The Lord is the protector of the cows

[protectacow]

The Lord is specifically the protector of the cows and the brahmanas, and hence He enhances the prosperity of the world.

Srimad Bhagavatam canto one chapter twelve verse nineteen

 

Maharaja Pariksit was actually an ideal saintly king because while touring his kingdom he happened to see that a poor cow was about to be killed by the personified Kali, whom he at once took to task as a murderer.

 

Srimad Bhagavatam canto one chapter twelve verse nineteen sb1:12:19 Bhaktivedanta Swami Protectacow archives

 

brahmana ucuh

partha prajavita saksad

iksvakur iva manavah

brahmanyah satya-sandhas ca

ramo dasarathir yatha

 

brahmanah--the good brahmanas; ucuh--said; partha--O son of Prtha (Kunti); praja--those who are born; avita--maintainer; saksat--directly; iksvakuh iva--exactly like King Iksvaku; manavah--son of Manu; brahmanyah--followers and respectful to the brahmanas; satya-sandhah--truthful by promise; ca--also; ramah--the Personality of Godhead Rama; dasarathih--the son of Maharaja Dasaratha; yatha--like Him.

 

TRANSLATION

 

The learned brahmanas said: O son of Prtha, this child shall be exactly like King Iksvaku, son of Manu, in maintaining all those who are born. And as for following the brahminical principles, especially in being true to his promise, he shall be exactly like Rama, the Personality of Godhead, the son of Maharaja Dasaratha.

 

PURPORT

 

Praja means the living being who has taken his birth in the material world. Actually the living being has no birth and no death, but because of his separation from the service of the Lord and due to his desire to lord it over material nature, he is offered a suitable body to satisfy his material desires. In doing so, one becomes conditioned by the laws of material nature, and the material body is changed in terms of his own work. The living entity thus transmigrates from one body to another in 8,400,000 species of life. But due to his being the part and parcel of the Lord, he not only is maintained with all necessaries of life by the Lord, but also is protected by the Lord and His representatives, the saintly kings. These saintly kings give protection to all the prajas, or living beings, to live and to fulfill their terms of imprisonment. Maharaja Pariksit was actually an ideal saintly king because while touring his kingdom he happened to see that a poor cow was about to be killed by the personified Kali, whom he at once took to task as a murderer. This means that even the animals were given protection by the saintly administrators, not from any sentimental point of view, but because those who have taken their birth in the material world have the right to live. All the saintly kings, beginning from the King of the sun globe down to the King of the earth, are so inclined by the influence of the Vedic literatures. The Vedic literatures are taught in higher planets also, as there is reference in the Bhagavad-gita (4.1) about the teachings to the sun-god (Vivasvan) by the Lord, and such lessons are transferred by disciplic succession, as it was done by the sun-god to his son Manu, and from Manu to Maharaja Iksvaku. There are fourteen Manus in one day of Brahma, and the Manu referred to herein is the seventh Manu, who is one of the prajapatis (those who create progeny), and he is the son of the sun-god. He is known as the Vaivasvata Manu. He had ten sons, and Maharaja Iksvaku is one of them. Maharaja Iksvaku also learned bhakti-yoga as taught in the Bhagavad-gita from his father, Manu, who got it from his father, the sun-god. Later on the teaching of the Bhagavad-gita came down by disciplic succession from Maharaja Iksvaku, but in course of time the chain was broken by unscrupulous persons, and therefore it again had to be taught to Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra. So all the Vedic literatures are current from the very beginning of creation of the material world, and thus the Vedic literatures are known as apauruseya (not made by man). The Vedic knowledge was spoken by the Lord and first heard by Brahma, the first created living being within the universe.

Maharaja Iksvaku: One of the sons of Vaivasvata Manu. He had one hundred sons. He prohibited meat eating. His son Sasada became the next king after his death.

Manu: The Manu mentioned in this verse as the father of Iksvaku is the seventh Manu, of the name Vaivasvata Manu, the son of sun-god Vivasvan, to whom Lord Krsna instructed the teachings of Bhagavad-gita prior to His teaching them to Arjuna. Mankind is the descendant of Manu. This Vaivasvata Manu had ten sons, named Iksvaku, Nabhaga, Dhrsta, Saryati, Narisyanta, Nabhaga, Dista, Karusa, Prsadhra and Vasuman. The Lord's incarnation Matsya (the gigantic fish) was advented during the beginning of Vaivasvata Manu's reign. He learned the principles of Bhagavad-gita from his father, Vivasvan, the sun-god, and he reinstructed the same to his son Maharaja Iksvaku. In the beginning of the Treta-yuga the sun-god instructed devotional service to Manu, and Manu in his turn instructed it to Iksvaku for the welfare of the whole human society.

Lord Rama: The Supreme Personality of Godhead incarnated Himself as Sri Rama, accepting the sonhood of His pure devotee Maharaja Dasaratha, the King of Ayodhya. Lord Rama descended along with His plenary portions, and all of them appeared as His younger brothers. In the month of Caitra on the ninth day of the growing moon in the Treta-yuga, the Lord appeared, as usual, to establish the principles of religion and to annihilate the disturbing elements. When He was just a young boy, He helped the great sage Visvamitra by killing Subahu and striking Marica, the she-demon, who was disturbing the sages in their daily discharge of duties. The brahmanas and ksatriyas are meant to cooperate for the welfare of the mass of people. The brahmana sages endeavor to enlighten the people by perfect knowledge, and the ksatriyas are meant for their protection. Lord Ramacandra is the ideal king for maintaining and protecting the highest culture of humanity, known as brahmanya-dharma. The Lord is specifically the protector of the cows and the brahmanas, and hence He enhances the prosperity of the world. He rewarded the administrative demigods by effective weapons to conquer the demons through the agency of Visvamitra. He was present in the bow sacrifice of King Janaka, and by breaking the invincible bow of Siva, He married Sitadevi, daughter of Maharaja Janaka.

After His marriage He accepted exile in the forest for fourteen years by the order of His father, Maharaja Dasaratha. To help the administration of the demigods, He killed fourteen thousand demons, and by the intrigues of the demons, His wife, Sitadevi, was kidnapped by Ravana. He made friendship with Sugriva, who was helped by the Lord to kill Vali, brother of Sugriva. By the help of Lord Rama, Sugriva became the king of the Vanaras (a race of gorillas). The Lord built a floating bridge of stones on the Indian Ocean and reached Lanka, the kingdom of Ravana, who had kidnapped Sita. Later on Ravana was killed by Him, and Ravana's brother Vibhisana was installed on the throne of Lanka. Vibhisana was one of the brothers of Ravana, a demon, but Lord Rama made him immortal by His blessings. On the expiry of fourteen years, after settling the affairs at Lanka, the Lord came back to His kingdom, Ayodhya, by flower plane. He instructed His brother Satrughna to attack Lavnasura, who reigned at Mathura, and the demon was killed. He performed ten Asvamedha sacrifices, and later on He disappeared while taking a bath in the Sarayu River. The great epic Ramayana is the history of Lord Rama's activities in the world, and the authoritative Ramayana was written by the great poet Valmiki.