Devotion to Devotees

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Caracas, Venezuela
20 September 2009, evening

Devotees have no caste, no colour, nor any other distinctions—Krishna always helps anyone who serves His devotees cent per cent.

In Mahaprabhu's time, there was one sweeper called Jhadu Thakur, and there was Kalidas, a very high devotee. What do we know about Kalidas? When all Gaudiya Vaishnavs took prasadam and threw their plates away, Kalidas would hidingly take those plates and take the remnants of their prasadam. This was his nature. So, one day that Kalidas decided to visit Jhadu Thakur's house, thinking, "Jhadu Thakur is a great Vaishnav, I want to take his prasadam." He came to his house with one mango. Jhadu Thakur thought, "Such a big Vaishnav has come! How am I to give him prasadam?" and he arranged for prasadam at some brahman's house, but Kalidas did not go there. He came back to Jhadu Thakur's house and hid behind it. When Jhadu Thakur ate the mango that Kalidas had brought him and threw the skin and the stone away, Kalidas took those remnants and ate them. This is how he got some sukriti through which he got an extra mercy from Mahaprabhu.

Mahaprabhu never allowed anyone to even touch His feet, but Kalidas got His mercy—He actually drank the water that devotees wash Mahaprabhu's feet with. Mahaprabhu said, "Do not stop him. This devotee always searches for all devotees' remnants. Leave him, he is an exception."

That is the kind of devotion of the heart that is necessary for the service to the Lord, service to the Vaishnavs. Krishna Himself always says that we must serve the devotees. Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur also gave an example of what bhajan, or service, is. Srila Prabhupad said, "Jiver seva korte korte, atma kalyan labh haya (জীবের সেবা করতে করতে আত্মা কল্যাণ লাভ হয়)." It means you must serve the jiva souls and through that you will get some mercy from them and from Lord Krishna. The question is how to serve the jiva souls. Jiver seva korte means you must tell about Krishna consciousness to those who do not know about the Lord, who do not know about Krishna consciousness, and also you can use everybody for the service to the Lord and preach Krishna consciousness in this way. Just as today I can see leaves and so many other things are used for the decoration for Gaura Nitai, you can use everything for the Deities, for Lord Nityananda, Lord Gaura, Lord Krishna.

Nijer maner kheyala khusimata bhajan bole na (নিজের মনের খেয়াল খুশিমতো ভজন বলে না)—satisfying the whims of your mind is not bhajan." Do not follow your mind; you must follow what the scriptures say, what Gurudev says. Serve the Lord, serve the devotees under the guidance of Gurudev (a bona fide Guru) and under the guidance of great Vaishnavs. That is what is called bhajan.

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