(2) Guru-Seva Is Main

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Pancha Palli, preaching programme, noon
12 November 2019, part 2
Translated from Bengali

You live not far from Kalna, so you must have heard Sri Gauri Das Pandit's name. He is an associate of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and also a relative of Sriman Nityananda Prabhu.

Sri Gauri Das Pandit had many educated disciples (advocates, school teachers, university professors, and so on), but he also had one illiterate disciple, a boy who did not even know how to read or write. His name was Chaitanya Das at first, and later his name was changed to Hriday Chaitanya.

One day, Chaitanya Das received an order from his gurudev, 'Chaitanya, my temple in Kalna has a lot of land. Can you make a flower garden there?' It was a bit hard with water though because in those days there were no tube wells or pipes. Also, when it was winter many ponds would get dry (this happens even now, too), and people would bring water from the Ganges. So, Gauri Das Pandit told Chaitanya Das, 'You will have to bring water for the garden from the Ganges. It is a little difficult, but can you do it?' Fulfilling the order of this gurudev, Chaitanya Das made a big, beautiful garden. He started by planting some chrysanthemums and then planted many other flowers. After a while, Sri Gauri Das Pandit thought, 'Let me go and see how the garden is doing. Let me see if Chaitanya Das has followed my order (if he has made a garden or not) and what service Chaitanya Das has done there.' So, Sri Gauri Das Pandit went to see the garden.

Seeing the garden, he was very happy. He looked for his disciple, 'Where is Chaitanya Das? I cannot see him anywhere... Where has he gone?' Then he noticed Chaitanya Das coming from far, carrying a pot of water on his head. When Chaitanya Das saw his gurudev standing in the garden, he put the pot down and paid a full obeisance to him. At that time Sri Gauri Das Pandit noticed that because Chaitanya Das had been carrying pots of water, he developed a big ulcerous sore on his head! It was so neglected and bad that there were insects falling out of it.

'Oh! Chaitanya Das, what has happened to you? You have such a bad sore, but you are still bringing water?!'

'No, no, gurudev, nothing has happened, I am all right!'

'What do you mean you are all right?!' Sri Gauri Das Pandit grabbed his hand and forcefully took him to a doctor. In those days there were no allopathic doctors, so they went to see a healer (kaviraj). The doctor cleaned the sore and applied some medicine.

Even though he had such a painful sore on his head, Chaitanya Das did not leave his service. He continued taking care of the garden and bringing water. In the end, Sri Gauri Das Pandit was so pleased with Chaitanya Das's service that before he disappeared from this world he left him in charge of the temple. But all the educated disciples who were waiting to get their hands on the temple harassed Chaitanya Das and kicked him out. Chaitanya Das left and went to Vrindavan. He would sit under a tree and cry chanting the Holy Name... The Lord knows everything, so one day He appeared in a dream to one rich man and asked him to build a temple for Chaitanya Das. The man built a nice, big temple, and eventually Chaitanya Das had many disciples. He kept his gurudev's line.

This is the result of guru-seva. We come to this world, take initiation, take the mantra, but the main thing behind everything is guru-seva – it is at the basis of everything. That is why we must do everything we can so that we may never lose service to our guru. There is no other way to attain anything except by serving your guru. What does service to the guru mean? Does it mean you must massage his feet? No. Service means that you must follow what your guru says. If gurudev tells you to cook, to worship the Deities or do any other service, this is what you must do. 'Nijer maner kheyal khusimata bhajan bale na (নিজের মনের খেয়াল খুশিমতো ভজন বলে না). Satisfying the whims of your mind is not spiritual life or service.'

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