Devanagari
धर्ममूलं हि भगवान्सर्ववेदमयो हरि: ।
स्मृतं च तद्विदां राजन्येन चात्मा प्रसीदति ॥ ७ ॥
Verse text
dharma-mūlaṁ hi bhagavān
sarva-vedamayo hariḥ
smṛtaṁ ca tad-vidāṁ rājan
yena cātmā prasīdati
Synonyms
dharma
—
mūlam — the root of religious principles
;
hi
—
indeed
;
bhagavān
—
the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
sarva
—
veda — mayaḥ — the essence of all Vedic knowledge
;
hariḥ
—
the Supreme Being
;
smṛtam ca
—
and the scriptures
;
tat
—
vidām — of those who know the Supreme Lord
;
rājan
—
O King
;
yena
—
by which (religious principle)
;
ca
—
also
;
ātmā
—
the soul, mind, body and everything
;
prasīdati
—
become fully satisfied .
Translation
The Supreme Being, the Personality of Godhead, is the essence of all Vedic knowledge, the root of all religious principles, and the memory of great authorities. O King Yudhiṣṭhira, this principle of religion is to be understood as evidence. On the basis of this religious principle, everything is satisfied, including one’s mind, soul and even one’s body.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
For those who know the Lord, the Lord is the cause and proof of dharma since he is essence of all the Vedas and he is the smṛti scriptures as well. By this dharma, the mind is pleased.
The Lord is certainly the cause and the proof (mūlam) of dharma, since he is the essence of the Vedas. This means that without devotion to the Lord, dharmas cannot succeed. He is also the smṛti scriptures (scriptures other than the Vedas) for those who know that Lord Viṣṇu is the source of the Vedas (tad-vidām). This excludes those smṛti scriptures which prescribe vows on the Aṣṭamī day with Rohiṇī constellation mixed with the Saptamī day, or offerings to the Pitṛs, which are devoid of worship of Viṣṇu at the beginning of the ceremony. By this, the mind (ātmā) is pleased. This is similar to the statement sa vai puṁsāṁ parodharmo yato bhaktiradhokṣaje. ahaitukyapratihatā yayātmā suprasīdati (SB 1.2.6) The word su in suprasīdati indicates that the mind is not pleased with karma mixed with bhakti or bhakti mixed karma as much as it is pleased with pure bhakti. And dharma without bhakti should not be accepted. Yajṣavalkya says:
śruti-smṛti-sadācāraḥ svasya ca priyam ātmanaḥ
samyak saṅkalpa-jaḥ kāmo dharma-mūlam idaṁ smṛtam
The Vedas, smṛti scriptures and proper conduct are pleasing to the mind. Desires arising from firm determination (following principles of dharma) are considered the root of dharma.
Manu says:
vedo ’khilo dharma-mūlaṁ smṛti-śīle ca tad-vidām
ācāraś cāpi sādhūnām ātmanas tuṣṭir eva ca
All the Vedas, smṛti and conduct are the root of dharma for those who know. The conduct of the well-behaved is satisfying to the mind.
However Nārada’s statement that the root of dharma is the Supreme Lord is a superior idea. Narasiṁha Purāṇa says:
sanakādayo nivṛttākhye te ca dharme niyojitāḥ
pravṛttākhye marīcyādyā muktvaikaṁ nāradaṁ munim
Sanaka and others were engaged in the dharma of renunciation and Marīci and others were engaged in the path of enjoyment through dharma. Only Nārada was free of both of these.
Thus Nārada is superior to both Yajṣavalkya and Manu since he is aware of the essence of all dharmas.
Purport
As stated by Yamarāja,
dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam.
Yamarāja, the representative of the Lord who takes care of the living beings after their death, gives his verdict as to how and when the living being will change his body. He is the authority, and he says that the religious principles consist of the codes and laws given by God. No one can manufacture religion, and therefore manufactured religious systems are rejected by the followers of the Vedic principles. In
Bhagavad-gītā
(15.15)
it is said,
vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ:
Vedic knowledge means to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, whether one speaks of the
Vedas,
scriptures, religion or the principles of everyone’s occupational duty, all of them must aim at understanding Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
(1.2.6)
therefore concludes:
sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo
yato bhaktir adhokṣaje
ahaituky apratihatā
yayātmā suprasīdati
In other words, religious principles aim at learning how to render transcendental loving service to the Lord. That service must be unmotivated and unchecked by material conditions. Then human society will be happy in all respects.
The
smṛti,
the scriptures following the principles of Vedic knowledge, are considered the evidence of Vedic principles. There are twenty different types of scripture for following religious principles, and among them the scriptures of Manu and Yājṣavalkya are considered to be all-pervading authorities. In the
Yājṣavalkya-smṛti
it is said:
śruti-smṛti-sadācāraḥ
svasya ca priyam ātmanaḥ
samyak saṅkalpajaḥ kāmo
dharma-mūlam idaṁ smṛtam
One should learn human behavior from
śruti,
the
Vedas,
and from
smṛti,
the scriptures following the Vedic principles. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in his
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu
says:
śruti-smṛti-purāṇādi-
paṣcarātra-vidhiṁ vinā
aikāntikī harer bhaktir
utpātāyaiva kalpate
The purport is that to become a devotee one must follow the principles laid down in
śruti
and
smṛti.
One must follow the codes of the
Purāṇas
and the
pāṣcarātrikī-vidhi.
One cannot be a pure devotee without following the
śruti
and
smṛti,
and the
śruti
and
smṛti
without devotional service cannot lead one to the perfection of life.
Therefore, from all the evidence the conclusion is that without
bhakti,
devotional service, there is no question of religious principles. God is the central figure in the performance of religious principles. Almost everything going on in this world as religion is devoid of any idea of devotional service and is therefore condemned by the verdict of
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Without devotional service, so-called religious principles are only cheating.