Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: You started this explanation by saying, "But who will take it?" So is this to say that this religion that you're speaking of is not trying to be made acceptable to the masses, or is it only for those who will take it?
Prabhupāda: No, no. Unless you take it, where is question of religion? So that requires guidance. Just like to make a child educated, there is teacher required. Automatically how he can...? A child, now you give him a rubberstamp, "Now you are MA." Is he MA? He must be guided to pass the MA examination, then he'll be, he's MA. And "Because he is born in a certain family, he cannot be MA," that is not the fact. He can be MA provided the guidance is there, training is there. He can become MA. It doesn't matter that because he is lowborn he cannot become MA. No. He can become. The training is how to take shelter of Kṛṣṇa. Then he goes back to home, back to Godhead.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: It appears from his question that his idea is that Hinduism is so flexible that whatever condition of life the masses are in, Hinduism will kind of envelop them, and they can still call themselves Hindus. But what you're saying is that actually the standard is there...
Prabhupāda: We have already refuted. There is no such thing as Hinduism in the Vedic conception. It is sanātana-dharma or varṇāśrama-dharma.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Is sanātana-dharma so wide that everyone can be...
Prabhupāda: Sanātana means eternal. So na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). The identification of the living entity is already described, that it does not perish after annihilation of this body. That is sanātana. So that is meant for everyone. Not that the Hindus, after giving up this body, exist, and the Muslim or Christian does not exist. Everyone exists. Everyone is eternal, so sanātana-dharma is meant for everyone.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Is there anyone actually outside of sanātana-dharma then?
Prabhupāda: If he thinks. Otherwise nobody is outside. If you think that you are not... There are so many rascals, they think that with the body everything is finished. But he may think so, but that is not fact. Similarly, if one thinks that "I am not sanātana-dharmi, I am Christian." You may think like that, but actually you are sanatanist. But if you think otherwise, you can think. Who can check it? When Kṛṣṇa says, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20), the soul does not annihilate after the destruction of the body, is it meant for the Hindus? Everyone. Everyone is a living entity, everyone is a soul, and he's eternal. And eternal means sanātana.
Hari-śauri: So it depends on how one acts as to whether he can be accepted as...
Prabhupāda: Then... One acts means he must act accordingly. If he does not act accordingly, that is his business. That's all.
Hari-śauri: Jaya, Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Dhṛṣṭadyumna: Jaya. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. (devotees offer obeisances) (break)