01. Not being truthful and compassionate is most irreligious
Going to temples, performing rituals, going on pilgrimage, and chanting of mantras, does not make one a follower of Sanatan-Dharma.The following are the legs or pillars of Sanatan-Dharma.
- Truthfulness
- Compassion
- Austerities
- Charity
- Cleanliness
- Spiritual Education
Truthfulness and Compassion are the most important pillars of Sanatan-Dharma.
A Vaishnava is one who feels the pains of others who are suffering. Thus a genuine Vaishnava would never give pain or misery to anyone.
- Treat everyone nicely.
- Take care of the family and especially the elderly.
- Take good care of guests.
- Serve everyone.
“That is Vaiṣṇava. Para-duḥkha-duḥkhī. He is unhappy by seeing others unhappy. ” (Swami Srila Prabhupada)
“There is nothing more sinful than untruthfulness. Because of this, mother earth once said, ‘I can bear any heavy thing except a person who is a liar.’” (Shrimad-Bhagavatam 8.20.4)
- Breaking any vows is being untruthful. Vows must never be broken.
- Making false statements is being untruthful. Say you don’t know if you are unsure, instead of making things up.
- Misleading anyone is being untruthful, never mislead anyone.
- Hiding information is being untruthful, give the full details.
- Not siding with the truthful person is being untruthful. Don’t take sides based on the relationship, take sides based on the truth.
“Compassion for all living entities…- these transcendental qualities, O son of Bharata, belong to godly men endowed with divine nature.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-Gita 16.1-3)
“Education, charity, penance and truth are said to be the four legs of religion…” (Shrimad-Bhagavatam 3.12.41)
“…These four legs of powerful religion are truthfulness, mercy, austerity and charity.” (Shrimad-Bhagavatam 12.3.18)
“In the age of Satya [truthfulness] your four legs were established by the four principles of austerity, cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness…” (Shrimad-Bhagavatam 1.17.24
02. Disrespecting the parents is Irreligious.
- Why must we respect and server our parents?
“That trouble (and pain) which the parents undergo on the birth of (their) children, cannot be compensated even in a hundred years.” (Manu-Smriti 2.227)
Because they give birth to us, endure great pains to raise us, educate us and get us settled in our lives. It is a lot due to their love and efforts that we become great in our lives. When we have our own children, our parents then play an important role in giving good values to our children as well. Therefore, when our parents are old and cannot take care of themselves, it is our duty to pay back their love, effort and blessings by serving them and honoring them in every way possible, even at the cost of great personal sacrifice.
- The father and mother are worship able.
“Austerity of the body consists in worship of the Supreme Lord, the brahmaṇas, the spiritual master, and superiors like the father and mother, and in cleanliness, simplicity, celibacy and nonviolence.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-Gita 17.14)
- Serving the parents is very important
Even Lord Krishna served His father in a most humble way by carrying the father’s shoes on His head.
“Even if one is the Supreme Lord, one must serve his parents. A son is indebted to his parents in so many ways, and it is the duty of the son to serve his parents, however great the son may be.” (Swami Srila Prabhupada purport, Shrimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.17)
- Service to parents is more important than worship of God alone and neglecting the parents
He who serves his parents and teachers truly respects all the teachings of the scriptures. And the person who disrespects them will never get the fruit of any worship or rituals.
In the Mahabharata, there is a story of a Brahmaṇa boy who leaves behind his elderly parents to advance spiritually. He acquires several spiritual powers but discovers that even a butcher who had merely served his aged parents diligently was more advanced than him. The Brahmaṇa boy learned the lesson that serving one’s parents yields a much greater reward than abandoning them and pursuing your own selfish goals.
“All duties have been fulfilled by him who honors those three; but to him who honors them not, all rites remain fruitless.” (Manu-Smriti 2.234)
- The parents and elders must always be respected and served.
“The teacher, the father, the mother, and an elder brother must not be treated with disrespect, especially by a Brahmana, though one be grievously offended (by them).” (Manu-Smriti 2.225)
03. Disobeying the spiritual master is irreligious.
“The order of the spiritual master is the active principle in spiritual life. Anyone who disobeys the order of the spiritual master immediately becomes useless.” (CC Adi-lila 12.10)
In ISKCON, the initiated devotees are meant to chant the 10 offences daily. The first offence is to disobey the orders of the spiritual master.
04. Abandoning the husband and/or the children is most irreligious.
- Lord Krishna Himself states that the highest religious service a woman can perform is not to serve Him, but to serve the husband and the children.
“The highest religious duty for a woman is to sincerely serve her husband, behave well toward her husband’s family and take good care of her children.” (Shrimad-Bhagavatam 10.29.24)
- A wife who abandons a husband and/or the children goes to hell.
