CENTENARY ANTHOLOGY : PART 2

Srila Guru Maharaj—His Holy Teachings

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Math periodicals and other limited-circulation publications.

All Glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga

Chapter Twelve

Surrender, Service, Dedication
—all done through sraddha

By Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj

In Krishna consciousness the quality of wholesale dedication is necessary. It is indispensable. Partial dedication will not do; in connection with Krishna the demand is wholesale, and nothing less will do. He is an autocrat. The demand from the autocrat is categorically different. Krishna is not satisfied with any partial service. He wants to swallow the whole thing, nothing less. He has the demand of an autocrat, but He is the absolute good, He is the beautiful, He is the harmony, and He is the love—but His demand is such.

Self-giving is the symptom of sraddha, faith. Without self-giving, intellectualism will have no value. Reading Scriptures will have no value, and also the physical association of the sadhu will have no value if there is no sraddha. Many living entities including bugs and mosquitos have physical association with the sadhus, but it is association through dedication that is necessary. Sraddha is all-important. To have sraddha means to have the mood that if we dedicate everything to Krishna, we will get everything. We will achieve whatever is necessary: wholesale fulfilment. The path of that is dedication, sraddha, and seva, service, and therefore our Guru Maharaj laid much emphasis on service. We were not allowed so much to read even Srimad Bhagavatam or the books by the Six Goswamis, but our time was to be utilised in service.

The serving nature will connect you with the real thing. Neither scriptural knowledge nor the close association with a saint has any meaning if it is not done with dedication, self-surrender, self-giving. Physical association alone has no meaning. It must all be done through sraddha, and service, so much so that if a sadhu or Guru asks, "Read this book," then it will be service; but if I read a book to enhance my knowledge, it may be jnana but not service. We can only have real progress through sevonmukhe hi jihvadau, otherwise everything may be imitation. If we do not approach with the spirit of service, everything may be imitation, and we will not come in contact with reality. This is the most important point, and it is the speciality of the Gaudiya Math, our Acharyas, our Gurudevas, and also of Mahaprabhu and Rupa Goswami.

Surrender, service, and dedication: this is the key to deal with the infinite—Vaikuntha. Without knowledge and without much energy one can attain fulfilment. It is not necessary to have the energy to be able to move a mountain. Also to read all the Scriptures in the world and put them "within our belly" will not produce any good.

A typical example was shown in the Mahabharata. Krishna foretold that when the rajasuya yajna of Maharaj Yudhisthir would be finished, a particular bell there would ring automatically. In that way everyone would know that the yajna was completed. The sacrifice was held and everything was finished, but the bell did not ring. Bhima asked Krishna, "You said that the bell would ring automatically. Everything has now been finished but it is not ringing. Why not?"

Krishna replied, "No. One thing is still remaining."

"What is that?"

"Vaisnava-seva, the service of a Vaisnava."

Bhima was surprised: "What do You say? So many munis, rsis, Narada, Vyasadeva, and even You Yourself, are all satisfied with having been well-fed, yet You say that Vaisnava-seva has not been done?"

"Yes."

"So where is that Vaisnava?"

Krishna then indicated, "Go to the outskirts of town, and there you will find a particular Vaisnava of the lowest caste. He does not go anywhere, but he is satisfied by taking the Name of the Lord and leading a full life of devotion without any care for the world."

Hearing this, the Pandavas went with a chariot to receive that man. They found him, an ordinary poor man of the lower class, and they approached him. He was perplexed: "What is this? Oh, so many important men have come to my cottage. What is the matter?" He became very much panic-stricken.

Then they petitioned him with folded palms, "We have come to bring you to take some food at the place of the yajna." What to do? He could not avoid their order. Draupadi had to cook, so she prepared various palatable dishes. She thought, "Vaisnava-seva has not been done. So many rsis, munis, and even Lord Krishna has been fed, but Vaisnava-seva has not been done!" So with all her skill she cooked foods of various types, and the man was fed—but the bell did not ring.

Bhima asked, "What is the matter? He has finished eating but the bell has not rung."

Krishna said, "There must have been some offence against Vaisnava-seva, and therefore the bell did not ring. What do you say? Do any of you have any doubt or bad conception about this man?"

