Prahlāda Mahārāja says that from the very childhood one should be taught. I have seen in India, the Muhammadans, they are very much particular about it. The small children, within ten years, they are . . . from the very beginning they are taught Koran in the mosques. I have seen. In my Delhi headquarter, it is just behind the Jama Masjid. You have heard the name of Jama Masjid. That is the greatest mosque in the world. Many foreigners go to see it. It was constructed by Emperor Shah Jahan, say, about three hundred years or little more than that.
So the Muhammadans, they are very particular to teach the Koran from the very beginning. That's a very nice system. Either you teach Koran or you . . . Koran, Bible, or you teach Bhagavad-gītā, it doesn't matter—one should have the idea of God consciousness. Then he can develop. So this opportunity should be offered to the children. If not, they are not real guardians, real parent or real teachers.
Why? Durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma. This Prahlāda Mahārāja teaching is not this Bhāgavatam. Just mark it. Prahlāda Mahārāja says, dharmān bhāgavatān, "the religion of God consciousness." He does not say Hindu religion or Muhammadan religion or Christian religion. Dharmān bhāgavatān.
As I explained already last days, Bhāgavata means pertaining to God. So whatever your idea of God may be, that must be impressed from the childhood that, "There is God." Actually there is God. To deny God or "God is dead" is simply rascaldom. So whatever religion or sect you may profess, the Prahlāda Mahārāja says that one should have the idea of God consciousness. We don't say, neither Prahlāda Mahārāja says, that Kṛṣṇa conscious. Of course, Kṛṣṇa means God.
But if somebody has got objection, "Kṛṣṇa" because this name is Indian name or Sanskrit name or Kṛṣṇa appeared Himself in India, it doesn't matter. We are concerned with the philosophy, with the teachings. Just like Buddha. He was also Indian. He was Hindu, Kṣatriya. And why Buddhism is accepted by so many people of the world—whole Japan, whole China, Burma, and . . . why? The philosophy is concerned. Just like Christian, Christian religion. Christian . . . Lord Jesus Christ, he appeared in Jordan. But . . . Jordan or Jerusalem?
Hayagrīva: He appeared in Palestine.
Prabhupāda: Palestine. Near about that place, yes. So anyway, he was not European or American or Indian or Chinese, but there are many Chinese Christians, there are many Indian Christian, European Christian, American Christian. So if some idea of religion is developed in a particular country, we should not take it that it is meant for that particular country. No. That is mistake. God is one. Just like the sun. The sun is one. It does not mean if the sun appears in America, he becomes American sun. No. Sun is sun. He is neither American nor Indian. But he rotates. He rotates. He sometimes appears on the American land, sometimes on the Indian land, sometimes on the Chinese land.
There is a very nice verse in Cāṇakya-śloka that . . . he gives the example, I mean to say, broadmindedness. Na hi harate jyotsnā chandraś caṇḍāla-veśmani. Caṇḍāla. Caṇḍāla, according to Vedic conception, a Caṇḍāla, a class who are dog-eaters, and they are meant for very low class duty. So they are out of the caste system. Caṇḍāla means fifth dimension. Brāhmiṇ, Kṣatriya, Vaiśya, Śūdra—these four classes are accepted. And beyond that, they are called Caṇḍāla. So Cāṇakya Paṇḍita says that "Even one is Caṇḍāla, that does not mean that the moonshine will not be delivered there." The moon is so liberal that it doesn't matter whether it is the house of Brāhmiṇ or it is the house of a Caṇḍāla. It doesn't matter.
Just like when rain falls . . . you have seen, experienced: there is no necessity of rain on the sea. The vast mass of water there is, but rain is falling there also. Why? It is liberal, meant for everyone. Rain is not only meant for land, it is meant for the sea also. Similarly, any God consciousness movement, it does not mean that it is meant for that particular country or for that particular section. No. Bhagavad-gītā or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, don't consider it that it is meant for the Hindus or for the Indians. It is meant for everyone. Just see. Dharmān bhāgavatān.
Prahlāda Mahārāja said that "From the childhood, one should be taught the science of God." Dharmān bhāgavatān means the science of God. Just try to understand the word dharma. Dharma is generally translated into English as "religion." But dharma does not mean a particular type of faith. That is not the Sanskrit import. Dharma means the natural quality. That is. Everything has some natural quality, characteristic. Everything.
So natural characteristic for every living entity is to serve. That is the natural characteristic. Every one of us who are sitting in this meeting, nobody can say that, "I am not servant." Every one of us is a servant. You go up to the highest man, your prime minister, or USA, the president, everyone is servant. Nobody can claim that, "I am not servant." So therefore, either you are a Christian or either you are a Hindu, either you are a Muhammadan, but you have to serve. It is not that because one is Christian or Hindu, he hasn't got to serve. Just like so many Indians, they have come here. What is the profession? They are serving. They are serving here some company or some institution or some university. So serving was there in India; service is also here. So this is religion.