धर्ममूलं हि भगवान्सर्ववेदमयो हरिः ।
स्मृतं च तद्विदां राजन्येन चात्मा प्रसीदति ॥७॥

dharma-mÅ«laá¹ hi bhagavÄn
sarva-vedamayo hariḥ
smá¹›taá¹ ca tad-vidÄá¹ rÄjan
yena cÄtmÄ prasÄ«dati

 dharma-mÅ«lam - the root of religious principles; hi - indeed; bhagavÄn - the Supreme Personality of Godhead; sarva-veda-mayaḥ - the essence of all Vedic knowledge; hariḥ - the Supreme Being; smá¹›tam ca - and the scriptures; tat-vidÄm - of those who know the Supreme Lord; rÄjan - O King; yena - by which (religious principle); ca - also; ÄtmÄ - the soul, mind, body and everything; prasÄ«dati - become fully satisfied.


Text

The Supreme Being, the Personality of Godhead, is the essence of all Vedic knowledge, the root of all religious principles, and the memory of great authorities. O King Yudhiṣṭhira, this principle of religion is to be understood as evidence. On the basis of this religious principle, everything is satisfied, including one’s mind, soul and even one’s body.

Purport

As stated by YamarÄja, dharmaá¹ tu sÄká¹£Äd bhagavat-praṇītam. YamarÄja, the representative of the Lord who takes care of the living beings after their death, gives his verdict as to how and when the living being will change his body. He is the authority, and he says that the religious principles consist of the codes and laws given by God. No one can manufacture religion, and therefore manufactured religious systems are rejected by the followers of the Vedic principles. In Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (15.15) it is said, vedaiÅ› ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ: Vedic knowledge means to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, whether one speaks of the Vedas, scriptures, religion or the principles of everyone’s occupational duty, all of them must aim at understanding Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (1.2.6) therefore concludes:

sa vai puá¹sÄá¹ paro dharmo
 yato bhaktir adhoká¹£aje
ahaituky apratihatÄ
 yayÄtmÄ suprasÄ«dati

In other words, religious principles aim at learning how to render transcendental loving service to the Lord. That service must be unmotivated and unchecked by material conditions. Then human society will be happy in all respects.

The smá¹›ti, the scriptures following the principles of Vedic knowledge, are considered the evidence of Vedic principles. There are twenty different types of scripture for following religious principles, and among them the scriptures of Manu and YÄjñavalkya are considered to be all-pervading authorities. In the YÄjñavalkya-smá¹›ti it is said:

Å›ruti-smá¹›ti-sadÄcÄraḥ
 svasya ca priyam Ätmanaḥ
samyak saá¹…kalpajaḥ kÄmo
 dharma-mÅ«lam idaá¹ smá¹›tam

One should learn human behavior from Å›ruti, the Vedas, and from smá¹›ti, the scriptures following the Vedic principles. ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« in his Bhakti-rasÄmá¹›ta-sindhu says:

Å›ruti-smá¹›ti-purÄṇÄdi-
 pañcarÄtra-vidhiá¹ vinÄ
aikÄntikÄ« harer bhaktir
 utpÄtÄyaiva kalpate

The purport is that to become a devotee one must follow the principles laid down in Å›ruti and smá¹›ti. One must follow the codes of the PurÄṇas and the pÄñcarÄtrikÄ«-vidhi. One cannot be a pure devotee without following the Å›ruti and smá¹›ti, and the Å›ruti and smá¹›ti without devotional service cannot lead one to the perfection of life.

Therefore, from all the evidence the conclusion is that without bhakti, devotional service, there is no question of religious principles. God is the central figure in the performance of religious principles. Almost everything going on in this world as religion is devoid of any idea of devotional service and is therefore condemned by the verdict of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam. Without devotional service, so-called religious principles are only cheating.