(1) Serve with Love

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Basirhat, morning, 29 January 2020, part 1
Translated from Bengali

In front of others, people like to show that they are very humble—they will grasp your feet and cry. They think that if they take your feet dust, they will gain a big seat or name. These are crocodile tears. There are very few people who will listen to every word and, crying, come to pray. There is no need to show monkey renunciation to impress others.

মর্কট-বৈরাগ্য না কর লোক দেখাঞা ।
যথাযোগ্য বিষয় ভুঞ্জ' অনাসক্ত হঞা ॥

markata-vairagya na kara loka dekhana
yatha-yogya visaya bhunja' anasakta hana

"Do not show your false renunciation to impress people. Use whatever material things you require, but without attachment."

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.16.238)

আসক্তিরহিত সম্বন্ধসহিত ।
বিষয়সমূহ সকলি মাধব ॥

asakti-rahita, sambandha-sahita,
visaya-samuha sakali madhava

"When you are free from material attachment and establish relationship with the Lord, then you will see that everything around you is Lord Madhav Himself."

('Vaishnav ke?' Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur)

You must have no attachment—but you must realise the relationship. You must have absolutely no attachments. The only possible attachment that you can have is attachment to the service of Krishna, your Master and devotees. "I am a big servitor", "I have been giving class for many days", "I have been chanting kirtans for many days", "I can sing very well!", "I earn 30,000 rupees—people 10,000 rupees at a time to hear me sing!" This is Vidya Saraswati—by the power of Saraswati, you have got a good voice. The problem is that those who are proud of their voice have not been able to get any transcendental knowledge (para-vidya). What to speak of attaining transcendental knowledge, if only their ego could go away! They carry a huge load of ego on their heads, but unless you take this burden off, you will not be able to find any peace. If you want to take this load off your head, you must surrender at the holy feet of sadhus and Sri Guru. You must serve the Lord, serve sadhus and your Guru with love, with your whole being.

Many serve the Lord, but why is it said that we must worship the holy Deity of the Lord with faith: sraddhaya sri-murtira sevana (শ্রদ্ধায় শ্রীমূর্ত্তির সেবন]; Sri Chaitanya-chatamrita, 2.22.124)? Why is it said that we must serve the Lord with love?

Srila Jagadananda Pandit served Mahaprabhu with love, but he also had some anger inside—he would get annoyed, "Why is Mahaprabhu not sleeping on a mattress? He must sleep on a nice bed!" He would scold the Lord, "You have come from Dvaraka, where You would lie on a nice bed, surrounded by pillows, then why will You not sleep on a mattress now?" In the end, he took some dry banana leaves, tore them into small pieces and, tearing a part of his own uttariya, stuffed those leaves into the cloth to make a pillow so that Mahaprabhu would not have to suffer. Mahaprabhu took sannyas and would sleep on the ground—He did not have a bed or any mattress. Jagadananda Pandit forcefully made this pillow for Him, and Mahaprabhu had no choice—He could not but accept it. This is how one serves with love.

At another time, angry with Mahaprabhu, Jagadananda Pandit locked himself in his room. Mahaprabhu went to his room and kept knocking until Jagadananda Pandit opened it. Then, Mahaprabhu forced him to cook, and after taking prasad, He left, but after a while He sent Govinda, His servitor, to go and see whether Jagadananda Pandit had eaten. He loved Jagadananda Pandit so much. At first, Mahaprabhu wanted to see Jagadananda Pandit, but Jagadananda Pandit said, "No, no, Prabhu, please go and take rest." Mahaprabhu insisted, "No, come and sit, eat with Me." But Jagadananda Pandit said, "No, I will take prasad later." Mahaprabhu left, but He thought, "Is His anger gone or not? Has he eaten?" That is why He sent Govinda to see if Jagadananda Pandit had taken prasad or not.

Our Gurudev was also always like that. We managed everything, but Gurudev would send somebody to check whether everyone was taking prasad nicely or not. He always wanted to know if Vaishnavs had taken prasad properly or not.

Such was Jagadananda Pandit's love for Mahaprabhu, and such was Mahaprabhu's love for Jagadananda Pandit also. This is love, or prema. But the problem is that such love does not arise within us...

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Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Serve with Love
2) Deep Renunciation
3) Perverted Taste
4) Life of Awakened Consciousness
5) Genuine Spiritual Life
6) Service Through Self-Abnegation?
7) Service Is Not a Play
8) Brahmans' Position
9) Hari-Katha or Self-Deception?
10) "I Have Come to Help You"
11) Do Not Be Duped
12) Penniless Life
Pure