By Urmila Devi Dasi
SB 6.16.41
Being full of contradictions, all forms of religion but bhagavata-dharma work under conceptions of fruitive results and distinctions of “you and I” and “yours and mine.” The followers of Srimad-Bhagavatam have no such consciousness. They are all Krsna conscious, thinking that they are Krsna’s and Krsna is theirs. There are other, low-class religious systems, which are contemplated for the killing of enemies or the gain of mystic power, but such religious systems, being full of passion and envy, are impure and temporary. Because they are full of envy, they are full of irreligion.
PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada:
Bhagavata-dharma has no contradictions. Conceptions of “your religion” and “my religion” are completely absent from bhagavata-dharma. Bhagavata-dharma means following the orders given by the Supreme Lord, Bhagavan, as stated in Bhagavad-gita: sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja [Bg. 18.66]. God is one, and God is for everyone. Therefore everyone must surrender to God. That is the pure conception of religion. Whatever God orders constitutes religion (dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam [SB 6.3.19]). In bhagavata-dharma there is no question of “what you believe” and “what I believe.” Everyone must believe in the Supreme Lord and carry out His orders. Anukulyena krsnanusilanam: [Cc. Madhya 19.167] whatever Krsna says—whatever God says—should be directly carried out. That is dharma, religion.
If one is actually Krsna conscious, he cannot have any enemies. Since his only engagement is to induce others to surrender to Krsna, or God, how can he have enemies? If one advocates the Hindu religion, the Muslim religion, the Christian religion, this religion or that religion, there will be conflicts. History shows that the followers of religious systems without a clear conception of God have fought with one another. There are many instances of this in human history, but systems of religion that do not concentrate upon service to the Supreme are temporary and cannot last for long because they are full of envy. There are many activities directed against such religious systems, and therefore one must give up the idea of “my belief” and “your belief.” Everyone should believe in God and surrender unto Him. That is bhagavata-dharma.
Bhagavata-dharma is not a concocted sectarian belief, for it entails research to find how everything is connected with Krsna (isavasyam idam sarvam [Iso mantra 1]). According to the Vedic injunctions, sarvam khalv idam brahma: Brahman, the Supreme, is present in everything. Bhagavata-dharma captures this presence of the Supreme. Bhagavata-dharma does not consider everything in the world to be false. Because everything emanates from the Supreme, nothing can be false; everything has some use in the service of the Supreme. For example, we are now dictating into a microphone and recording on a dictating machine, and thus we are finding how the machine can be connected to the Supreme Brahman. Since we are using this machine in the service of the Lord, it is Brahman. This is the meaning of sarvam khalv idam brahma. Everything is Brahman because everything can be used for the service of the Supreme Lord. Nothing is mithya, false; everything is factual.
Bhagavata-dharma is called sarvotkrsta, the best of all religious systems, because those who follow bhagavata-dharma are not envious of anyone. Pure bhagavatas, pure devotees, invite everyone, without envy, to join the Krsna consciousness movement. A devotee is therefore exactly like the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Suhrdam sarva-bhutanam: [Bg. 5.29] he is the friend of all living entities. Therefore this is the best of all religious systems. Whereas so-called religions are meant for a particular type of person who believes in a particular way, such discrimination has no place in Krsna consciousness, or bhagavata-dharma. If we scrutinize the religious systems meant for worship of demigods or anyone else but the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we will find that they are full of envy and therefore impure.
Related lecture transcript of Srila Prabhupada
George Harrison on I, me, mine
short Prabhupada quotes from Vanipedia
Related section from Bhaktivinoda’s Jaiva Dharma
Source: http://urmiladasi.com/k%E1%B9%9B%E1%B9%A3%E1%B9%87a-is-mine-and-i-am-his/
Very nice of Urmila dd to quote from Srimad Bhagavatam and his purport. Yes, mamai vamso jiva loke…
we are part and parcel of Lord Vishnu, even living within Him. Only the conditioned souls experience false independence and separateness. Unfortunately, they also become separated from the divine love and ecstasy that is Krishna as well.
Srila Prabhupad clearly delineates what is pure religion and what is impure religion. In the Bhagavad Gita Sri Krishna describes divisions of faith (Ch. 17) and elsewhere. When I have lectured on the Bhagavad Gita I try to answer the question: Why are there so many religions in the world? Sri Krishna gives His answer. When faith is mixed with different modes of nature, then the religion also reflects that. Hence, there is religion (in the mode of ignorance), religion (in the mode of passion), and religion (in the mode of goodness). Beyond these is sanatan-dharma, eternal religion which is Krishna consciousness.
If one is fortunate to get the association of a pure vaishnava, then the pathway to entry into Krishna consciousness is made possible. Clearly, impure religion leads to a persistent false identity and false misconception of life. When eternal religion arises, the soul is aware of relationship with Krishna, desires to please Krishna, and makes efforts to regain or reawaken Krishna consciousness, devotional service.
Pusta Krishna das
Thank you mataji for the nice excerpt from Srimad Bhagavatam. The verse negates the mundane conception of “me” and “mine” and the title of the article gives the spiritual conception of “me” and “mine”. In Vrndavana the right wing gopies consider “we belong to Krsna” and the left wing gopies consider “Krsna is mine”.
Hare Krsna!
your servant,
Shyamananda dasa
Shyamananda Prabhu, could you please elaborate with literary sources on this idea of right and left wing gopis? Thank you. Pusta Krishna das