Copyright © r The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
| Canto 6: Prescribed Duties for Mankind | Chapter 1: The History of the Life of Ajāmila |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.1.40
veda-pranihito dharmo
hy adharmas tad-viparyayah
SYNONYMS
yamadūtāh ūcuh — the order carriers of Yamarāja said; veda — by the four Vedas (Sāma, Yajur, Rig and Atharva); pranihitah — prescribed; dharmah — religious principles; hi — indeed; adharmah — irreligious principles; tat-viparyayah — the opposite of that (that which is not supported by Vedic injunctions); vedah — the Vedas, books of knowledge; nārāyanah sākshāt — directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead (being the words of Nārāyana); svayam-bhūh — self-born, self-sufficient (appearing only from the breath of Nārāyana and not being learned from anyone else); iti — thus; śuśruma — we have heard.
TRANSLATION
The Yamadūtas replied: That which is prescribed in the Vedas constitutes dharma, the religious principles, and the opposite of that is irreligion. The Vedas are directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyana, and are self-born. This we have heard from Yamarāja.
PURPORT
The servants of Yamarāja replied quite properly. They did not manufacture principles of religion or irreligion. Instead, they explained what they had heard from the authority Yamarāja. Mahājano yena gatah sa panthāh: one should follow the mahājana, the authorized person. Yamarāja is one of twelve authorities. Therefore the servants of Yamarāja, the Yamadūtas, replied with perfect clarity when they said śuśruma ("we have heard"). The members of modern civilization manufacture defective religious principles through speculative concoction. This is not dharma. They do not know what is dharma and what is adharma. Therefore, as stated in the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, dharmah projjhita-kaitavo 'tra: [SB 1.1.2] dharma not supported by the Vedas is rejected from śrīmad-bhāgavata-dharma. Bhāgavata-dharma comprises only that which is given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Bhāgavata-dharma is sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekam śaranam vraja: [Bg. 18.66] one must accept the authority of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and surrender to Him and whatever He says. That is dharma. Arjuna, for example, thinking that violence was adharma, was declining to fight, but Krishna urged him to fight. Arjuna abided by the orders of Krishna, and therefore he is actually a dharmī because the order of Krishna is dharma. Krishna says in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15), vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyah: "The real purpose of veda, knowledge, is to know Me." One who knows Krishna perfectly is liberated. As Krishna says in Bhagavad-gītā (4.9):
"One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna." One who understands Krishna and abides by His order is a candidate for returning home, back to Godhead. It may be concluded that dharma, religion, refers to that which is ordered in the Vedas, and adharma, irreligion, refers to that which is not supported in the Vedas.
Dharma is not actually manufactured by Nārāyana. As stated in the Vedas, asya mahato bhūtasya niśvasitam etad yad rig-vedah iti: the injunctions of dharma emanate from the breathing of Nārāyana, the supreme living entity. Nārāyana exists eternally and breathes eternally, and therefore dharma, the injunctions of Nārāyana, also exist eternally. Śrīla Madhvācārya, the original ācārya for those who belong to the Mādhva-Gaudīya-sampradāya, says:
The transcendental words of the Vedas emanated from the mouth of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore the Vedic principles should be understood to be Vaishnava principles because Vishnu is the origin of the Vedas. The Vedas contain nothing besides the instructions of Vishnu, and one who follows the Vedic principles is a Vaishnava. The Vaishnava is not a member of a manufactured community of this material world. A Vaishnava is a real knower of the Vedas, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyah [Bg. 15.15]).
Copyright © r The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness