This is an imaginary conversation between two kings of the Vedic age. They are both thoroughly trained in the Vedic system of monarchy. Let us hear what they have to say about the current brouhaha in India about the Lokpal Bill.
King Kartavyadaksa Varma: Welcome, Your Majesty, King Prajaraksaka.
King Prajaraksaka: Thank you for inviting me, Your Royal Highness, King Kartavyadaksa.
King Kartavyadaksa: I am following the so-called second Independence Movement started by a few concerned individuals in our country. This group wants a corruption-free India. They are rightfully worried about the state of the country as its economic and social fabric is torn asunder by a string of scandals. If I remember correctly, the Befors smoking gun was still emitting a lot of smoke when Grow more Financials convinced the entire Indian middle class to GET RICH QUICK. Then came the COMMONLOOT GAMES only to be eclipsed by the 3G (Third Generation) Scammers. When is it going to stop? the common man meekly asks. We all have seen that the “common man” has not spoken for his entire life, so corrupt elements know that they can easily get away.
King Prajaraksaka: While everyone is talking about the so-called Lokpal Bill, we need to understand whether punishment alone is a strong deterrent against corruption. It seems that leaders and administrators today are not only ignorant of Vedic wisdom, but they also seem to be vehemently against it.
I would say that first of all the responsibility rests on my shoulder. As a king I have to be a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I thank my teachers for this kind of training. People today feel that this is some sort of belief system, but “believe me” it is a science. And it has to be taught to everyone especially, to the administrative service.
One of the first things that I implemented was that I assured that all living entities in my kingdom are my subjects. I included all the animals in this category too. No unnecessary slaughter of animals was allowed. In Vedic literature the population of any country is generally known as praja, or “that which is born,” and the person responsible for the maintenance and ultimate salvation of the praja is the raja, or the king. So I am meant to protect all living beings, namely the aquatics, plants, reptiles, birds, animals and men. Every one of them is a part and parcel of the Supreme Lord.
King Kartavyadaksa: This is not the case with the presidents and dictators of this demoralized system of administration, where the lower animals are given no protection while the higher animals are given so-called protection. But this is a great science which can be learned only by one who knows the science of Krishna. By knowing the science of Krishna, one can become the most perfect man in the world, and unless one has knowledge in this science, all qualifications and doctorate diplomas acquired by academic education are invalid and useless.
I was taught the example set by King Yudhisthira. As an ideal king, he had no personal ambition, and there was no place for sense gratification because all his senses at all times were engaged in the loving service of the Supreme Lord, which includes the partial service to the living beings, who form the parts and parcels of the complete whole. Those who are busy rendering service to the parts and parcels, leaving aside the whole, only spoil time and energy, as one does when watering the leaves of a tree without watering the root. If water is poured on the root, the leaves are enlivened perfectly and automatically, but if water is poured on the leaves only, the whole energy is spoiled. Maharaja Yudhisthira, therefore, was constantly engaged in the service of the Lord, and thus the parts and parcels of the Lord, the living beings under his careful administration, were perfectly attended with all comforts in this life and all progress in the next. That is the way of perfect management of state administration.
King Prajaraksaka: Today’s leaders are unaware that it is the Age of Kali, the age of quarrel and hypocrisy. The personality of Kali is he who deliberately commits all kinds of sinful acts which are forbidden in the revealed scriptures. This age of Kali will certainly be full of all activities of Kali, but this does not mean that the leaders of society, the executive heads, the learned and intelligent men, or above, all the devotees of the Lord should just relax and become callous to the reactions of the age of Kali. In the rainy season there will certainly be profuse rainfall, but that does not mean that men should not use the means to protect themselves from the rains. It is the duty of the executive heads of state and others to take all necessary action against the activities of Kali or the persons influenced by the age of Kali.
I was told that Maharaja Parikshit was the ideal executive head of the state, for at once he was ready to kill the personality of Kali with his sharp sword. The administrators should not simply pass resolutions for anti-corruption steps, but they must be ready with sharp swords to kill the persons creating corruptions from the angle of vision of the recognized Shastras.
King Kartavyadaksa: I would like to say something about King Prithu. He was a great devotee and at the same time a great hero who prevailed over all the undesirable elements in his kingdom. He gave protection to his citizens, keeping them engaged in pious activities and devotion to the Lord. He did not collect a single cent of taxes from the citizens without being able to give them protection from all calamities. The greatest calamity in life is to become godless and therefore sinful. If the state head or king allows the citizens to become sinful by indulging in illicit sex life, intoxication, meat eating and gambling, then the king is responsible for his inaction, and he has to suffer the resultant sequence of reactions for the sinful lives of the citizens because he levies taxes on them unnecessarily. These are the principles for a ruling power, and because Maharaja Prithu observed all the principles for a ruling chief, he was glorified as adi-raja.
A few years ago it was reported in the newspapers in Bombay that the government is going to repeal its prohibition laws. Ever since Gandhi’s noncooperation movement, Bombay has been kept dry and has not allowed its citizens to drink. But unfortunately, the citizens are so clever that they have increased illicit distillation of liquor, and although not being sold publicly in shops, liquor is being sold in public lavatories and similar abnormal places. Unable to check such illicit smuggling, the government has decided to manufacture the liquor at cheaper prices so that people can have their supply of intoxication directly from the government instead of purchasing it in public lavatories. The government failed to change the hearts of the citizens from indulging in sinful life, so instead of losing the taxes they collect to inflate the treasury. They have decided to manufacture liquor to supply to the citizens who hanker after it. This kind of government cannot check the resultant actions of sinful life, namely war, pestilence, famine, earthquakes and similar other disturbances.
King Prajaraksaka: I can talk a lot more on this subject but let this one thing suffice that unless kings are trained in the science of Krishna consciousness there can be no reduction in corrupt practices.