The Invention of Religion

By Gadadhara das
There are so many religions! Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Jewish and on and on and on.

Dictionary.com gives these two definitions:

re·li·gion
–noun
1.a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

2.a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.


Religion is based on some interpretation of laws that man should follow. These laws "govern human affairs". But religion doesn't necessarily have anything to do with God in a practical sense. Lets take an example of the government. The government creates laws for its citizens to follow. Following these laws are the "religion" of the government's citizens. But the government doesn't always know what is good for the people. So the laws are always changing. One day its illegal to smoke pot, the next day its legal. There is always some unrest and fighting over what should be the law.

Nonetheless, if you break these laws while they are set, everyone agrees that you have to pay a price. You will get a fine or go to jail. In this case how could there be different "religions" for the government's citizens? There can not! There would be a huge conflict. If everyone had a different religion in following their government there would be simply complete chaos and fighting! There simply can not be different conflicting laws for a government's citizens at one time.

And for this reason Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita, 18.66 that one should give up these different religions. They are useless. There is no need for a man made religion. The idea of religion comes from the word dharma. But it has a different meaning. Dharma is not religion. Dharma is the natural tendency to serve and become happy with that service. Dharma is a characteristic, like sugar. The characteristic of sugar is "sweet". The characteristic of Salt is "salty". The only way for one to stop hunger is if the hand to puts food into the mouth. The hand can not feed itself and expect the stomach to be happy. The hand must put the food into the mouth and then it goes to the stomach. This is a law for the body. It is the dharma or characteristic of all of the parts of the body to obey the orders of the brain. The brain gets a hunger signal then immediately the rest of the body facilitates the needs of the stomach. This is how the entire body works. This is the characteristic of the body

This idea of happiness in service is illustrated everywhere. Man knows that he will have to perform some kind of service in order to get what he wants and he is always engaged in some service. What the man "wants" will not necessarily bring him happiness, but the idea of serving to get something is a fundamental law. The masses of people in all walks of life are serving some person. The worker services his boss, the husband serves his wife, the wife serves her husband, the parent serves the child, the child serves his parents, the tenant serves his land lord, the land lord serves his government by paying taxes, the government serves the people and so on. The people receiving the service, they are like Gods. The the Boss is God to the worker, until of coarse the worker is off work then the God changes to someone else; the girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, wife or the child or someone. But this principle is always there. Someone is serving some God to get something in return.

The intelligent man will search for the richest man to work for because he knows that this rich man will have the money to pay him. And if the intelligent man befriends the rich man, there are so many benefits. It is stated in the Vedas that one should seek out richest, the most powerful, the most famous,  the most beautiful, the greatest in knowledge, and the greatest renouncer. One should seek out this person and serve him and by doing so he will receive confidential knowledge. Just like if one knows the Mayor of the city, there are may perks. He tell you what not to do and what to do to get what you need in the city. He will tell you because you know him and hes your friend. This type of knowledge is confidential. It is stated in the Srimad-bhagavatam, "jñānaṁ parama-guhyaṁ me..." "The knowledge of the self and the Supreme Self is very confidential and mysterious, being veiled by māyā (illusion), but such knowledge and specific realization can be understood if it is explained by the Lord Himself."