The Pandavas then asked one another if any of them had thought any evil about him. At last Draupadi admitted, "I had some thought in my mind that the man is low-born, and although I prepared so many curries with the utmost attention and skill, he mixed all the preparations together and then ate that. He does not know how to eat because he comes from a very low class—this is what I had in my mind."

Krishna explained, "There is some contempt for the Vaisnava, and therefore the bell has not rung. There is no other course than for you to go to him again, bring him, and again feed him."

So the Pandavas went and brought him back. This time all of them waited with great respect as he took prasadam, and the bell rang with every morsel.

This example has been shown to us. Those who are niskincana do not want anything—no name, no fame, or anything of the kind. They are naturally satisfied with whatever comes, and they are wholesale dedicated to the Lord. Such devotion can be found anywhere without any show of grandeur. No worldly grandeur is necessary; just richness of the heart—no knowledge, no education, no honour of a high birth, no power, and no gorgeousness. Krishna consciousness is so full, so sufficient, so absolute, that just a particle of that contains everything. All grandeur, all education, and everything is there: it is of such a nature. Service, self-dedication, saranagati, surrender: that is the necessity, not valour or learning.

api chet suduracharo, bhajate mam ananya-bhak
sadhur eva sa mantavyah, samyag vyavasito hi sah

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita 9.30)

"You fail to understand, but he is all right. He must be thought to be a sadhu, a truly honest man, and nothing else. He may have no name or fame or good presentation, or any of the qualities that attract us; none of these are necessary." Self-contentment does not require anything. It can stand alone. It is self-sufficient. Krishna consciousness is self-sufficient. It does not require any form of paraphernalia to establish itself: it is a self-established thing. With it there will be no need of hankering for anything, whether it be grandeur or anything else.

There was a brahmana Vaisnava named Vasudeva Vipra in Kurma-ksetra just south of Puri. He was a leper, but what type of leper? He had such compassion that when any worms would fall from the sores on his body, he would pick them up and place them back in the wounds to prevent their dying. One day he found within his mind, "The Lord is coming to a place nearby and I shall have a chance to have His darsan."

Mahaprabhu went to that district, but by the time Vasudeva arrived there, Mahaprabhu had already left. Vasudeva was greatly disappointed and fell to the floor, crying, "What misfortune! I could not have His darsan, not even a glimpse of the Lord, and He has now left. I am too unqualified to meet Him."

Mahaprabhu went almost a mile when suddenly He felt some attraction pulling Him back. He ran back, found that leper, and embraced him. The leper body vanished and turned into a beautiful figure. Such was the devotion of Vasudeva Vipra.

The devotees feel themselves to be the poorest of the poor, the humblest of the humble—atma dainya. Trnad api sunichena, taror api sahisnuna: they feel themselves to be lower than a blade of grass.

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur has written that in general, the measurement of a Vaisnava is according to his degree of humility—his natural, real humility. Only a show of humility has no value. Imitation has no value anywhere. Proper humility can only come when one feels his connection with the autocratic Lord and Master. Then only can he feel himself as humble: the master is the autocrat and the servant has no position. This is a matter of realisation and not a 'mathematical' truth. In connection with the autocrat he has no position, and if he accepts this naturally, not artificially, he will automatically be the humblest. The servant of an autocrat has no position and no ego whatsoever, and therefore he will possess natural humility—and that is his wealth. What sort of wealth is that? It is such that it can capture the autocrat. Service is of that type. A real servant has such a position in relation to the master, and vice versa: the master is also addicted to his servant. One party is surrendering, and the master is also naturally attracted to that sincere servant.

