Chapter Sixteen Praise of King Prthu by the Professional Reciters
1. The great sage Maitreya continued: While King Prthu thus spoke, the humility of his nectarean speeches pleased the reciters very much. Then again they continued to praise the King highly with exalted prayers, as they had been instructed by the great sages.
2. The reciters continued: Dear King, you are a direct incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Visnu, and by His causeless mercy you have descended on this earth. Therefore it is not possible for us to actually glorify your exalted activities. Although you have appeared through the body of King Vena, even great orators and speakers like Lord Brahma and other demigods cannot exactly describe the glorious activities of Your Lordship.
3. Although we are unable to glorify you adequately, we nonetheless have a transcendental taste for glorifying your activities. We shall try to glorify you according to the instructions received from authoritative sages and scholars. Whatever we speak, however, is always inadequate and very insignificant. Dear King, because you are a direct incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all your activities are liberal and ever laudable.
4. This King, Maharaja Prthu, is the best amongst those who are following religious principles. As such, he will engage everyone in the pursuit of religious principles and give those principles all protection. He will also be a great chastiser to the irreligious and atheistic.
5. This King alone, in his own body, will be able in due course of time to maintain all living entities and keep them in a pleasant condition by manifesting himself as different demigods to perform various departmental activities. Thus he will maintain the upper planetary system by inducing the populace to perform Vedic sacrifices. In due course of time he will also maintain this earthly planet by discharging proper rainfall.
6. This King Prthu will be as powerful as the sun-god, and just as the sun-god equally distributes his sunshine to everyone, King Prthu will distribute his mercy equally. Similarly, just as the sun-god evaporates water for eight months and, during the rainy season, returns it profusely, this King will also exact taxes from the citizens and return these monies in times of need.
7. This King Prthu will be very, very kind to all citizens. Even though a poor person may trample over the King’s head by violating the rules and regulations, the King, out of his causeless mercy, will be forgetful and forgiving. As a protector of the world, he will be as tolerant as the earth itself.
8. When there is no rainfall and the citizens are in great danger due to the scarcity of water, this royal Personality of Godhead will be able to supply rains exactly like the heavenly King Indra. Thus he will very easily be able to protect the citizens from drought.
9. This King, Prthu Maharaja, by virtue of his affectionate glances and beautiful moonlike face, which is always smiling with great affection for the citizens, will enhance everyone’s peaceful life.
10. The reciters continued: No one will be able to understand the policies the King will follow. His activities will also be very confidential, and it will not be possible for anyone to know how he will make every activity successful. His treasury will always remain unknown to everyone. He will be the reservoir of unlimited glories and good qualities, and his position will be maintained and covered just as Varuna, the deity of the seas, is covered all around by water.
11. King Prthu was born of the dead body of King Vena as fire is produced from arani wood. Thus King Prthu will always remain just like fire, and his enemies will not be able to approach him. Indeed, he will be unbearable to his enemies, for although staying very near him, they will never be able to approach him but will have to remain as if far away. No one will be able to overcome the strength of King Prthu.
12. King Prthu will be able to see all the internal and external activities of every one of his citizens. Still no one will be able to know his system of espionage, and he himself will remain neutral regarding all matters of glorification or vilification paid to him. He will be exactly like air, the life force within the body, which is exhibited internally and externally but is always neutral to all affairs.
13. Since this King will always remain on the path of piety, he will be neutral to both his son and the son of his enemy. If the son of his enemy is not punishable, he will not punish him, but if his own son is punishable, he will immediately punish him.
14. Just as the sun-god expands his shining rays up to the Arctic region without impedance, the influence of King Prthu will cover all tracts of land up to the Arctic region and will remain undisturbed as long as he lives.
15. This King will please everyone by his practical activities, and all of his citizens will remain very satisfied. Because of this the citizens will take great satisfaction in accepting him as their ruling king.
16. The King will be firmly determined and always situated in truth. He will be a lover of the brahminical culture and will render all service to old men and give shelter to all surrendered souls. Giving respect to all, he will always be merciful to the poor and innocent.
17. The King will respect all women as if they were his own mother, and he will treat his own wife as the other half of his body. He will be just like an affectionate father to his citizens, and he will treat himself as the most obedient servant of the devotees, who always preach the glories of the Lord.
18. The King will consider all embodied living entities as dear as his own self, and he will always be increasing the pleasures of his friends. He will intimately associate with liberated persons, and he will be a chastising hand to all impious persons.
19. This King is the master of the three worlds, and he is directly empowered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is without change, and he is an incarnation of the Supreme known as a saktyavesa-avatara. Being a liberated soul and completely learned, he sees all material varieties as meaningless because their basic principle is nescience.
20. This King, being uniquely powerful and heroic, will have no competitor. He will travel around the globe on his victorious chariot, holding his invincible bow in his hand and appearing exactly like the sun, which rotates in its own orbit from the south.
21. When the King travels all over the world, other kings, as well as the demigods, will offer him all kinds of presentations. Their queens will also consider him the original king, who carries in His hands the emblems of club and disc, and will sing of his fame, for he will be as reputable as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
22. This King, this protector of the citizens, is an extraordinary king and is equal to the Prajapati demigods. For the living facility of all citizens, he will milk the earth, which is like a cow. Not only that, but he will level the surface of the earth with the pointed ends of his bow, breaking all the hills exactly as King Indra, the heavenly King, breaks mountains with his powerful thunderbolt.
23. When the lion travels in the forest with its tail turned upward, all menial animals hide themselves. Similarly, when King Prthu will travel over his kingdom and vibrate the string of his bow, which is made of the horns of goats and bulls and is irresistible in battle, all demoniac rogues and thieves will hide themselves in all directions.
24. At the source of the River Sarasvati, this King will perform one hundred sacrifices known as asvamedha. In the course of the last sacrifice, the heavenly King Indra will steal the sacrificial horse.
25. This King Prthu will meet Sanat-kumara, one of the four Kumaras, in the garden of his palace compound. The King will worship him with devotion and will be fortunate to receive instructions by which one can enjoy transcendental bliss.
26. In this way when the chivalrous activities of King Prthu come to be known to the people in general, King Prthu will always hear about himself and his uniquely powerful activities.
27. No one will be able to disobey the orders of Prthu Maharaja. After conquering the world, he will completely eradicate the threefold miseries of the citizens. Then he will be recognized all over the world. At that time both the suras and the asuras will undoubtedly glorify his magnanimous activities.
