A person who strays away from righteousness (dharma) meets with greater harm than even physical slavery. There is dread hue and cry now about invasion and bondage to the enemy if you are not alert enough and united enough. But the loss of dharma is an even greater calamity, for what is life worth if one cannot live up to the talents with which one is endowed? These principles are called eternal (sanatana) because their origins are not dated, their author is not identifiable; they are the revelations made in the clarified intellects of impartial sages. They are basic and eternal. They do not represent temporary vagaries. Dharma is not a matter of time and space, to be modified and adjusted to the needs and pressures of the moment. It means a number of fundamental principles that should guide mankind in its progress toward inner harmony and outer peace.

- Divine Discourse, Apr 1, 1963.