SB 4.14.18
yasya rastre pure caiva
bhagavan yajña-purusah
ijyate svena dharmena
janair varnasramanvitaih
Translation by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada:
The king is supposed to be pious in whose state and cities the general populace strictly observes the system of eight social orders of varna and asrama, and where all citizens engage in worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead by their particular occupations.
Purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada:
The state’s duty and the citizen’s duty are very nicely explained in this verse. The activities of the government head, or king, as well as the activities of the citizens, should be so directed that ultimately everyone engages in devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The king, or government head, is supposed to be the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is therefore supposed to see that things go on nicely and that the citizens are situated in the scientific social order comprised of four varnas and four asramas. In the Visnu Purana it is stated that unless people are educated or situated in the scientific social order comprised of four varnas (brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya and sudra) and four asramas (brahmacarya, grhastha, vanaprastha and sannyasa), society can never be considered real human society, nor can it make any advancement towards the ultimate goal of human life. It is the duty of the government to see that things go on in terms of varna and asrama. As stated herein, bhagavan yajña-purusah: the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, is the yajña-purusa. As stated in Bhagavad-gita (5.29): bhoktaram yajña-tapasam. Krsna is the ultimate purpose of all sacrifice. He is also the enjoyer of all sacrifices; therefore He is known as yajña-purusa. The word yajña-purusa indicates Lord Visnu or Lord Krsna, or any Personality of Godhead in the category of visnu-tattva. In perfect human society, people are situated in the orders of varna and asrama and are engaged in worshiping Lord Visnu by their respective activities. Every citizen engaged in an occupation renders service by the resultant actions of his activities. That is the perfection of life. As stated in Bhagavad-gita (18.46):
yatah pravrttir bhutanam
yena sarvam idam tatam
sva-karmana tam abhyarcya
siddhim vindati manavah
“By worship of the Lord, who is the source of all beings and who is all-pervading, man can, in the performance of his own duty, attain perfection.”
Thus the brahmanas, ksatriyas, sudras and vaisyas must execute their prescribed duties as these duties are stated in the sastras. In this way everyone can satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu. The king, or government head, has to see that the citizens are thus engaged. In other words, the state or the government must not deviate from its duty by declaring that the state is a secular one, which has no interest in whether or not the people advance in varnasrama-dharma. Today people engaged in government service and people who rule over the citizens have no respect for the varnasrama-dharma. They complacently feel that the state is secular. In such a government, no one can be happy. The people must follow the varnasrama-dharma, and the king must see that they are following it nicely.