Dharma-samisthapanarthaya

BY: GADADHARA DASA

Feb 28, DALLAS, TEXAS (SUN) —

dharma-samisthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge

Lord Krishna declares in the Bhagavad Gita:

BG 4.7: "Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata , and a predominant rise of irreligion -- at that time I descend Myself.

BG 4.8: To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium."

Meat eating, intoxication, illicit sex, and gambling (false propaganda) are four pillars of irreligion. When these activities are in full swing then it is called predominant rise of irreligion. Such is the case as of now.

Krishna says I descend at such a time, destroy the miscreants (and put stop to irreligious activities), deliver the pious, and reestablish the principles of religion for the benefit of the present and future generations.

Austerity, purity, mercy, and truthfulness are four pillars of religion. So it is easy to understand if one is following irreligion or religion. If anyone wants to compare different religious groups, then such comparison should be done by comparing pillars of irreligion vs. pillars of religion. There is very clear contrast/distinction between the two sets of pillars.

Now let us look at part of Srila Prabhupada's purport in regard to Lord Buddha's appearance:

Srimad Bhagavatam 2.7.37:

"Lord Buddha incarnates at a time when the people are most materialistic and preaches common-sense religious principles. Such ahimisa is not a religious principle itself, but it is an important quality for persons who are actually religious.

It is a common-sense religion because one is advised to do no harm to any other animal or living being because such harmful actions are equally harmful to he who does the harm (as you sow so shall you reap).

But before learning these principles of nonviolence one has to learn two other principles, namely to be humble and to be pride-less. Unless one is humble and pride-less, one cannot be harmless and nonviolent.

And after being nonviolent one has to learn tolerance and simplicity of living. One must offer respects to the great religious preachers and spiritual leaders and also train the senses for controlled action, learning to be unattached to family and home, and enacting devotional service to the Lord, etc.

At the ultimate stage one has to accept the Lord and become His devotee; otherwise there is no religion. In religious principles there must be God in the center; otherwise simple moral instructions are merely sub-religious principles, generally known as upadharma , or nearness to religious principles."

Further Reading

So the first step is to give up irreligious activities and pride; become, humble, tolerant, detached (sanga varjitam - from family, social, and national considerations); cultivate simple living (austerity), mercy, purity, and truthfulness; and accept the Lord and act as his obedient servant.

Only such a soul can help other children of God, and not the flag waving so-called religionists, be they Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists or whatever. They will cause conflict and violence as is happening now (so many wars going on as of now under one pretext or another).

These are the points by which one has to judge how close or apart each religious group is from the actual standards of religion.

The means for effecting this change within oneself and the masses is group chanting (of Hare Krishna Mantra), dancing, feasting Krishna Prasadam, and then discussing philosophy with full honesty.

Srila Prabhupada established the Hare Krishna Movement for this reason and expects that we work toward this change and save the people of the world from the all-pervading ignorance and resulting exploitation and suffering caused by bogus religionists, materialists, and politicians.

So let us work to establish (dharma samsthapan) these religious principles in our own heart and in the heart of others.

Wishing You All Well,

YHS- Gadadhar Dasa
Gordhan_Goyani@Yahoo.com

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