(7/7) Service Attracts More Service

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Tarakeswar, evening, 27 September 2019, part 7
Translated from Bengali

The Lord says, 'I am always attracted to those who practise devotional practices.' We cannot join all devotional practices ourselves, but when we see that others do, we should feel very happy to see their enthusiasm.

It is necessary to have enthusiasm for all activities. Sometimes, you do some service (for example, you are cooking or doing puja), and you think, 'Oh, my service is cooking, I will not do anything else,' 'My service is puja, so I do not have to do anything else.' This is wrong – this is ego. Many people feel no fear at heart when they worship Deities, but if, for example, your leg happens to touch the Lordships' plate, you must immediately wash the plate. It is necessary to be very alert not to commit any seva-aparadh. One does not become a brahman by wearing a brahman thread. If you have a sense of reverence, a sense of cleanliness, then you can understand that some brahmanic qualities have come to you; otherwise, you will no better than a meat-eater (chandal). Those who take part in Deity worship must be very careful in their service.

Service is rewarded with more service – when this happens, you will always be so busy that you will not have any leisure time. When the Lord accepts your service, He gives you even more service; and when He does not accept your service (when there are offences in your service), then the service goes away from you. The result of the offences committed in the course of service (seva-aparadh) is losing the service. If the Lord does not accept your service, it means He does not like you, so service to the temple will go away from you. He will not open His mouth and say anything, but He will awaken such a mood in you that it will become impossible for you to stay at the temple.

When you are doing something that gurudev does not want – if He does not accept your service – then material desires will come to you, your desire to enjoy material life will grow. You will be doing fine, your name and fame will grow, your wealth will grow, or such a mood will come to your mind that you will not be able to serve any more or your health will go down – you will get some disease that will forever remove you from your service. All these are the results of offences.

On the other hand, when the Lord accepts your service, then your material desires will grow weaker and weaker. When He accepts your service, you will feel humility, tolerance, detachment from the material world; you will feel you are low and bereft, a beggar, a renunciate. But if you commit offences when you do service, your heart will become hard – there will be unconsciousness and materialism within you. You will not have any heart, and you will be removed far away. For example, if your foot touches some items used for the Lord's service, you will not care. This is a symptom of callousness, hardness and, ultimately, death.

The Lord is antaryami (omniscent): He is all-knowing, He is the Supersoul. He can understand everything, He can see everything – you cannot cheat Him. If you have the eye to see, you will be able to see it when Sri Gaurasundar intimates something to you. If He accepts your service, you will be getting more and more service – after one service another service will be coming to you. Sometimes you think, 'Oh, I am doing so much service, and everybody else is lazy, they are not doing anything.' When that happens, it means that the person is going down, but you are doing more and more service, and it is good for you! The Lord will keep you submerged forever through such service, He will keep you by His side.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Tarakeswar: Turning Point
2) Jewel Devotees
3) Rectifying Stray Temples
4) Disciple's Determination
5) The Meaning of Kirtan
6) Guru-Disciple Sambandha
7) Service Attracts More Service