Prabhupada 0056 - Twelve Authorities Mentioned in the Sastras
Lecture on SB 7.6.1 -- Madras, January 2, 1976
Prabhupāda:
- śrī-prahrāda uvāca
- kaumāra ācaret prājño
- dharmān bhāgavatān iha
- durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma
- tad apy adhruvam arthadam
- (SB 7.6.1)
This is Prahlāda Mahārāja. He is one of the authorities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. There are twelve authorities mentioned in the śāstras:
- svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ
- kumāraḥ kapilo manuḥ
- prahlādo janako bhīṣmo
- balir vaiyāsakir vayam
- (SB 6.3.20)
This is the statement of Yamarāja about the authorities of dharma. Dharma means bhāgavata-dharma. I think I have explained last night, dharma means bhāgavata-dharma. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītaṁ (SB 6.3.19). Just like our Mr. Chief Justice gives judgment on the law, so the law cannot be manufactured by any common man or any businessman, no. Law can be manufactured only by the state, by the government. Nobody can manufacture. That will not give us... If in the high-court, if somebody pleads, "Sir, I have got my own law," Mr. Justice will not accept. (laughs) So similarly, dharma you cannot manufacture. Either you are a very big man... Even Chief Justice, he cannot make a law. The law is given by state. Similarly, dharma means bhāgavata-dharma and other so-called dharmas, they are not dharmas. They will not be accepted. Exactly in the same way, law manufactured at your home is not accepted. Therefore dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītaṁ (SB 6.3.19).
And what is bhagavat-praṇītaṁ dharma? That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, we know, everyone. He came, Kṛṣṇa came. His mission was dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya, for establishing the religious principles, or reestablishing. Dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata. Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata (BG 4.7). So sometimes there is glāni, discrepancies in the matter of discharging the principles of dharma. At that time, Kṛṣṇa comes. Paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām (BG 4.8). Yuge yuge sambhavāmi. So this dharma, Kṛṣṇa did not come to reorganize the so-called dharmas: Hindu dharma, Muslim dharma, Christian dharma, Buddha's dharma. No. According to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said, dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra (SB 1.1.2). The dharma which is a type of cheating process, that kind of dharma is projjhita. Prakṛṣṭa-rūpeṇa ujjhita, means it is thrown away or kicked out. So real dharma is bhāgavata-dharma, real dharma. Therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja said, kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha (SB 7.6.1). Actually dharma means God and our relationship with God and acting according to that relationship so that we may attain the ultimate goal of life. That is dharma.