The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is considered to be the essence of Vedic literature. Vedic literature means the four Vedas: Sāma, Yajur, Ṛg, Atharva, then Upaniṣad, 108 Upaniṣads, then eighteen Purāṇas, Rāmāyaṇa, Mahābhārata. It is an immense treasure house of literature. So this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is one of the eighteen Purāṇas, and in this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there are eighteen thousand verses. So I am just trying to explain one or two verses.
Father Greene hinted the common platform of religion. Common platform is not very difficult to understand, because religion means to know God and abide by the orders of God. That is religion. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated that dharmaṁ tu sākṣāt bhagavat-praṇītam. The . . . religious system cannot be manufactured by man. No. Man-made religion is not religion. Religion means God-made religion. That is religion. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣāt. Just like law. Law means the orders enunciated by the government. You cannot manufacture law at home. That is not law. Similarly, religion means the orders given by God. This is simple definition of religion.
So we must know God, and we must know what is His order, and we should abide by the orders. Then that is religion. So you take any type of religion, these three things are there: that we must try to know God, and what does He desires, and to fulfill it. Therefore in the Bhāgavatam it is said:
- sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo
- yato bhaktir adhokṣaje
- ahaituky apratihatā
- yayātmā suprasīdati
- (SB 1.2.6)
It is said here that that is first-class religious system. It does not say Hinduism, Muslimism or Christianism. General definition: "That is first-class religion . . ." Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo. Why it is said, para? Para means the supreme. Not ordinary thing; supreme. "The supreme religious system is that which teaches the follower how to love God." That is supreme. It does not matter you learn to love God through Christianism or Hinduism or Muslimism, any "ism," but the result should be how much you have advanced in the art of loving God. Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje (SB 1.2.6). Bhakti, this word, Sanskrit word, is used, "devotion," bhakti. To render service to God, that is bhakti. We are rendering service to so many things. That is not bhakti. Bhakti means to render service to God. And adhokṣaje.