Govern (BG and SB)

Expressions researched:
"govern" |"governance" |"governed" |"governing" |"governs"

BG Chapters 7 - 12

BG 7.30, Translation:

Those in full consciousness of Me, who know Me, the Supreme Lord, to be the governing principle of the material manifestation, of the demigods, and of all methods of sacrifice, can understand and know Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even at the time of death.

BG 7.30, Translation:

Those in full consciousness of Me, who know Me, the Supreme Lord, to be the governing principle of the material manifestation, of the demigods, and of all methods of sacrifice, can understand and know Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even at the time of death.

BG 7.30, Purport:

Persons acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness are never deviated from the path of entirely understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the transcendental association of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one can understand how the Supreme Lord is the governing principle of the material manifestation and even of the demigods.

BG Chapters 13 - 18

BG 17.2, Purport:

Those who know the rules and regulations of the scriptures but out of laziness or indolence give up following these rules and regulations are governed by the modes of material nature. According to their previous activities in the mode of goodness, passion or ignorance, they acquire a nature which is of a specific quality. The association of the living entity with the different modes of nature has been going on perpetually; since the living entity is in contact with material nature, he acquires different types of mentality according to his association with the material modes.

SB Canto 1

SB 1.11.26, Purport:

A faithful servant of the Lord engaged in the service of administration is the ideal executive head and can well protect the interest of the people in general. Other so-called administrators are symbols of anachronisms leading to the acute distress of the people who are governed by them. The administrators can remain safely under the protection of the arms of the Lord.

SB 1.18.33, Translation:

(The brāhmaṇa's son, Śṛṅgi, said:) O just look at the sins of the rulers who, like crows and watchdogs at the door, perpetrate sins against their masters, contrary to the principles governing servants.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.21.52-54, Translation:

If you did not mount your victorious jeweled chariot, whose mere presence threatens culprits, if you did not produce fierce sounds by the twanging of your bow, and if you did not roam about the world like the brilliant sun, leading a huge army whose trampling feet cause the globe of the earth to tremble, then all the moral laws governing the varṇas and āśramas created by the Lord Himself would be broken by the rogues and rascals.

SB 3.21.55, Purport:

Because the scientific division of four varṇas and four āśramas is now being extinguished, the entire world is being governed by unwanted men who have no training in religion, politics or social order, and it is in a very deplorable condition. In the institution of four varṇas and four āśramas there are regular training principles for the different classes of men.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.14.17, Purport:

The second class of men, known as kṣatriyas, are especially meant for governing a country under the direction of saintly persons (brāhmaṇas) who are supposed to be very intelligent. In other ages-in Satya-yuga, Tretā-yuga and Dvāpara-yuga-the general populace was not so degraded, and the head of government was never elected.

SB 4.14.19, Purport:

The conclusion is that without engaging in devotional service, neither the citizens nor the government can be happy in any way. At the present moment neither the king nor the governing body is interested in seeing that the people are engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Rather, they are more interested in advancing the machinery of sense gratification.

SB 4.17.6-7, Purport:

As far as this material world is concerned, Lord Brahmā, Lord Viṣṇu and Lord Śiva are all emanations from Kṛṣṇa. These three incarnations of Kṛṣṇa are called guṇa-avatāras. The material world is governed by three material modes of nature, and Lord Viṣṇu, Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva respectively take charge of the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance.

SB 4.22.45, Purport:

In this verse it is very clearly stated that a kingdom, state or empire must be governed under the instructions of saintly persons and brāhmaṇas like the Kumāras. When monarchy ruled throughout the world, the monarch was actually directed by a board of brāhmaṇas and saintly persons. The king, as the administrator of the state, executed his duties as a servant of the brāhmaṇas. It was not that the kings or brāhmaṇas were dictators, nor did they consider themselves proprietors of the state.

SB 4.22.45, Purport:

The present democratic government is proclaimed to be a people's government, a government by the people and for the people, but this type of government is not sanctioned by the Vedas. The Vedas maintain that a kingdom should be governed for the purpose of satisfying the Supreme Personality of Godhead and should therefore be ruled by a representative of the Lord.

SB 4.22.54, Translation:

After begetting five sons, named Vijitāśva, Dhūmrakeśa, Haryakṣa, Draviṇa and Vṛka, Pṛthu Mahārāja continued to rule the planet. He accepted all the qualities of the deities who governed all other planets.

SB 4.24.1, Translation:

The great sage Maitreya continued: Vijitāśva, the eldest son of Mahārāja Pṛthu, who had a reputation like his father's, became emperor and gave his younger brothers different directions of the world to govern, for he was very affectionate toward his brothers.

SB 4.24.1, Purport:

When the Pāṇḍavas ruled the earth, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, the eldest son of King Pāṇḍu, became emperor, and his younger brothers assisted him. Similarly, King Vijitāśva's younger brothers were appointed to govern the different directions of the world.

SB Canto 5

SB 5.1.14, Purport:

While instructing Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira about the symptoms of guṇa and karma, Nārada Muni said that these symptoms must govern the division of society. In other words, if a person born in the family of a brāhmaṇa has the symptoms of a śūdra, he should be designated as a śūdra. Similarly, if a śūdra has brahminical qualities, he should be designated a brāhmaṇa.

