Stray

Expressions researched:
stray |strayed |strays

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 1

The supreme duty of the ruling king is to give all protection to law-abiding persons and to chastise those who stray from the ordinances of the scriptures in ordinary times, when there is no emergency.

SB 1.17.16, Translation and Purport: The supreme duty of the ruling king is to give all protection to law-abiding persons and to chastise those who stray from the ordinances of the scriptures in ordinary times, when there is no emergency.

There are regular scriptural injunctions for different persons engaged in different occupational duties, and one who follows them is called svadharma-stha, or faithful in one's prescribed duties. In the Bhagavad-gītā (18.48) it is advised that one should not give up his occupational prescribed duties, even if they are not always flawless. Such sva-dharma might be violated in cases of emergency, if one is forced by circumstances, but they cannot be violated in ordinary times. The state executive head is to see that such sva-dharma is not changed by the follower, whatever it may be, and he should give all protection to the follower of sva-dharma. The violator is subject to punishment in terms of the śāstra, and the duty of the king is to see that everyone strictly follows his occupational duty, as prescribed in the scripture.