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TEACHINGS OF QUEEN KUNTĪ
abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham
“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. 4.7) The words  dharmasya glāniḥ  mean “irregularities in religion.” When there are irregularities, religion becomes polluted.
In human society there must be a proper balance between spirit and matter. We are actually spirit soul, but somehow or other we have been encaged within material bodies, and as long as we have these bodies we have to accept the bodily necessities of eating, sleeping, mating, and defending, although the soul itself does not need these things. The soul does not need to eat anything; whatever we eat is for the upkeep of the body. But a civilization that simply looks after these bodily necessities and does not care for the necessities of the soul is a foolish, unbalanced civilization. Suppose one merely washes one’s coat but does not take care of one’s body. Or suppose one has a bird in a cage but merely takes care of the cage, not the bird within it. This is foolishness. The bird is crying, “ Ka, ka . Give me food, give me food.” If one only takes care of the cage, how can the bird be happy?
So why are we unhappy? In the Western countries there is no scarcity of wealth, no scarcity of food, no scarcity of cars, and no scarcity of sex. Everything is available in full abundance. Then why is there still a section of people who are frustrated and confused, like the hippies? They are not satisfied. Why? Because there is no balance. We are taking care of the necessities of the body, but we have no information of the soul and its necessities. The soul is the real substance, and the body is only a covering. Therefore neglect of the soul is a form of  dharmasya glāniḥ , pollution of duty.
The word  dharma  means “duty.” Although the word  dharma  is often translated as “religion” and religion is generally defined as a kind of faith,  dharma  is not in fact a kind of faith.  Dharma  means one’s actual constitutional duty. It is one’s duty to know the needs of the soul, but unfortunately we have no information of the soul and are simply busy supplying the necessities for bodily comfort.
Bodily comfort, however, is not enough. Suppose a man is very comfortably situated. Does it mean he will not die? Of course not. We speak of a struggle for existence and survival of the fittest, but bodily comforts alone cannot enable anyone to exist or survive permanently.