राजानं मानुषं प्राहुर्देवत्वे स मतो मम।
यस्य धर्मार्थसहितं वृत्तमाहुरमानुषम्॥
rājānaṁ mānuṣaṁ prāhur devatve sa mato mama
yasya dharmārtha-sahitaṁ vṛttam āhur amānuṣam
rājānam = a king; mānuṣam = a man; prāhuḥ = materialistic people consider; devatve = to be God; saḥ mataḥ = consider him; mama = [but] I; yasya = whose; dharma-artha-sahitam = in accordance with the principles of dharma and artha; vṛttam = activities are; āhuḥ = and which are described; amānuṣam = as superhumanly.
“Materialistic people consider a king a man. [But] I consider him, whose activities are in accordance with the principles of dharma and artha and which are described as superhumanly, to be God.
1 It is not even a matter of birth. (This is a discussion between two sons of a king.) It is a matter of guṇa and karma (cāturvarṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ). One who has the qualities and activities of a king can become a king, no one else. In other words, he whose qualities and activities are in line with the Dharma-śāstra and Artha-śāstra is described by learned authorities as superhumanly and so he should be accepted as a king.
Everyone cannot easily become a king.1
Having responded to Rāma’s questions that He had just asked, Bharata now answers Rāma’s first question which concerned the king.