The Lord is saying here, mām eva ye prapadyante (BG 7.14), this is real dharma. All the others are improvised material religions. Just try to understand, this body is there, till the body is there I say I am a Hindu, I am a Muslim, I am a Christian, I follow such and such religion. Suppose we give up this body and become something else, there is no guarantee that we will get a human form of life only. According to our karma we will get our body. So if today I am a Hindu, Muslim or Christian, and tomorrow according to my karma if I get a birth somewhere else, an animal body to then my religion is finished. Everything ends with the ending of the body.
So the real dharma is surrendering to the Supreme Lord, just as the Lord says, mām eva ye prapadyante. Their devotional service is never lost. In this birth whatever effort you may have put in as devotional service, if the efforts are complete then we go back to Godhead, tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti (BG 4.9), back to Godhead. If devotional service is not complete, something is left unfinished then, śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo ’bhijāyate (BG 6.41) for one who falls down from bhakti yoga or devotional service then there is no loss for him in that.
If the process of devotional service is started and going forward he is not able to complete this process due to some reason, again he has fallen into the hands of maya, this can happen because maya is very strong. She defeats us all the time. So we should also be strong. So how can we be strong? mām eva ye prapadyantemāyām etāṁ taranti te (BG 7.14) If we catch hold of the lotus feet of the Lord very tightly then maya cannot do anything. This is the solution.
So when we have such a simple solution to become liberated, mām eva ye prapadyante. To become liberated from maya great jnanis take sannyas, give up family life, undergo great austerities, somebody goes to Himalayas, somebody goes to the forest, what all they do. Why? To get relief from maya. Brahma bhutah, to attain brahma jnana. And here the Lord says mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te - if one takes shelter of My lotus feet, he is at once out of the clutches of maya. Immediately, no delay, within a second.
A lot of people ask me that how many days it will take to attain devotional service? Not even a second! Why? The real business is surrender. If someone comes in front of the Lord and says, “O Lord, for so many days I have been the servant of maya.” And to be the servant of maya means to the servant of my senses. kāmādīnāṁ kati na katidhā pālitā durnideśās (Brs 3.2.35). The senses make us do what we are not supposed to do. So therefore, “For so many days I have been the servant of senses.” kāmādīnāṁ - lust, anger, greed – the servant of these. “But by being such a servant I did not experience any happiness.” And of whom I was servant even they were not happy.
Just see, this is the reality, rule of the material world. All of you please think over this point. Gandhiji, Mahatma Gandhi, he did such great service for the nation, served the nation. But at the end a person from that country killed him. Just see a great person like Gandhiji, who can serve better than him. So what to talk about us! You can serve the world as much as you want but they will never be happy with you. They will never say, “O you have worked a lot, served a lot. Now sit at home. No need to serve anymore.” Ask you wife in the old age that, “ I have tried so long to keep you all happy. I will now go to Vrindavana and stay there.” Everyone will be upset, “O how can you go to Vrindavana? This work is left to be done, this work is left to be done, this work is left to be done.” Something is always pending.