BHAGAVAD-GITA 10:27

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 10:27

 

uccaihsravasam asvanam

viddhi mam amrtodbhavam

airavatam gajendranam

naranam ca naradhipam

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

uccaihsravasam--Uccaihsrava; asvanam--among horses; viddhi--know;

mam--Me; amrta-udbhavam--produced from the churning of the ocean;

airavatam--Airavata; gaja-indranam--of lordly elephants;

naranam--among human beings; ca--and; nara-adhipam--the king.

 

TRANSLATION

 

Of horses know Me to be Uccaihsrava, produced during the churning of

the ocean for nectar. Of lordly elephants I am Airavata, and among men

I am the monarch.

 

PURPORT

 

The devotee demigods and the demons (asuras) once took part in

churning the sea. From this churning, nectar and poison were produced,

and Lord Siva drank the poison. From the nectar were produced many

entities, of which there was a horse named Uccaihsrava. Another animal

produced from the nectar was an elephant named Airavata. Because these

two animals were produced from nectar, they have special significance,

and they are representatives of Krsna.

 

Amongst the human beings, the king is the representative of Krsna

because Krsna 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 Maharaja Yudhisthira,

Maharaja Pariksit and Lord Rama 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.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.