Taking to Kṛṣṇa Consciousness
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ment. At one time that was India's principle of life, and there was a class of people, the  brāhmaṇas , who engaged themselves exclusively in spiritual culture. Although brahminical cultural life is enunciated in the scriptures of India, it is not for Indians alone, but for all human beings. The  Vedas  were written for all mankind, but it so happened that when the  Vedas  were written, what is now known as the Indian culture was the only one extant. At that time, the whole planet was called Bhāratavarṣa, after Emperor Bharata Mahārāja, the son of Rṣabhadeva. Bharata Mahārāja ruled the whole planet, but gradually the planet was divided up. So the  dharma  of Vedic culture should not simply be considered Indian or Hindu in a sectarian sense.
Often the word  dharma  is translated to mean religion, but to conceive of  dharma  as a religion is to misconceive the word. In general usage, the word religion refers to a particular type of faith. The word  dharma  does not.  Dharma  indicates the natural occupation of the living entity. For example, wherever there is fire, there is heat and light, so it may be said that heat and light are the  dharma  of fire. Fire cannot change its  dharma . In the same way, liquidity is an intrinsic quality of water, and this quality cannot be changed. If it is, it can no longer be considered water. The  dharma  of the individual soul can never be changed, and that  dharma  is the occupational duty of rendering service unto the Supreme Lord. Faiths and religions can be changed. Today I may be a Hindu, but tomorrow I may become a Christian or Moslem. In this way faiths can be