(5/16) Service with Faith and Love

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Ganga Sagar, evening class,
11 January 2019, part 5
Translated from Bengali

Do you know what Mahaprabhu told Sri Raghunath Das Goswami? 'Go back home! Do not become crazy!'

মর্কট-বৈরাগ্য না কর লোক দেখাঞা ।
যথাযোগ্য বিষয় ভুঞ্জ' অনাসক্ত হঞা ॥

markata-vairagya na kara loka dekhana
yatha-yogya visaya bhunja' anasakta hana

'Do not show your false renunciation to impress people. Use whatever material things you require, but without attachment.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.16.238)

You are the son of a big landowner in Saptagram – go and remain a landowner – but be detached. The only master is the Lord. Everything that is created in this world belongs to the Lord, but we forget this, that is the main source of pain. Everything that we get (earn or take as alms) in this world belongs to the Lord – He is the owner of everything. Nothing is meant for us. Mahaprabhu also said the same thing:

আত্মেন্দ্রিয়প্রীতি-বাঞ্ছা—তারে বলি 'কাম' ।
কষ্ণেন্দ্রিয়প্রীতি-ইচ্ছা ধরে 'প্রেম' নাম ॥

atmendriya-priti-vanchha—tare bali 'kama'
krsnendriya-priti-ichchha dhare 'prema' nama

'The desire to gratify one's own senses is kama (lust), but the desire to please the senses of Lord Krishna is prema (divine love).'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.4.165)

Whatever you see in this world is not created to make you happy – everything is created to love the Lord. When you worship the Lord, you must do it out of love for the Lord, out of desire to serve Him. Just as you must eat, the Lord, too, must eat. Just as you must take a bath, the Lord, too, must take a bath.

I asked the pujari of your temple today, 'How many days has the Lord been wearing these clothes?' He said, 'Many days.' Is this service mood? You wear some clothes today and change them tomorrow – do you wear the same clothes for more than a day? You do not. You wear some clothes one day, then you wash them. So, is it service to keep the Lord like that? It is a seva-aparadh.

আত্মেন্দ্রিয়প্রীতি-বাঞ্ছা—তারে বলি 'কাম' ।
কষ্ণেন্দ্রিয়প্রীতি-ইচ্ছা ধরে 'প্রেম' নাম ॥

atmendriya-priti-vanchha—tare bali 'kama'
krsnendriya-priti-ichchha dhare 'prema' nama

'The desire to gratify one's own senses is kama (lust), but the desire to please the senses of Lord Krishna is prema (divine love).'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 1.4.165)

Serving the Lord out of love, to please Him, this is what service and service mood is. You must serve Deities with faith. Among the sixty-four limbs of devotion that Mahaprabhu taught, there are nine main limbs, and among those nine main limbs, these five are most important:

সাধুসঙ্গ, নামকীর্ত্তন, ভাগবতশ্রবণ ।
মথুরাবাস, শ্রীমূর্ত্তির শ্রদ্ধায় সেবন ॥

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana
mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

'Associate with sadhus, chant the Holy Name of the Lord, listen to Srimad Bhagavatam, reside in Mathura and worship Deities with faith.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.22.124)

You must serve holy Deities of the Lord with faith, with love, not for your own enjoyment – you must serve Deities out of love for the Lord. What is the difference between us and other missions? Other missions say, 'We are devotees of Krishna!' But we say, 'No, we are not devotees of Krishna. We aspire to become devotees of Mahaprabhu: we have not become His devotees yet, but we want and we are trying to become His devotees.' This is dasya-bhav (the mood of a servant). Radharani's mood of separation (viraha-bhav) from Krishna that Mahaprabhu showed in this wold is the highest conception. It is not possible for everyone to enter that kind of conception. For example, Mahaprabhu spoke about it with Sri Ramananda Ray.

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Keep Trying
2) Highest Realm of Devotion
3) Bribing and Increasing Stool
4) What Is a Soul?
5) Service with Faith and Love
6) Core of Devotion
7) Set Your Heart for Govinda
8) Think and Learn
9) Think about Your Soul
10) Sadhya-Sadhan-Tattva
11) With Faith and Surrender
12) Surrender and Learn
13) Bhakta-Seva Pravritti
14) See Good and Do Good
15) See Through It
16) 'Lord Exists for Those Who Have Devotion'