Cherishing Service (1)

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham
29 November 2010, part 1

তোমার সেবায় দুঃখ হয় যত,
সেও ত' পরম সুখ ।

tomara sevaya, duhkha haya yata,
seo ta' parama sukha

"All the distress I encounter in Your service is also my greatest happiness."

(Saranagati 16.4)

When you do service, some kind of sorrow, some kind of sadness, some kind of problems will come—that is our happiness. We are very low, like worms in stool, but Gurudev takes us out, cleans us and takes us to the Lord.

So much pleasure also comes through service: when we engage ourselves in chanting, dancing, playing, with sankirtan, that brings even much happiness.

I am thinking how much Raghunath Das Goswami Prabhu served his Gurus, Rupa Goswami and Sanatan Goswami, when he came to Vrindavan. He served twenty-two and a half hours a day and he spent only one and a half hours on eating and sleeping. You saw the temple of Radha Damodar near our temple in Vrindavan, he stayed there. Rupa Goswami also served Sanatan Goswami. He would bring water from the Yamuna, massage his Guru with some oil, clean the room, clean the temple, do puja, cook—he did everything, alone. And he also wrote so many books...

Now we think, "You must serve this department, that department"—we are doing departmental service, but Rupa Goswami did everything himself—preaching, Vaishnav seva, writing books, writing slokas, cooking, puja, cleaning the temple, distributing prasadam. And to bring water he had to walk to the Yamuna. Now Yamuna is a little far because it is dry, but that that time they would walk to the bank of the Yamuna and bring water...

অন্যাভিলাষিতা-শূন্যং জ্ঞান-কর্ম্মাদ্যনাবৃতম্ ।
আনুকূল্যেন কৃষ্ণানুশীলনং ভক্তিরুত্তমা ॥

anyabhilasita sunyam jnana-karmady anavrtam
anukulyena krsnanusilanam bhaktir uttama

"The highest devotion is that which satisfies Lord Krsna, free from the coverings of any pursuits such as action, knowledge."

(Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhuh, 1.1.11)

It is very nice...

অন্য অভিলাষ ছাড়ি, জ্ঞান কর্ম্ম পরিহরি,
কায়মনে করিব ভজন ।
সাধুসঙ্গে কৃষ্ণসেবা, না পূজিব দেবী-দেবা,
এই ভক্তি পরম কারণ ॥

anya abhilasa chhadi, jnana karma parihari
kaya-mane kariba bhajana
sadhu-sange krsna-seva, na pujiba devi-deva
ei bhakti parama karana

"The topmost process of devotional service is to worship the Lord with body and mind, giving up desires for fruitive activities and mental speculation. One should serve Lord Krsna in the association of devotees without worshipping any demigods."

(Srila Narottam Das Thakur's explanation of Srila Rupa Goswami's verse above)

That is our service.

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