The duty of protecting the week is incarnated in the righteous King

 This topic has been chosen from the book 

Sanatana Dharma – An elementary text-book on Hindu religion and ethics. 

published by the board of trustees of central Hindu college in Benares/Kashi in 1916. The book was written to be used as a textbook needed to give education on Hindu religion and ethical training

हिंदी में पढ़ने के लिए अंग्रेजी लेखन के नीचे स्क्रॉल डाउन करें

The duty of protecting the week is incarnated in the righteous King and is the fulfillment of this duty which awakens the loyalty of his subjects. 

Part 1

To protect his subjects is the cream of kingly duties says Bhishma. The king should always bear himself towards his subject as a mother towards the child of her womb. As the mother, disregarding those objects that are most cherished by her seeks the good of her child alone. Even so, without doubt should kings conduct themselves. 

Part 2

So stringent is this duty of protection that King Sagar exiled his own eldest son Asmanjas just because that Prince in reckless cruelty drowned the children of his subjects in the river. 

Part 3

Another example is seen when you just here is accompanied by a dog on his last great journey and when the time comes for Indra to come down from heaven to fetch him to go to Swarg and asks him to mount the chariot the king touches the head of the canine and said that this dog also must come with me as my heart is full of compassion for this poor child of Earth. 

When Indra refuses and cajoles and pleads with Yudhisthira he refuses absolutely to accompany him without the dog. He says when my brothers and Krishna fell and died, No power was mine to bring them back to life and hence I abandoned them. I did not abandon them as long as they were living. This one lives . 

To terrorize the seeker for protection, to slay a woman, to steal what belongs to a brahmana ,to injure a friend , to each of these crimes me thinks is equal the sin of abandoning once so devoted .

All of a sudden the dog vanished and Dharma the Deva of righteousness stood in celestial glory, where had crouched the dog and with him and Indra, hymned by Devas, praised by sages, the righteous kings was carried to the heavenly World. 

Part 4

Here is one more story of ancient days. 

King should be the righteous was sitting in his court and all of a sudden a dove flew in and saw ed shelter from the King and protection from an angry hawk which also dashed into the hall. The dove cried out in a human voice thou art, The Sovereign of this land where I dwell I have a right to your protection too. I come to you for refuge from my enemy.

 But the hawk also said in a human voice. I too reside within your sovereignty o King and this is my appointed food by providence itself. If you deny it to me then surely you refuse me my right. 

The king replied that both of you are right and I have to protect the life of the dove and at the same time I have to provide for the food for the hawk and I will try to resolve this. He appeals to the hawk to take whatever food he wants to. But then the hawk says I must have the dove itself. None other or else flesh from your own body equivalent to the weight of this very Dove. The angry ministers would have slain the hawk but King Shibi said, I see tear as The Sovereign not for small or great. Not for Dove or hawk but as living embodiment of Dharma and and is an example to my people. If I fail in the small, I shall fail in the grate too and my people shall fail grievously imitating me. 

Seeing this, he asks for a pill of scales and starts slicing his flesh from his own limbs. But despite putting more and more part of his flesh, the dove seems to be always heavier and this continues for a long time. And at last the king throws his whole body onto the scale and suddenly there is a flash and the hawk and the dove disappear and in their place stood Indra and Agni and they cried aloud : Truly you are a king and knowing well the sovereign's first duty of protection. We have found you more than we had heard. Your body is no longer mangled may you live long within the hearts of your people.

 These stories are told in order that we may take example by them and copy in our own lives the virtues they describe.