How To Rule In Kaliyuga – The Battle of Mahabharata concludes with the teachings of Srila Bhishmadev to the 5 Pandavas including Yudhistira maharaja in the divine presence of Lord Sri Krishna. Srila Bhishmadeva spoke about various topics in a very commanding manner. Srila Bhismhadeva clearly enunciated the duties of a king, the citizens of four divisions of society, women, and devotees of Lord Krishna.
Table of Contents
Duties of King or a leader as per Srila Bhishmadeva – Introduction
The king had to see that the reserved energy of humanity was properly utilized. Human energy is meant not exactly for fulfilling animal propensities, but for self-realization. On the contrary, human energy is only being utilized for building skyscrapers, bridges, etc. People complain of no time for self-realization which is to a certain extent true. Just by eating 2 rotis we spend more than 10 hours every day of hard labor. We compromise our spiritual life for the sake of our professional life. It is desirable to spend 7 hours at max daily for our professional life. Other than that 17 hours for personal life. If one doesn’t mold his/her lifestyle in such a manner, spiritual progress is a difficult process. People are mostly concerned about how to eat, sleep and mate nicely. An animal doesn’t waste his/her time in such a manner. Leaders of the Government when they understand the real purpose of life they don’t divert the people from devotional service.
As such, the king had to select properly the cabinet ministers, but not on the strength of the voting background. The ministers, the military commanders, and even the ordinary soldiers were all selected by personal qualification, and the king had to supervise them properly before they were appointed to their respective posts. If society functions just on the basis of vote bank, the world remains a chaotic place to live. Any position in society should not be on the basis of a vote bank. People should be qualified for the post. If one is an education minister one must be well educated in vedas. The government needs to patronize the ISKCON movement which educates one and all in vedic knowledge.
It is the duty of the king to protect uneducated, women and children. Most of the widows in Vrindavan are situated in helpless situations without any sound assistance from the government. The taxing process was easy, and it was not meant for squandering but for strengthening the reserve fund. During the reign of the British Government, there was an instance of famine and a food reserve had to be constituted. People were lost grossly in sense gratification, and society is constituted with the highest level of uncertainty.
Conclusion
In essence, Srila Bhishmadev, one of the twelve mahajanas sets proper standards for effective governance. Now, a question arises in each of our minds as to what a king/leader do for the eternal benefit of the citizens in general and also what are the specific duties of the different class of citizens. This will be part of our next post.