Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, after taking His sannyāsa order, His name was Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. So Rūpa Gosvāmī said that "You are Kṛṣṇa. You have now come as Kṛṣṇa Caitanya." Why? Kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te (CC Madhya 19.53): "Just to distribute love of Kṛṣṇa." And Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission was premā pum-artho mahān. Generally people understand dharma artha kāma mokṣa (SB 4.8.41, CC Ādi 1.90), but Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that above mokṣa, above liberation, there is love of God. That is wanted. Premā pum-artho mahān. And this is confirmed in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satām, vāstavya-vastu vedyam atra (SB 1.1.2). And Śrīdhara Svāmī says that kaitava-dharma. . . In simple word, cheating. Kaitava means cheating, or false. So when there are false dealings, that is cheating.
So according to Vyāsadeva, dharma artha kāma mokṣa, that is not very essential thing. Real thing is how to advance in the science of loving God, Kṛṣṇa, kṛṣṇa-prema. And the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says:
- sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo
- yato bhaktir adhokṣaje
- ahaituky apratihatā
- yena ātmā samprasīdati
- (SB 1.2.6)
If you want really peace, then you should stand on the platform of paro dharma. Paro dharma. Just like Kṛṣṇa has described, apareyam itas tu viddhi me prakṛtiṁ parāh (BG 7.5). Parā and para. Para is applicable to the puruṣa, and parā is applicable to the prakṛti. So we are prakṛti, we are not puruṣa. Puruṣa is Kṛṣṇa, as described by Arjuna in the Bhagavad-gītā, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān, puruṣaṁ śāśvatam ādyam (BG 10.12). And in the Brahma-saṁhitā also it is: ādi-puruṣaṁ. Kṛṣṇa is described, ādi-puruṣaṁ. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ, anādiḥ ādiḥ (Bs. 5.1), govindam tam ahaṁ bhajāmi.
So this kṛṣṇa-bhakti, Kṛṣṇa personally came to teach kṛṣṇa-bhakti. He came here in this district Mathurā. And the Kṛṣṇa birthplace is still there. So Kṛṣṇa personally came to teach the science of kṛṣṇa-bhakti. And although He proposed that dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge (BG 4.8), but at the end He says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). And this is confirmed in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that dharma-projjhita kaitavo atra (SB 1.1.2). Except surrendering to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, anything which is going on in the name of dharma, that is not dharma. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya. When Kṛṣṇa came, He did not come to reestablish Hindu religion or Christian religion or Muslim religion. No. Religion is religion. Gold is gold. You cannot say "Hindu gold," "Muslim gold," "Christian gold." That is not possible. That is not possible. That is called kaitava-dharma, cheating dharma. Gold is gold, pure gold. Therefore Bhāgavata says, dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam (SB 6.3.19): "Dharma means the order or the law given by God." That is dharma. This is the simple explanation of dharma. If you want to know what do we mean by dharma, then dharma means dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam. Just like law. Law means which is given, sanctioned, by the governor. You cannot make your law at home. You cannot say, "The law given by the government or by the governor, I don't care for it. I shall make my own law." That is not possible. That will never be accepted as law. You can make your law. Similarly, if you manufacture dharma without any reference to the authority, that is not dharma. That is cheating religion. Dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavaḥ.
So therefore the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, what He is speaking, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja, that is dharma. All other things are cheating. And when Kṛṣṇa says, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja, He does not say it to any particular community or any country or any nation. He speaks to everyone.