Text 30
kaccid dvija-vara-śreṣṭha
dharmas te vṛddha-sammataḥ
vartate nāti-kṛcchreṇa
santuṣṭa-manasaḥ sadā
kaccit — whether; dvija — of the brāhmaṇas; vara — first-class; śreṣṭha — O best; dharmaḥ — religious principles; te — your; vṛddha — by senior authorities; sammataḥ — sanctioned; vartate — are proceeding; na — not; ati — too much; kṛcchreṇa — with difficulty; santuṣṭa — fully satisfied; manasaḥ — whose mind; sadā — always.
[The Supreme Lord said:] O best of exalted brāhmaṇas, are your religious practices, sanctioned by senior authorities, proceeding without great difficulty? Is your mind always fully satisfied?
Here we have translated the word dharma as “religious practice,” although this does not fully convey the Sanskrit sense of the word. Kṛṣṇa did not appear within a secular society. The people in Vedic times could hardly imagine a society that did not understand the need to obey God’s law. Thus to them the word dharma conveyed a sense of duty in general, higher principles, prescribed duty and so on. It was automatically understood that such duties were within a religious context. But religion in those days was not a specific aspect or department of life, but rather a guiding light for all activities. Irreligious life was considered demoniac, and God’s hand was seen in everything.