Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 4.22.45
Manvantara· The Manus and right dutyLeadership Means Serving the Supreme Proprietor
“Since only a person who is completely educated according to the principles of Vedic knowledge deserves to be commander-in-chief, ruler of the state, the first to chastise or the proprietor of the whole planet, Pṛthu Mahārāja offered everything to the Kumāras.”
What the purport teaches
- Those who govern should know the Vedic teachings and take direction from saintly persons and brāhmaṇas. Pṛthu Mahārāja understood that he should rule as their servant.
- Everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and proprietor of all planetary systems. A ruler should remember that he is a servant, not the owner, and govern to satisfy the Lord.
- Vedic instructions require arrangements so that no one starves. The Lord supplies life’s necessities, but mismanagement can prevent people from receiving them.
Try this today
Help provide a meal for someone today, remembering that the Lord’s resources are meant to sustain everyone.
Ask yourself
In a responsibility I hold, am I thinking like an owner or acting like a servant?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points, practice and question are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport. Read the full purport to go deeper.