Taking to Krsna Consciousness 87

ment. At one time that was India’s principle of life,
and there was a class of people, the brahmanas, 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 Bharatavarsa, after
Emperor Bharata Maharaja, the son of Rsabhadeva.
Bharata Maharaja 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, wher-
ever 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 con-
sidered water. The dharma of the individual soul
can never be changed, and that dharma is the occu-
pational 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
