I have several times given example. There are different types of bodies: animals, birds, beasts, demigods, human being, many varieties of life, 8,400,000, higher life, lower life. So those who are associating with the base qualities of material nature, they get lower life. That is natural. Just like you contaminate a kind of disease, it will become manifest in due course of time. So this is going on. But if we understand this knowledge as Kṛṣṇa is speaking, rāja-vidyā rāja-guhyaṁ pavitram idam uttamam, then pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyam. Dharma. One meaning of dharma is the basic principle of our life or the occupational duty of our life, dharma. Occupational duty of our life, that is called dharma. Generally in the English dharma is translated by the word "religion," a kind of faith. But actually dharma means the characteristic. That is real meaning of dharma: characteristic.
Just like you can understand: by the characteristic in the chemical laboratory they test different chemicals. So the heading is "characteristic." "This chemical looking such and such color. The granules are like this. The taste is like this. The reaction is like this. If you put with this, it will react like this." So many. If certain chemical complies with all the characteristic, then it is declared pure. So suppose what is the characteristic of sugar? Everyone knows: it must be sweet. Sugar and salt, both of them externally seem the same: white. But you have to understand which is sugar and which is salt by tasting. So there are different test of characteristic. If sugar becomes salty, immediately, "Oh, it is not sugar. Throw it." And if salt become sweet, you throw it. Similarly, dharma means everything has got a special characteristic. That is called dharma.
So what is our dharma, living entities? We are living entities. We may be in different forms, it doesn't matter, 8,400,000's of forms. But what is the actual business? The actual business is that every one of us giving service to others. This is our dharma. That is enunciated by Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Jīvera svarūpa haya nitya-kṛṣṇa-dāsa (CC Madhya 20.108). This is the characteristic of living entity. Living entity is meant for giving service to Kṛṣṇa. This is the characteristic. When this characteristic is not found, or lacking, that means it is diseased condition or that is material condition. Just like this finger. What is the characteristic of finger? The finger characteristic: it is the part and parcel of my body. As soon as I say, "My dear servant finger, please capture this," immediately I capture, immediately. "Oh, my dear servant finger, come on the head and give me some itching." "Yes." (laughter) So this is characteristic. If the finger, I order, "Please pick up this rasagullā." "Yes." "Give it here." "Yes." The finger cannot eat. Just try to understand. The finger, if he gets one rasagullā, nice, tasteful sweetmeat, the finger will never try to smash it and spoil it. (laughter) The fingers immediately will take. You'll find. It is psychology, even for a child. The child captures with the finger some nice sweetmeats and immediately puts in . . . Why? The child could smash it and taste this rasagullā? That is not possible. Study nature. You take the very nice sweet, but you cannot . . . the fingers cannot spoil it. The process is that by nature the child knows that "If I put into the mouth, it goes to the stomach, and if it is digested, these fingers will be healthy, the eyes will be healthy, the leg will be healthy, hands will be healthy, every—all parts of the body will be healthy." This is natural.