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Dharma means the natural instinct. The natural instinct is to obey the superior person. Every one of us, we are meant for obeying the Supreme

Expressions researched:
"Dharma means the natural instinct. The natural instinct is to obey the superior person. Every one of us, we are meant for obeying the Supreme"

Lectures

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

You have to execute your occupational duty, but, as Kṛṣṇa said, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). That is real dharma. "I am this. I am following this dharma, that dharma"—that is not dharma. Dharma means the natural instinct. The natural instinct is to obey the superior person. Every one of us, we are meant for obeying the Supreme.

Dvija means twice-born: first birth by the father and mother, and the second birth by saṁskāra, or by culture. Brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, they have got saṁskāra. Śūdras have no saṁskāra. Saṁskāra-varjita means śūdra. In this age nobody observes the saṁskāras. Therefore in the śāstra it is said, kalau śūdra-sambhavaḥ (Skanda Purāṇa). In the Kali-yuga almost every person is a śūdra. Therefore there is so much chaos. The government is managed by the śūdras or less than śūdras, mleccha. Mleccha-rājendra-rūpiṇaḥ (SB 12.1.40). Mlecchas have taken the post of government. It is meant for the kṣatriyas, means qualified kṣatriya, very brave, very powerful, very charitable, not going away when there is fight. That is kṣatriya's position. Brāhmaṇa means satyaṁ śamo damas titikṣā (BG 18.42). So people should be trained up as brāhmaṇa, as kṣatriya, as vaiśya. Kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyaṁ vaiśya-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.44). The vaiśya's duty is to produce food grains, agriculture, and give protection to the cows, and if you have got surplus foodstuff, you can make trade where there is shortage.

So actually this statement of the śāstras, that kalau śūdra-sambhavaḥ, hardly there is brāhmaṇa or kṣatriya or vaiśya, because nobody is doing their duty. Instead of producing food grains, vaiśyas are engaged in running on big, big factories. So factory cannot produce food grains. Therefore there is food shortage or people are not getting ample foodstuff, they are starving, and there must be agitation. There is no brāhmaṇa's guidance, there is no kṣatriya kings, and śūdras are also not executing their duty. Then what will be the result? This is the result. This is the result. Therefore this is material dharma. Ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ (SB 1.2.13). That vibhāga, or division, must be there. Otherwise there must be chaos. Just like in your body there is division, the brain division, here the brain division, the arms division, and the belly division and the leg division. So these divisions are required. If you have no brain, then how you can control your other senses? If you have no strength in your arms, how can you protect yourself? If you have no digestive power, there is no food, how you live? And if there is no leg, or the laborer class, how you will work. This is natural division. Therefore varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ, the varṇāśrama division must be there. That is human society.

Everything is described very nicely in the Bhagavad-gītā. Annād bhavanti bhūtāni. Annād bhavanti bhūtāni parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ. Parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ, and yajñād bhavati parjanyo yajñaḥ karma . . . (BG 3.14). (break) And the animals, as soon as they are fatty and grown up, they are sent to the slaughterhouse. This business is going on. So why there should not be crisis in food grain and crisis in human . . .? There must be. Because we are not abiding by the orders of the Supreme Lord, and dharma means to abide by the orders of the Supreme Lord. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam (SB 6.3.19). You cannot manufacture dharma, "This is this religion, this is that religion." These are all bogus. Real dharma is sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). This is dharma. All bogus type of dharma—Hindu religion, Muslim religion, this religion, that religion—they are not dharma.

Therefore it is said here, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmaḥ (SB 1.2.6). Paraḥ means Supreme. What is that? Yato bhaktir adhokṣaje, "Wherein this is taught, 'Just surrender to the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa,' that is first-class religion." All other religions, they are bogus. That is not religion. Just like good citizenship means to abide by the laws of the state, of the government. That is good citizenship. Similarly, a real religious person means who is abiding by the orders of the Supreme Lord. Unfortunately, they have no information of the Supreme Lord. Although the Lord, the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, is present, still, they are thinking that Supreme Lord is nirākāra. Nirākāra means to avoid. How Supreme God can be nirākāra? If the Supreme Lord is the supreme father . . . we have got experience: I am a person, my father is person, his father is person, his father is person . . . in this way, if you go to the topmost platform to find out the Supreme Person or Supreme God, why He should be imperson? Imperson is a feature of the Supreme Person, but ultimately brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11), ultimately the Absolute Truth is a Supreme Person. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). This is the Vedic information, that as we are all nityas, eternal, we are also living being, but there is another supreme nitya, eternal, and supreme cetana, or living being, and that is God. That is Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7): "There is no more superior living being than Me." That is Kṛṣṇa.

So here it is said, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmaḥ. Dharma . . . you have to execute your occupational duty, but, as Kṛṣṇa said, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). That is real dharma. "I am this. I am following this dharma, that dharma"—that is not dharma. Dharma means the natural instinct. The natural instinct is to obey the superior person. Every one of us, we are meant for obeying the Supreme. Is anyone . . . who can say that, "I haven't got to obey any superior person"? Is there anyone? That cannot be. You have to obey. That was the subject matter of my topics in Moscow, with Professor Kotovsky. I challenged him that, "What is the difference between your philosophy and our philosophy? You have to obey some person, and I have to obey some person. So you are obeying Lenin, and I am obeying Kṛṣṇa. So where is the difference between you and me in philosophy? Now, the things remain to be judged, whether by following Kṛṣṇa I shall be happy or by following Lenin you shall be happy. That is to be judged, not that you, Communist party, you can do without following a superior person. That you cannot do. That is not possible." That is natural. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, jīvera svarūpa haya nitya-kṛṣṇa-dāsa (CC Madhya 20.108-109). Our real formation, constitutional position, is to obey the orders of Kṛṣṇa. But we have selected disobeying Kṛṣṇa. We are obeying Lenin. That is the difficulty. We have to obey somebody, but you have selected not to obey Kṛṣṇa but to obey Lenin. In India disobedience is very prominent now. But in that way you shall not be happy. Therefore Bhāgavata says, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaja (SB 1.2.6). If you learn how to obey the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, then you will be happy. Yayātmā suprasīdati. This is fact.

Page Title:Dharma means the natural instinct. The natural instinct is to obey the superior person. Every one of us, we are meant for obeying the Supreme
Compiler:SharmisthaK
Created:2022-12-13, 07:32:44
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=1, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:1