(3/8) Humble Service Mood

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Preaching programme in Radhapur (Howrah district),
17 November 2020, noon, part 3
Translated from Bengali

...It is a very beautiful month now, the month of Damodar, Kartik. When Mother Yasoda tried to bind Krishna, the rope was always two fingers too short. Two fingers too short means one finger is effort, and the second finger is mercy. If you do not try, you will not get mercy. If you want to bring Gurudev to your house, you must make an effort to do that. Devotees call me all the time, saying, 'Please come', 'Please come' and in the end I say, 'All right, I will come' or I send somebody there instead of me. If you try and try, the Lord must give you His mercy.

[A devotee approaches to place a garland on His Divine Grace's neck.] It is not necessary to give a garland now. Give it later. You do not need to worry about all this. Sit quietly now and listen. I have come, so I take responsibility to do everything. Do not do things your way, do not think about your own ego. 'I do everything', 'I am doing vaishnav-seva' – it is not necessary to show all this pride. If Vaishnavs do not accept your service, then what is the use for you? You can simply give a garland to a Vaishnav's hand, that is sufficient – that can satisfy Vaishnavs. 'I am giving so many flowers!', 'I am giving so many garlands!', 'I have brought so many flowers!' – this kind of pride comes to you. Do according to your capacity. What did Krishna eat at Vidura's house? Banana skin! And when Mahaprabhu also went to Sridhar Prabhu's house, He asked him, 'Can I have some water?' Sridhar Prabhu was shy, 'Prabhu, I do not have a proper glass. I only have a clay glass, but there is a hole in it...' Mahaprabhu said, 'No problem! Bring it.' Mahaprabhu took that glass and, closing the hole with His finger, drank water from it.

ভক্তের জিনিষ প্রভু লুটিপুটি খায়
অভক্তের জিনিষ প্রভু উলটি নাহি খায়

bhakter jinish prabhu lutiputi khay
abhakter jinish prabhu ulti nahi khay

'The Lord eats anything and everything when a devotee offers it, but the Lord does not want to take anything from a non-devotee.'

(Based on Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata, 2.9.185)

The Lord does not accept non-devotees' things, but He accepts anything and everything from His devotees. So, do not show your ego and pride to the Lord. The Lord never stays where there is ego.

দীনেরে অধিক দয়া করে ভগবান্ ।
কুলীন, পণ্ডিত, ধনীর বড় অভিমান ॥

dinere adhika daya kare bhagavan
kulina, pandita, dhanira bada abhimana

'Those who have a high birth, knowledge and wealth are very proud of themselves, but the Lord is more merciful to those who are poor and needy.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 3.4.68)

You must remember this.

Why do we practise Krishna consciousness? Why do we chant the Holy Name? Why do we do vaishnav-seva? Why do we serve devotees? We serve Krishna and Kasna (the Supreme Lord and His devotees). What did Krishna Himself say? 'Worship of My devotee is higher than My worship.' What kind of service did Krishna Himself do? Remember this. When Sudama Vipra decided to visit Krishna's house, his wife kept asking him again and again, 'Do you think your friend will recognise you? You saw Him in Vrindavan so long ago – that cowherd boy has now become a king! Do you think He will remember you?' Sudama Vipra said, 'Let's see. I will go to see Him, and if He does not recognise me, I will come back.' Then, Sudama Vipra arrived at Dvaraka. Those of you who have been to Dvaraka with me saw that the palace there is enormous – it takes a few kilometres to just walk from the gate to the palace! So, when Krishna entered the gate, Krishna was pacing up and down His room, thinking, 'When will Sudama come?' As soon as Sudama came, Krishna immediately grabbed and hugged him. Krishna pulled him inside, seated him on His own throne and began to massage his feet! Krishna's queens (Rukmini, Satyabhama and others) were there too, and Krishna told them to massage Sudama's feet too. At another time, when Krishna arranged a festival, He personally cleaned and kept aside all the devotees' shoes!

So, is there such a thing as 'small service'? Distributing prasad, cooking, serving Deities and so on – everything is service, no service is small. If Krishna can do this kind of service, then why cannot we do it? This is said in the scriptures also (in Srimad Bhagavatam and other places). On the day of Sri Nrisingha-chaturdasi, we worship Lord Nrisinghadev, but before we offer worship to Lord Nrisinghadev, who do we worship? Prahlad Maharaj. Without worshipping Prahlad Maharaj first, Lord Nrisinghadev will not accept any worship. And Krishna Himself said, 'The worship of My devotee is higher than My worship.' That is why we must always serve devotees, Vaishnavs.

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Length: 63 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Satiating Hunger for Hari-Katha
2) Service Arrangement
3) Humble Service Mood
4) Attaining Unattainable
5) Advent of Govardhan
6) Worship of Govardhan
7) Govardhan-Dhari Gopal
8) Search and Surrender