(12) Love Service, Not Yourself

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Bhanjipur, 2 December 2019, noon, part 12
Translated from Bengali

Relationship with gurudev is not created just by taking the mantra from him. If somebody loves gurudev, for whatever reason, then they have this relationship with him. Whatever one’s previously acquired nature is, whatever one’s fortune is, for whatever reason it may be, if you have this close, affectionate relationship with gurudev, then you have started your way along the path of devotion. Those who have got such a relationship are venerable. Those who feel such a relationship – even if it is a little girl or an old man—they are worshippable. Even if they do something wrong, they love Hari Thakur and Guru Thakur, and I offer them my obeisance. Somebody may not know how to sing well or how to cook well, somebody may not have any qualification, but because they love Hari Thakur and Guru Thakur, I offer ten million obeisances at their feet. Remember this.

How can one come to live at a holy place? We can live in a holy place only by causeless mercy of Gaurasundar. We must have such causeless mercy of Gaurasundar.

Srila Visvanath Chakravarti Thakur wrote:

আরাধ্যো ভগবান্ ব্রজেশতনয়স্তদ্ধাম বৃন্দাবনং
রম্যা কাচিদুপাসনা ব্রজবধূবর্গেণ যা কল্পিতা ।
শ্রীমদ্ভাগবতং প্রমাণমমলং প্রেমা পুমর্থো মহান্
শ্রীচৈতন্যমহাপ্রভোর্মতমিদং তত্রাদরো নঃ পরঃ ॥

aradhyo bhagavan vrajesa tanayas tad dhama vrndavanam
ramya kachid upasana braja-vadhu-vargena ya kalpita
srimad-bhagavatam pramanam-amalam prema pumartho mahan
sri chaitanya mahaprabhur-matam-idam tatradaro nah parah

"The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the son of Nanda Maharaja, is to be worshiped along with His transcendental abode, Vrindavan. The most pleasing form of worship for the Lord is that which was performed by the gopis of Vrndavan. Srimad Bhagavatam is the spotless authority, and pure love of God is the ultimate goal of life. These statements, for which we have the highest regard, are the opinion of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu."

(Srila Srinath Chakravarti)

Sri Krishna is the object of service and worship, He is the very life of one's lifeforce and the friend of one's heart. To serve Him, one must give all their body, mind, life, everything. If you are to give your very life to somebody, you can only give it to Him, nobody else. A genuine guru does not just say this lip-deep – he genuinely sends his disciples to the Lord, tying a knot in their hearts: 'This is your Thakur, live with Him. Worship Him, serve Him. Be with Him, day and night.' Therefore, gurudev is our friend, our matchmaker. In this material world matchmakers arrange weddings between young girls and boys, but spiritual matchmakers (genuine matchmakers) create within their disciples a relationship with the Lord. Creating this relationship, they engage them in the Lord's service. They are genuine, spiritual matchmakers.

Guru Maharaj always said that it is good to do service. When it is time to listen to Hari-katha (sravan), glorify the Lord (kirtan) or chant the Holy Name, those who stay at the temple or in a holy place often become lazy to join these services. We must not be like that. We must always engage ourselves in service. Whatever situation devotees find themselves in, if they can continue their service uninterrupted, it is very good for them. Where you are staying, whatever you situation is, always serve your guru, Vaishnavs and the Lord. Whether you are staying alone in a house, whether you live together with a family, whether you are staying in one small room, always continue serving the Lord.

If you do something following your mind (if your mind wants to do something and you do it), it is not service, it is karma. If you do karma, you will have to be bound by your actions, and the result of such bondage is hell and suffering.

Many people repeat like parrots, 'Gurudev, please give me mercy,' but they do not understand the meaning of mercy. The meaning of mercy is service! If you get service from your gurudev, it means that you have got his mercy. When gurudev gives somebody service, many people say, 'Oh, I cannot do it', 'Oh, my hands will be full of sores, I cannot do it!' You tell them to cook, they say they will have sores; you tell them to do the dishes, they say they will have sores; you tell them to take care of the cows, they say that they will have sores; but when they go to the bathroom and pour water to wash themselves, do they not get sores? Are you not going to wash yourself then? Do not make excuses. Your hands will rot away in a few days anyway – if you cannot serve the Lord with your hands, the Lord will take your hands away (you do not need them anyway). I saw Guru Maharaj: when he spoke, he would often start coughing and blood would come out of his mouth, but he would just wipe it and continue speaking. He would say, 'It is my duty to speak.' He continued speaking even when blood was coming. But when we have a few sores on our hands, when our legs pain or our backs pain, we say, 'Oh, no, I will not do it.' It is very hard to get service, but it is very easy to lose it.

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }