Chapter 10: The Opulence of the Absolute
Bg 10.27
TEXT 27
uccaihsravasam asvanam
viddhi mam amrtodbhavam
airavatam gajendranam
naranam ca naradhipam
SYNONYMS
uccaiùçravasam—Uccaiùçravä; açvänäm—among horses; viddhi—know; mäm—Me; amåta-udbhavam—produced from the churning of the ocean; airävatam—Airävata; gajendräëäm—of elephants; naräëäm—among human beings; ca—and; narädhipam—the king.
TRANSLATION
Of horses know Me to be Uccaiùçravä, who rose out of the ocean, born of the elixir of immortality; of lordly elephants I am Airävata, and among men I am the monarch.
PURPORT
The devotee demigods and the demons (asuras) once took a sea journey. On this journey, nectar and poison were produced, and Lord Çiva drank the poison. From the nectar were produced many entities, of which there was a horse named Uccaiùçravä. Another animal produced from the nectar was an elephant named Airävata. Because these two animals were produced from nectar, they have special significance, and they are representatives of Kåñëa.
Amongst the human beings, the king is the representative of Kåñëa because Kåñëa is the maintainer of the universe, and the kings, who are appointed on account of their godly qualifications, are maintainers of their kingdoms. Kings like Mahäräja Yudhiñöhira, Mahäräja Parékñit and Lord Räma were all highly righteous kings who always thought of the citizens' welfare. In Vedic literature, the king is considered to be the representative of God. In this age, however, with the corruption of the principles of religion, monarchy decayed and is now finally abolished. It is to be understood that in the past, however, people were more happy under righteous kings.