Devanagari
स ते मा विनशेद्वीर प्रजानां क्षेमलक्षण: ।
यस्मिन् विनष्टे नृपतिरैश्वर्यादवरोहति ॥ १६ ॥
Verse text
sa te mā vinaśed vīra
prajānāṁ kṣema-lakṣaṇaḥ
yasmin vinaṣṭe nṛpatir
aiśvaryād avarohati
Synonyms
saḥ
—
that spiritual life
;
te
—
by you
;
mā
—
do not
;
vinaśet
—
let it be spoiled
;
vīra
—
O hero
;
prajānām
—
of the people
;
kṣema
—
lakṣaṇaḥ — the cause of prosperity
;
yasmin
—
which
;
vinaṣṭe
—
being spoiled
;
nṛpatiḥ
—
the king
;
aiśvaryāt
—
from opulence
;
avarohati
—
falls down .
Translation
The sages continued: O great hero, for this reason you should not be the cause of spoiling the spiritual life of the general populace. If their spiritual life is spoiled because of your activities, you will certainly fall down from your opulent and royal position.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O hero! Do not destroy dharma, which brings benefit to the citizens. If dharma is destroyed, the King will fall from his position.
Mā vinaśet should be mā vinaśyatu.
Purport
Formerly, in practically all parts of the world, there were monarchies, but gradually as monarchy declined from the ideal life of religion to the godless life of sense gratification, monarchies all over the world were abolished. However, simply abolishing monarchy and replacing it with democracy is not sufficient unless the government men are religious and follow in the footsteps of great religious personalities.