The Way of Chanting and Knowing Krsna_—-17

fire of material existence for all living entities by set-
ting forth the dharma.

yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata

abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamyaham

paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam

dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge

“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in reli-
gious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a pre-
dominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend
Myself. In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate
the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles
of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millen-
nium.” (Bg. 4.7-8)

In this verse the word dharma is used. This word
has been translated into English in various ways.
Sometimes it is translated as “faith,” but according
to Vedic literature, dharma is not a kind of faith.
Faith may change, but dharma cannot be changed.
The liquidity of water cannot be changed. If it is
changed—if, for instance, water becomes solid—it is
actually no longer in its constitutional position. It is
existing under a certain qualifying condition. Our
dharma or constitutional position is that we are part
and parcel of the Supreme, and this being the case,
we have to dovetail or subjugate our consciousness
to the Supreme.