The Lord is an autocrat, but He is not heartless. So the devotee who is the richest is the lowest. The meanest, the poorest, is the richest. This is Krishna consciousness. Service is necessary, nothing else. We must find out how to develop that innate tendency so our body may be made of that stuff and nothing else. How is this possible? Sraddha will make us understand. Sincerely hankering we will feel, "Yes. This is the highest; we want that." Sincere hankering, faith, and greed for that are necessary—laulyam arta mulyam ekalam. If you want it, you can have it. Such is that plane. It is a plane of natural transactions, but we do not want it: therefore we are culprits. Sincere wanting from the core of the heart is the only necessity—nothing else. Without that we must think ourselves to be sham devotees, only showing their attire. But if real inner hankering exists, it will be wholesale genuine. Wholly want, and you can have. Laulyam arta mulyam ekalam—but there must not be any adulteration in that wanting. It must be sincere—laulyam. If you want, you can have. It is a most simple thing. It is most natural and most gentleman-like: "If you want, you can have. No complaint can come against you from any quarter. But if you do not want, then don't have." Laulyam arta mulyam ekalam. The only price is to really want it. Do not misuse it. Understand the value of it, want it, and you will have it.

Sraddha is the real regard to have. This is the crux, and this is the highest aim, and only this can satisfy our inner thirst. The innermost thirst can be quenched only by this. By giving your small self you can gain the whole infinite.

So what is needed from us? Sincere hankering.

How to develop that? With the contact of the sadhu and with the help of the Scriptures we can try to increase that inner feeling.

That inner demand can only be satisfied by Krishna consciousness. It will satisfy our innermost demand. This is the justification of the saying sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja (Bg. 18.66). "Give up all conceptions and phases of duty. Whatever call of duty comes to you, give it up." This is such a high theory. "I am everything to you. Sarva-dharman—all conceptions of duty are to be given up, and—mam ekam—only Myself exists as your single concern: this is the position of Myself and yourself by nature and constitution. Try to understand and do that, and you will find that everything undesirable, sinful, and reactionary will vanish—aham tvam sarva-papebhyo. Moksayisyami ma sucah—no necessity for repentance will come to you. Only you will get full satisfaction." This is the greatest assurance that has ever been found so clearly and boldly expressed. "Give up all phases of duty and come to Me alone, and you will not have to repent for any loss." This call is clear, bold, straight, and direct, and it is the conclusion of Srimad Bhagavad-gita where so many phases of duty have been dealt with that almost all have been covered.

Mahaprabhu said,

yare dekha, tare kaha 'krsna'-upadesa
amara ajnaya guru hana tara' ei desa

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta, Madhya 7.128)

"If you want to do anything good to the world, talk about Krishna. Try to distribute Him—He who can compensate for all other alternatives. Only try to distribute that central, absolute thing to help the people and the environment, and do not have any other sort of duty. Only try to distribute this teaching of sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja to whomever you meet. If you want to do good to others, only give this highest thing. Engage yourself in this way and you will become more and more confirmed in your position, and so many others will be benefitted. No other more holy duty than this can be there."

Especially in this Age of Kali we are to engage in this Krishna-kirtan: talk about Krishna, distribute Him. Everyone is hard-hearted or heartless, so go out and distribute heart to everyone. Distribute everywhere the heart of the heart; the real sweet heart—distribute it to everyone. This is the most holy campaign and engagement, so what more can we invest?

Mahaprabhu said, "Yare dekha, tare kaha 'Krsna'-upadesa. Understand that I order you to do this, therefore the dirt of any ego that you have become a Guru and are distributing Krishna consciousness will not touch you. Keeping on your head that this is My order, go on with this distribution of Krishna consciousness. There is no other subject of discussion. Whoever you meet, talk to them only about Krishna; talk about their heart of hearts."

Everywhere the key is in the spirit of surrender, service, and dedication—sevonmukhe hi jihvadau.

CONTENTS

Foreword: The Exclusive Line of Srila Saraswati Thakur
Introduction: This Extremely Auspicious Day

PART 1
Chapter 1: Siksa-Guru
Chapter 2: Transcendental History
Chapter 3: Srila Guru Maharaj Remembers

PART 2
Chapter 4: Hearing to See
Chapter 5: The Guide
Chapter 6: Specific Service
Chapter 7: The Willing and the Able
Chapter 8: A Wonderful Touch
Chapter 9: Faith and Harmony
Chapter 10: Focussed to Guru
Chapter 11: Unadulterated Purity
Chapter 12: Surrender, Service Dedication
Chapter 13: The Harmonizing Spirit
Chapter 14: Harmony—Beauty's Necessity
Chapter 15: Ambition of Life
Chapter 16: Place of Solution: Sri Nabadwip Dham
Sri Guru-Prasastih