SB 5.4.5, Purport:

When Mahārāja Nābhi saw that his son Ṛṣabhadeva was popular with the general populace and the governmental servants, he chose to install Him on the imperial throne. In addition, he wanted to entrust his son into the hands of the learned brāhmaṇas. This means that a monarch was supposed to govern strictly according to Vedic principles under the guidance of learned brāhmaṇas, who could advise Him according to the standard Vedic scriptures like Manu-smṛti and similar śāstras.

SB 5.5.21-22, Purport:

Although Ṛṣabhadeva recommended His eldest son, Bharata, as emperor of the earth, he still had to follow the instructions of the brāhmaṇas in order to govern the world perfectly. The Lord is worshiped as brahmaṇya-deva. The Lord is very fond of devotees, or brāhmaṇas. This does not refer to so-called caste brāhmaṇas, but to qualified brāhmaṇas. A brāhmaṇa should be qualified with the eight qualities mentioned in text 24, such as śama, dama, satya and titikṣā.

SB 5.11 Summary:

According to different opinions, there are eleven or twelve mental activities, which can be transformed into hundreds and thousands. A person who is not Kṛṣṇa conscious is subjected to all these mental concoctions and is thus governed by the material energy. The living entity who is free from mental concoctions attains the platform of pure spirit soul, devoid of material contamination.

SB 5.14.9, Translation:

Sometimes, as if blinded by the dust of a whirlwind, the conditioned soul sees the beauty of the opposite sex, which is called pramadā. Being thus bewildered, he is raised upon the lap of a woman, and at that time his good senses are overcome by the force of passion. He thus becomes almost blind with lusty desire and disobeys the rules and regulations governing sex life. He does not know that his disobedience is witnessed by different demigods, and he enjoys illicit sex in the dead of night, not seeing the future punishment awaiting him.

SB 5.20.2, Translation:

As Sumeru Mountain is surrounded by Jambūdvīpa, Jambūdvīpa is also surrounded by an ocean of salt water. The breadth of Jambūdvīpa is 100,000 yojanas (800,000 miles), and the breadth of the saltwater ocean is the same. As a moat around a fort is sometimes surrounded by gardenlike forest, the saltwater ocean surrounding Jambūdvīpa is itself surrounded by Plakṣadvīpa. The breadth of Plakṣadvīpa is twice that of the saltwater ocean—in other words 200,000 yojanas (1,600,000 miles). On Plakṣadvīpa there is a tree shining like gold and as tall as the jambū tree on Jambūdvīpa. At its root is a fire with seven flames. It is because this tree is a plakṣa tree that the island is called Plakṣadvīpa. Plakṣadvīpa was governed by Idhmajihva, one of the sons of Mahārāja Priyavrata. He endowed the seven islands with the names of his seven sons, divided the islands among the sons, and then retired from active life to engage in the devotional service of the Lord.

SB Canto 6

SB 6.4.24, Purport:

The conditioned soul has desires, and the Supreme Soul fulfills them, but the conditioned soul is unable to see the Supreme Soul. Thus Prajāpati Dakṣa offers his obeisances to the Supreme Soul, the Supersoul, even though unable to see Him. Another example given is that although ordinary citizens work under the direction of the government, they cannot understand how they are being governed or what the government is.

SB Canto 7

SB 7.5.51, Purport:

As clearly stated, dharmo hy asyopadeṣṭavyo rājñāṁ yo gṛha-medhinām. There are two kinds of royal families—one whose members are simply attached to household life and the other consisting of rājarṣis, kings who govern with ruling power but are as good as great saints. Prahlāda Mahārāja wanted to become a rājarṣi, whereas Hiraṇyakaśipu wanted him to become a king attached to sense enjoyment (gṛha-medhinām). Therefore in the Āryan system there is varṇāśrama-dharma, by which everyone should be educated according to his position in society's division of varṇa (brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra) and āśrama (brahmacarya, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa).

SB 7.6.15, Purport:

Especially in these days, people do not believe in a next life or in the court of Yamarāja and the various punishments of the sinful. But at least one should know that one who cheats others to acquire money will be punished by the laws of the government. Nonetheless, people do not care about the laws of this life or those governing the next. Despite whatever knowledge one has, one cannot stop his sinful activities if he is unable to control his senses.

SB Canto 9

SB 9.15.15, Purport:

The kṣatriyas, or the ruling class, must govern the world in accordance with the rules and regulations enacted by great brāhmaṇas and saintly persons. As soon as the ruling class becomes irresponsible in regard to the religious principles, it becomes a burden on the earth. As stated here, rajas-tamo-vṛtaṁ, bhāram abrahmaṇyam: when the ruling class is influenced by the lower modes of nature, namely ignorance and passion, it becomes a burden to the world and must then be annihilated by superior power.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.4.35, Purport:

There are principles that govern even fighting. If an enemy has no chariot, is unmindful of the fighting art because of fear, or is unwilling to fight, he is not to be killed. Kaṁsa's ministers reminded Kaṁsa that despite his power, he was cognizant of the principles of fighting, and therefore he had excused the demigods because of their incapability.

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 11.10.4, Translation:

One who has fixed Me within his mind as the goal of life should give up activities based on sense gratification and should instead execute work governed by the regulative principles for advancement. When, however, one is fully engaged in searching out the ultimate truth of the soul, one should not accept the scriptural injunctions governing fruitive activities.

SB 12.1.41, Translation:

The citizens governed by these low-class kings will imitate the character, behavior and speech of their rulers. Harassed by their leaders and by each other, they will all suffer ruination.