A Servitor's Mood
(Two Lazy Disciples)

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham, 22 February 2015

I heard this story from a disciple of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur. His name is Bhakti Kumud Shanta Goswami Maharaj. I saw him in 1995 when he came here for Srila Sridhar Maharaj's centenary festival; that time he told this story.

A Guru made a temple and had two servitors there—one was cooking, and the other one was doing puja. Every day the two brahmachari fought. One of the them was saying, "I am doing more service!" The other one said, "I am doing more! You are not doing anything!"

One day, they fought like this in front of their Guru. Gurudev asked, "What happened?" One of the disciples said, "Gurudev, I cut the vegetables, I cook, I offer the bhog—I do everything, and he only rings the bell and gives the offering to the Deity. He does nothing! I am even taking care of you too." The other disciple argued, "No, I am also taking care of the Guru!" Gurudev listened to them and said, "OK, I am dividing my service between you two. Before I bathe massage my legs with mustard oil—you will massage my right leg, and you will massage my left leg."

One day, one of the servitors was sick and could not come, and the other brahmachari massaged only the left leg of his Guru. Gurudev asked,

"Hey, why are you massaging only my left leg? Why is nobody massaging my right leg?"

"Oh, Gurudev, you said it was not my leg, it is his leg."

"His leg?! Is it not my leg? Then I will break that leg!"

This is the servitor's quality...

We always want to be lazy, want to be like this, but we do not realise that Krishna always goes to those who do service. Gurudev said that if you serve devotees, Krishna will serve you. Gurudev said that, and I 200% believe that.

Such should be our service mood. We must enter the seva (service) planet, and we must go there through good association, through sravanam, kirtanam. We must practise properly...

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