaḥ — original ; kṣiti — īśvaraḥ — ruler of the world .

Translation

My dear Vidura, when great sages curse, their words are as invincible as a thunderbolt. Thus when they cursed King Vena out of anger, he died. After his death, since there was no king, all the rogues and thieves flourished, the kingdom became unregulated, and all the citizens suffered greatly. On seeing this, the great sages took the right hand of Vena as a churning rod, and as a result of their churning, Lord Viṣṇu in His partial representation made His advent as King Pṛthu, the original emperor of the world.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The sages, whose words are thunderbolts, angry at Vena, cursed him. Because the people were without a king, the population was tormented by thieves. Thus they churned the right hand of the dead Vena. Pṛthu, first king of the earth, was born as a portion of Nārāyaṇa. The cause of churning Vena’s hand was the lack of a king. From the churning Pṛthu appeared. He is called the first king because he established towns and cities.

Purport

Monarchy is better than democracy because if the monarchy is very strong the regulative principles within the kingdom are upheld very nicely. Even one hundred years ago in the state of Kashmir in India, the king was so strong that if a thief were arrested in his kingdom and brought before him, the king would immediately chop off the hands of the thief. As a result of this severe punishment there were practically no theft cases within the kingdom. Even if someone left something on the street, no one would touch it. The rule was that the things could be taken away only by the proprietor and that no one else would touch them. In the so-called democracy, wherever there is a theft case the police come and take note of the case, but generally the thief is never caught, nor is any punishment offered to him. As a result of incapable government, at the present moment thieves, rogues and cheaters are very prominent all over the world.