¹ The president of a democratic nation that is sometimes portrayed as the world’s oldest democracy has been recently impeached by the citizens of that country. Though he was acquitted in less than two months, his impeachment indicates that the people in general don’t possess the maturity and foresight to select a leader who can ethically, selflessly and judiciously arrange for their individual and collective needs to be taken care of in the long run. Genuine Vedic monarchy, on the other hand, is far better, for it functions under the guidance of those who are brāhmaṇas by quality and activity and who follow the instructions of perfect pure devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the paramparā system. Such a system is naturally “citizen first” because no one can love all the living entities more than the Supreme Personality of Godhead, which is why He has given them the system of varṇāśrama-dharma to follow. When a king is corrupt in a monarchy, he can be justifiably criticized, but when an elected president in a democracy is corrupt, who should be criticized? We sincerely wish that enlightened progressive persons in the modern age reading this edition of Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa would pore through Śrīla Prabhupāda’s purports to the sections of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that reveal how Yudhiṣṭhira, Parīkṣit and Pṛthu ruled—Canto 1 Chapters 12 to 18 and Canto 4 Chapters 14 to 23—to understand the unique benefits of sinlessly following bhāgavata-dharma with varṇāśrama-dharma.