Guhyam viśuddhaṁ durbodham. Durbodham means very difficult to understand. Anything which is very difficult to understand, if you go to a superior authority, it becomes simplified. Just like you do not know law. Suppose you are in need of some legal protection, but you do not know, "Under which legal protection I will be safe." You have to approach a good lawyer. You cannot say that, "I'll defend myself. I will do." No, that is not possible. When you are diseased, you have to consult the physician. Therefore if you want to know what is dharma, then you have to approach these twelve great personalities. Otherwise it will remain durbodham, very difficult to understand. Although it is very pure, because I am impure, I will not be able to understand. Guhyaṁ visuddhaṁ dur . . . yaṁ jñātvā amṛtam aśnute. And if you are fortunate enough to understand what is religion, then you become immortal; next life is immortal life. This is the purpose of dharma.
We should not be satisfied that, "I have got a dharma made by somebody, my some relative or somebody else." That is not dharma. Dharma means to understand God. It doesn't matter whether you are Christian or Hindu or Muslim. It doesn't matter. If you think that by your principle you have understood God and you have learned how to love God, and you have learned how to obey God, that dharma is perfect. That religious system is perfect. It may go on under any name; it doesn't matter.
But if you have achieved the result, that is wanted. Just like if you pass your M.A. examination, it doesn't matter whether you pass it from London University or Calcutta University or Berlin University. You have passed your examination. That will be taken into consideration. So similarly, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje (SB 1.2.6). That system of religion is perfect by which one can learn what is God and how to love God. That is perfect. But you are following very nicely dharma, your so-called dharma, but you have no knowledge of God, no love for God—it is simply wasting time. It is simply wasting time.
Therefore dharma means to understand God and to abide by His order. To learn this scientific method, one has to approach . . .
- etāvān eva loke 'smin
- puṁsāṁ dharmaḥ paraḥ smṛtaḥ
- bhakti-yogo bhagavati
- tan-nāma-grahaṇādibhiḥ
- (SB 6.3.22)
So dharma means first-class dharma which teaches the followers how to know God, how to love Him. That is first-class religion. So etāvān eva loke 'smin puṁsāṁ dharmaḥ paraḥ smṛtaḥ. Paraḥ means superior, not inferior. Or transcendental. So what is that? Bhakti-yogo bhagavati. Bhakti-yoga. This bhakti-yoga, devotional service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that is dharma. Bhakti-yogo bhagavati tan-nāma grahaṇādibhiḥ. And it begins by chanting the holy name of God. This is dharma.