Disciple's Service Mood

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Speaking online to the devotees in Colombia
8 December 2019, part 2

If we chant the Holy Name of Krishna (Krishna-nam) in good association (sadhu-sanga), offences will be removed from our hearts. This is how we can get real service.

Actually, all over the world everyone always keeps on searching for a job, but Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj and our Gurudev Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj have opened a factory where there are so many employees necessary, where there is so much service available—why is it necessary to search for some service or some duty outside then? There are so many workers, so many servitors necessary at the factory of Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. We must give attention to that factory. That factory's name is Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math.

The problem is that we are not very fortunate souls. If we were fortunate souls, then we would join this Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math service and we would get a great benefit for our spiritual life. Actually, there are so many gurus in this world—we all want to be gurus, but we do not want to be disciples; we want to be masters, we do not want to be servants. That is the problem. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says that you will find so many gurus in this world, but it is very rare to find a proper disciple—you will not get so many disciples in this world.

We think that if we just take initiation, if we just take the mantra diksa, then we become a disciple. It is not so. Only taking initiation, only giving "jay", or giving a garland—these are external things. This is not the real criteria. You must keep your guru in your heart. Yes, we must give our guru a garland, we must give him a "jay", etc.—we must do these things, but it is more important that we remember our guru, that we realise and remember that actually Gurudev is the center of a disciple's heart, the guru is the main center of a disciple. We should remember this.

We must be proper disciples—we must follow Gurudev's instruction. Those who do not follow Gurudev's instruction properly, who have no chastity for Gurudev, are not disciples. Srila Prabhupad also says, "So many people have taken initiation from me, but I do not consider them all my disciples. Only few are my disciples." Everybody does not become a good disciple—to be a proper disciple means following Gurudev's instruction and having chastity for the guru. That is why Srila Prabhupad says, "People take initiation from me, but everybody does not become my disciple—my disciple is the one who follows my instruction properly."

Sometimes, we want this service and we do not like that service. Such mood is not good. Whatever service Gurudev has given you, that is your service—and that is what you must do. We sometimes do this service, that service, that service, or when Gurudev tells us, "Do this service," we say, "Oh, I do not like that service!" This is not being a proper disciple. A proper disciple does what the guru tells them. We must follow Gurudev's instruction, that is what is called service.

Another thing is that we see in temples that, basically, we always give much respect and attention to those who do puja, but Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says that while everybody gives so much respect to a pujari, nobody gives any respect to those who cook. People say offhand, "Oh, he is just a cook!" However, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur says that cooking is the most important service, it is more important than even puja. The person who cooks thinks about Radharani, they cook with their heart and soul for the Deities or devotees, they always think about the Deities, that is why it is the main service. Therefore, we actually must give cooks more respect than to a pujari.

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