Just like law means obedience to the state, and one who obeys the laws of the state, he is good citizen, similarly, the laws given by God, one who obeys the law, he is religious or saintly person

Expressions researched:
"Just like law means obedience to the state, and one who obeys the laws of the state, he is good citizen; similarly, the laws given by God, one who obeys the law, he is religious or saintly person"

Lectures

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

So what is religion, then? The religion is obedience to God. Just like law means obedience to the state, and one who obeys the laws of the state, he is good citizen; similarly, the laws given by God, one who obeys the law, he is religious or saintly person. So it doesn't matter what religion you are following. It doesn't matter.

751005 - Lecture SB 01.02.06 - Mauritius

paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ

vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām

dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya

sambhavāmi yuge yuge

(BG 4.8)

So religion is disturbed by duṣkṛtina, demons, and those who are saintly person, they execute religion. So paritrāṇāya sādhūnām. Sādhu means saintly person, devotee of God. They are sādhu. And asādhu, or demon, means persons who deny the authority of God. They are called demons. So two business—paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duskrtam: "To curtail the activities of the demons and to give protection to the saintly person, I descend." Dharma-saṁsthā . . . "And to establish dharma, the principles of religion." These are the three business for which Kṛṣṇa, or God, or God's representative—or, you say, God's son—they come. This is going on.

So what is religion, then? The religion is obedience to God. Just like law means obedience to the state, and one who obeys the laws of the state, he is good citizen; similarly, the laws given by God, one who obeys the law, he is religious or saintly person. So it doesn't matter what religion you are following. It doesn't matter. If you are actually obedient to the laws of God, then you are religious. It doesn't matter. So that is explained here: sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharma yato bhaktir adhokṣaje (SB 1.2.6). Adhokṣaje: beyond the sense perception. We have got different stages of knowledge: direct perception . . . pratyakṣa, parokṣa, aparokṣa, adhokṣaja, aprakṛta—these are five stages of knowledge: direction perception, knowledge received from others, then realization, then anubhūti, understanding what is the position of God and His situation. That is called aprakṛta. Aprakṛta means not within this material world but above that. Śaṅkarācārya, he has described, nārāyaṇaḥ paraḥ avyaktāt. Avyaktāt. This material world is manifested. And above this, there is the total stock of material energy. That is called avyakta. And beyond that, there is spiritual world. Nārāyaṇaḥ paraḥ avyaktāt. So we have to understand God, where He is situated. He is situated everyone, everywhere, but still, we cannot see.