“Women who desire a good destination in the next life should never abandon a husband who has not fallen from his religious standards, even if he is obnoxious, unfortunate, old, unintelligent, sickly or poor.” (Shrimad-Bhagavatam 10.29.25)
Without family values, there would be no morality in the world and humans would become uncivilized.
05. Breaking family traditions is irreligious.
- Neglecting the children and spouse is breaking family traditions.
- Disobeying the father and mother is breaking family traditions.
- Neglecting performing religious ceremonies like when a family member passes away is breaking family traditions.
“O Krsna, maintainer of the people, I have heard by disciplic succession that those whose family traditions are destroyed dwell always in hell.” (Bhagavad-Gita 1.43)
06. Women who roam around from one place to another without being accompanied by the father or husband are irreligious.
Women should be protected, otherwise men will take advantage of them. A father or husband should keep one eye on the females in the family and the other eye on the land. Otherwise someone will take them.
The reason why Lord Krishna married 16,108 girls, is because 16,100 of the girls were kidnapped and He got them released. Upon being released they could not go back home because their father would reject them for leaving the home without permission and unaccompanied. They would be considered outcaste, and thus they asked Lord Krishna to marry them, and He did. Lord Krishna never said the fathers are wrong for rejecting the girls. He very much understood them, because they are following the Vedic teachings which originate from Lord Krishna Himself.
Note: Lord Krishna had 16,108 wives, but there were 16,108 Krishnas, not just one. The one Lord Krishna, duplicated His body into 16,108, 100% identical bodies to marry the 16,108 girls. Thus there was one Krishna for one girl. This is perfectly moral and legal in any country. Lord Krishna also, had 16,108 palaces, one for each wife. If anyone wants to copy Lord Krishna and have many wives, there are most welcome, but they also need to duplicate their body into multiple copies, one for each wife, and provide each wife with her own house.
In the Manu-smṛiti it is stated that a woman should not be given independence, but should be given protection by her father, husband and elderly sons. In all circumstances a woman should remain dependent upon some guardian.
When women become degraded, the whole generation becomes degraded and thus women should be protected from becoming polluted by not giving them independence.
“A woman’s nature has been particularly well studied by Kaśyapa Muni. Women are self-interested by nature, and therefore they should be protected by all means so that their natural inclination to be too self-interested will not be manifested. Women need to be protected by men. A woman should be cared for by her father in her childhood, by her husband in her youth and by her grown sons in her old age. This is the injunction of Manu, who says that a woman should not be given independence at any stage.” (Shrimad-Bhagavatam purport 6.18.42)
“When irreligion is prominent in the family, O Kṛṣṇa, the women of the family become polluted, and from the degradation of womanhood, O descendant of Vṛṣṇi, comes unwanted progeny.” (Bhagavad-Gita 1.40)
“An increase of unwanted population certainly causes hellish life both for the family and for those who destroy the family tradition. The ancestors of such corrupt families fall down, because the performances for offering them food and water are entirely stopped.” (Bhagavad-Gita 1.41)
“By the evil deeds of those who destroy the family tradition and thus give rise to unwanted children, all kinds of community projects and family welfare activities are devastated.” (Bhagavad-Gita 1.42)
07. Women who reject the husband as guru are irreligious
If the relationship between the husband and wife is of Guru and disciple, then there will be no arguments and fights. Couples fight, because both think themselves as the master.
“Aditi accepted her husband as her guru” (Purport, Shrimad-Bhagavatam 8.16.23)
“The father or the head of the family is guru to the children, to the wife. In India still, the wife addresses the husband as pati-guru. And father is guru. That is natural. So why don’t you become real guru to your wife, to your children, and instruct Bhagavad-gītā as it is?” (Swami Srila Prabhupada Room conversation, March 13, 1975, Tehran)
“Wife should get enlightenment from the husband, and she should give service. The husband is well situated; she is not discomforted, always looking to the comfort of the husband. And it is the duty of the husband to enlighten the wife always. Therefore, husband is accepted as guru, pati-guru. In India, when a woman speaks of her husband, she says pati-guru, “my husband-master,”pati-guru. And it is not the system, Vedic system, to call the husband by name, as in the Western country the husband is called by his name. No. Out of respect, the wife does not call the husband by his real name.” (Swami Srila Prabhupada, May 17, 1976, Honolulu)
“Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O King, after Aditi was thus advised by her husband, Kaśyapa Muni, she strictly followed his instructions without laziness and in this way performed the payo-vrata ritualistic ceremony.” (Shrimad-Bhagavatam 8.17.1)
The primary gurus are the mother (the first guru), the father (the second guru) and for a female, the husband (the third guru). All other gurus from outside the house are secondary. Any conflicts in instructions should be resolved based on this order of gurus. The family must always come first. When we are sick, only our family members will take care of us. Those gurus from outside the house are only useful for getting information.
