(5/5) Appreciate Service

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh
6 January 2020, part 5

নিজ সুখ লাগি' পাপে নাহি ডরি
দয়াহীন স্বার্থপর ।
পর সুখে দুঃখী সদা মিথ্যাভাষী
পরদুঃখ সুখকর ॥

nija sukha lagi' pape nahi dari
daya-hina svartha-para
para-sukhe duhkhi sada mithya-bhasi
para-duhkha sukha-kara

"I am not afraid to engage in sinful activities for the sake of my own happiness. I am merciless and selfish. I always lie—I feel unhappy to see others happy, and I feel happy to see others sad."

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur is expressing himself in this way. He says that we are not afraid to do any sinful actions for our own happiness—we are always merciless and selfish...

I do not know if it happens here, but in Bengal, when somebody dies in a family, people sometimes stop their service (they do not offer bhog to the Deities, do not do Tulasi parikrama and so on). Even Vaishnavs, who have taken shelter in this line, also do this sometimes, saying, "Oh, we are asuddha (impure), we cannot do it." Some people even follow this for one year, saying, "Oh, somebody has died in my family, I will not go to the temple." It is not right. We never stop our service.

When you come into the Deities' room, it is a rule that you must take a shower after going to the toilet, and you must wear clean clothes. However, suppose there is a small baby in the house. The baby is sleeping, and the mother goes to the bathroom. While she is away, the child falls down in the sleep and cries. What will the mother do? Will she go to take a bath and wear clean clothes and then only come to see what has happened to the child? No. She will immediately run to her child and pick the child up without thinking whether she is wearing clean clothes or whether she is clean. In the same way, one day, Gurudev was taking prasadam, and his servitor forgot to give him water. Suddenly, something got stuck in Gurudev's throat, and he asked his servitor to give him some water. The servitor went to wash his hands and then gave Gurudev a glass of water. Gurudev asked him, "Are you going to give me water when I die?" Therefore, you must do any service that is required and do it when it is required. Service does not depend on any time or place. You cannot say, "Oh, I am doing my service, so I cannot do this."

For example, Gurudev keeps a gatekeeper at the temple. The gatekeeper needs to go to the bathroom and asks some brahmachari to sit at the gate instead of him while he is in the bathroom. While the gatekeeper is away, somebody steals a bucket or some utensils from the temple, and when the brahmachari is asked later why he has not done anything, he says, "Oh, this is not my duty. It is the gatekeeper's duty to see who is taking what." This is not service mood.

I have also once heard a story from Srila Bhakti Kumud Shanta Goswami Maharaj. There were two brahmacharis at the temple who always fought about service. One of the brahmacharis, the pujari, said, "I do puja, I do all aratis!" and the other brahmachari, who served in the kitchen, said, "I always prepare everything, I cook, I cut the vegetables, I go to the market, I serve prasad, and on top of that I also serve Guru Maharaj, but you only offer the bhog, ring the bell, and done!" Then, one day, their Gurudev said, "Since you are always fighting, I will divide your service. When you come to massage my body with mustard oil before I bathe, one of you will massage my left leg, and the other one will massage my right leg." They had been doing this for some time until one day, one of the brahmacharis got sick and could not come. The other brahmachari came and, as always, massaged only the left leg of his Gurudev. Gurudev was actually blind (he could not see), so he asked, "Why are not massaging my right leg?" The brahmachari said, "Gurudev, you have divided our service. This is his leg, not mine!"

This is not service mood. We must do whatever service comes to us. You cannot think, "Oh, I am doing this, so I will not do that." It is not like that. You must do everything—every single thing is service, and you must do everything. If you think, "I am only doing this," this is not service mood. If you do something with this mood, this is not actual service, and you are not an actually surrendered soul. When it is necessary to do something and the opportunity comes to you, you should do it immediately—do not wait for others to do it. You must understand this because this is very important for our spiritual life.

How many days will you be alive in this world? One day, you will have to leave everything in this world (your house, buildings, cars, everything!) and go alone to the cremation ghat. No one will care about you then. You are thinking now, "This is my property", "These are my things", "This is all my money." We always worry about these things, but think what will happen to it all one day. Do not wait for tomorrow. We do not know if we will die tomorrow or not. Whenever Krishna's desire comes, whenever Krishna calls us, we all will have to go. Therefore, do not wait. Take shelter of a bona fide guru and practise Krishna consciousness.

I would like to conclude here.

Jay Srila Guru Maharaj ki jay.

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Madhava Tithi
2) The Pride of the Prideless
3) Inconceivable Mercy
4) Learn from Lord's Pastimes
5) Appreciate Service