VEDABASE
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Canto & Chapters
Creation of the Fourth Order (31 Chapters)
Chapter 130v
Chapter 1
Chapter 230v
Chapter 2
Chapter 330v
Chapter 3
Chapter 430v
Chapter 4
Chapter 530v
Chapter 5
Chapter 630v
Chapter 6
Chapter 730v
Chapter 7
Chapter 830v
Chapter 8
Chapter 930v
Chapter 9
Chapter 1030v
Chapter 10
Chapter 1130v
Chapter 11
Chapter 1230v
Chapter 12
Chapter 1330v
Chapter 13
Chapter 1430v
Chapter 14
Chapter 1530v
Chapter 15
Chapter 1630v
Chapter 16
Chapter 1730v
Chapter 17
Chapter 1830v
Chapter 18
Chapter 1930v
Chapter 19
Chapter 2030v
Chapter 20
Chapter 2130v
Chapter 21
Chapter 2230v
Chapter 22
Chapter 2330v
Chapter 23
Chapter 2430v
Chapter 24
Chapter 2530v
Chapter 25
Chapter 2630v
Chapter 26
Chapter 2730v
Chapter 27
Chapter 2830v
Chapter 28
Chapter 2930v
Chapter 29
Chapter 3030v
Chapter 30
Chapter 3130v
Chapter 31
SB 4.16 Verses
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Canto 4, Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Verse 6 (SB 4.16.6)
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SB 4.16.6 • मूल श्लोक

वसु काल उपादत्ते काले चायं विमुञ्चति । सम: सर्वेषु भूतेषु प्रतपन् सूर्यवद्विभु: ॥ ६ ॥

Transliteration

vasu kāla upādatte kāle cāyaṁ vimuñcati samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu pratapan sūryavad vibhuḥ

Synonyms (Word-for-Word)

vasu — riches; kāle — in due course of time; upādatte — exacts; kāle — in due course of time; ca — also; ayam — this King Pṛthu; vimuñcati — returns; samaḥ — equal; sarveṣu — to all; bhūteṣu — living entities; pratapan — shining; sūrya-vat — like the sun-god; vibhuḥ — powerful.

Translation

“This King Pṛthu will be as powerful as the sun-god, and just as the sun-god equally distributes his sunshine to everyone, King Pṛthu will distribute his mercy equally. Similarly, just as the sun-god evaporates water for eight months and, during the rainy season, returns it profusely, this King will also exact taxes from the citizens and return these monies in times of need.”

Bhaktivedanta Purport

By Śrīla Prabhupāda
The process of tax exaction is very nicely explained in this verse. Tax exaction is not meant for the sense gratification of the so-called administrative heads. Tax revenues should be distributed to the citizens in times of need, during emergencies such as famine or flood. Tax revenues should never be distributed amongst governmental servants in the form of high salaries and various other allowances. In Kali-yuga, however, the position of the citizens is very horrible because taxes are exacted in so many forms and are spent for the personal comforts of the administrators. The example of the sun in this verse is very appropriate. The sun is many millions of miles away from the earth, and although the sun does not actually touch the earth, it manages to distribute land all over the planet by exacting water from the oceans and seas, and it also manages to make that land fertile by distributing water during the rainy season. As an ideal king, King Pṛthu would execute all this business in the village and state as expertly as the sun.