08. Women who don’t serve their husbands are irreligious
“Vedic civilization means the husband should be a sincere servant of Krishna, and the wife should be a sincere maidservant of the husband.” (Swami Srila Prabhupada, Mayapur 02MAR1976)
The wife will get deposited into her karma bank account, fifty percent of the pious deeds accumulated by the husband. The husband gets no share in the pious deeds performed by the wife. That’s why the wife should serve the husband.
“Between the husband and wife, one person is sufficient to execute this devotional service. Because of their good relationship, both of them will enjoy the result. Therefore if the wife is unable to execute this process, the husband should carefully do so, and the faithful wife will share the result.” (Shrimad-Bhagavatam 6.19.18)
09. Disregarding the scriptural injunctions is irreligious
“He who discards scriptural injunctions and acts according to his own whims attains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the supreme destination.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-Gita 16.23)
If one does not follow what is stated in the scriptures and acts whimsically according to his/her own desires and needs. They will never advance in spirituality and will have wasted their life. Those who disregard the scriptures are also disregarding Lord Krishna, because He is the compiler of the Vedic scriptures.
10. Behaving badly in the name of religion is most irreligious
If those who chant, and perform Deity worship, behave badly then it sets a bad example, and many people will be put off religion due to this. People will think “Look at that person who chants and performs Deity worship, he/she is behaving badly and so religion is useless, not good. I shall not follow his/her religion or any religion.” Thus, those who behave badly will destroy religion, they will put many people off religion. Such bad behaving people came to destroy religion. They are undoing what Lord Krishna comes to do.
Lord Krishna comes to reestablish or promote religion. Those who set bad examples by behaving badly, and especially in the name of religion, will put many people off religion. Such persons are most irreligious, and Lord Krishna will punish them severely.
“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. To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-Gita 4.7-8)
11. Women who say Lord Krishna is their husband when their husband is alive are most irreligious
Based on Bhagavad-Gita 3.21-24. Lord Krishna states that whatever great personalities do, the common man will follow. And so, it is very important for great personalities to set good examples for others to follow. He also states He is engaged in the prescribed duties that all men should perform.
“Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-Gita 3.21)
In Bhagavad-Gita 15.18, Lord Krishna states that He is the greatest and thus whatever He does, the common man should follow.
“Because I am transcendental, beyond both the fallible and the infallible, and because I am the greatest, I am celebrated both in the world and in the Vedas as that Supreme Person.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-Gita 15.18)
If Lord Krishna accepted a married woman as His wife, then all men can also accept any married woman as their wife. If this were to happen, there would be no morality in the world. The marriage vows would be broken and so there is no point in getting married and taking vows. There would be complete immorality in the world. Thus, Lord Krishan would NEVER accept a married woman as His wife. Any woman who says Krishna is her husband when her human husband is alive is most irreligious.
If Lord Krishna approved of married women making Him into their husband, He would NEVER have stated the below.
“The highest religious duty for a woman is to sincerely serve her husband, behave well toward her husband’s family and take good care of her children.” (Shrimad-Bhagavatam 10.29.24)
“Women who desire a good destination in the next life should never abandon a husband who has not fallen from his religious standards, even if he is obnoxious, unfortunate, old, unintelligent, sickly or poor.” (Shrimad-Bhagavatam 10.29.25)
It is correct say that Lord Krishna is the enjoyer of everyone, but it is wrong to say He is the husband of everyone. The word ‘husband’ should not be used, because if women start saying ‘Krishna is my husband’, they are breaking marriage vows and will neglect their human husband. Also, some men will say “I will follow the Gita 3.21-24, by doing what the great personality Lord Krishna did. He is the husband of everyone, and so I will make good looking married woman into my wives too”. Thus nobody should say ‘Krishna is my husband’.
12. Disrespecting Bhagavad-Gita preachers is most irreligious
“Sometimes a neophyte devotee offers all the paraphernalia for worshiping the Lord, and he factually worships the Lord as the Deity, but because he is envious of the authorized devotees of Lord Viṣṇu, the Lord is never satisfied with his devotional service.” (Shrimad-Bhagavatam 7.14.40)
Deity worship includes chanting of mantras.
Deity worshippers are considered at the beginning stage of devotional service unto Lord Krishna. Distributing and preaching the teachings of Lord Krishna as stated in the Bhagavad-Gita is considered the advanced stage.
There are millions of Deity worshipper, but very few Bhagavad-Gita preachers and thus the Bhagavad-Gita preachers are recognized by Lord Krishna and are very dear to Him.
“One who worships the Deity must therefore be extremely respectful to preachers; otherwise simply worshiping the Deity will keep one in the lower stage of devotion.” (Swami Srila Prabhupada, purport, Shrimad-Bhagavatam 7.14.40)
“For one who explains this supreme secret to the devotees, pure devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me. There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-Gita 18.68-69)