The Kali-yuga will begin, begins deterioration of the brāhmin community. You are the first." So one thing is that even a child born of a brāhmin was so powerful that because he cursed Mahārāja Parīkṣit to die out of snake bite, it could not be withdrawn. He died. Just see how much brahminical power was that time. Even a child, what to speak of grown-up.
So in those days, as in the first verse we learn, dvija-varya-śikṣayā. The . . . actually, the brāhmins, they were controlling the state, but not directly, not sitting on the throne, but giving the kings good advice according to śāstra that, "You rule over like this. This is the process." And the kings would abide by . . . although the monarchy was there, but they were not irresponsible. First of all, the king was trained and educated perfectly. Therefore it is called dvija-varya-śikṣayā. Yesterday I explained, dvija, the twice-born brāhmaṇa; and again it is added with another word, varya. Varya means the first class, not third class. First-class man, dvija-varya-śikṣayā, they used to teach. They used to advise. And if the king was worthless, sometimes they would kill the king. And next son, his son would take possession.
That was done in the case of Mahārāja Veṇa. Mahārāja Veṇa, he was upstart. He was born of a low-class mother, so he became so upstart that in his boyhood he was playing with friends, and if there was some quarrel, he would kill such friend. So his father became so disgusted, tried to reform him in so many ways, but he could not be reformed. The father, Mahārāja Aṅga, he left the kingdom all of a sudden, being disgusted.
Then the brāhmins asked the king that, "You are not ruling very nicely. You have stopped all religious function. This is not good for the people, neither for you." They first of all tried to pacify him by nice instruction. But the king said: "You brāhmins, you do not know me very well. I am God," and this and that. Then he was killed by the brāhmins. You know that Jamadagni, Paraśurāma, when he saw that the kings were not responsible, he killed the whole kṣatriya family for twenty-one times. So that was the government. If the brāhmins would see that the kṣatriyas, the kings, were not ruling properly according to the Vedic principle, sometimes they would kill the king.