Serve the Lord’s Devotees

Excerpted from the book “Art of Sadhana” by Srila Bhakti Pramod Puri Gosvami Maharaja

When in Prayaga, Lord Chaitanya Mahāprabhu met Rūpa Gosvāmī and instructed him in the process of devotional service. In the course of their conversations, which are recorded in the Chaitanya Charitāmṛta, Mahāprabhu told Rūpa Gosvāmī just how rare a pure devotee is. The Lord said that the unlimited living entities can be divided into two categories, the eternally liberated and the eternally conditioned. The conditioned entities are further divided into those that can move and those that cannot. Those whose consciousness is more covered, such as trees, are the non-moving creatures, while the moving beings include birds, aquatics and land animals, all of which have more developed consciousness.

Of all the land creatures, only a small proportion are humans. Among them, the Mlecchas, Pulindas, and Śabaras are outside the pale of civilized society, which includes only those who follow the Vedic principles. Half of those who follow the Vedas simply give lip service to the scriptures while in fact they live irreligious and sinful lives. Further, of those who follow the Vedic principles, most are engaged in fruitive ritual activity. One out of many such fruitive workers may become a philosopher. Among the many millions of such philosophers, one may actually achieve liberation; but it is very difficult to find a pure devotee of Lord Krishna even amongst many millions of liberated persons.

Up to and including the liberated person, everyone is bound by desire, either gross or subtle. Those who are engaged in fruitive activity are bound by a desire for material enjoyment (bhukti), whether here in this life or after death in heaven. Those who are attached to the quest for knowledge are bound by a desire for liberation, while the yogis are bound by the desire for spiritual powers. As long as there are desires for sensual enjoyment, salvation or spiritual perfections in the heart, one will be disturbed. One who is engaged in devotional service to Krishna stops desiring the satisfaction of his own senses and seeks only the pleasure of his Lord. For this reason, the devotee alone truly knows peace.

kṛṣṇa-bhakta niṣkāma ataeva śānta
bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmī sakali aśānta

“Because a devotee of Lord Krishna is desireless, he is peaceful. Fruitive workers desire material enjoyment, jñānīs desire liberation, and yogis desire material opulence; therefore they are all lusty and cannot be peaceful.” (Chaitanya Charitāmṛta 2.19.149)

muktānām api siddhānāṁ
nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇaḥ
sudurlabhaḥ praśāntātmā
koṭiṣv api mahā-mune

“Of all liberated and perfected beings, O great sage, one who is devoted to Nārāyaṇa is most rare. He alone amongst countless millions has found divine peace.” (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.14.5)

Tadīya—“Those Connected To the Lord”

Those special beings who have come into intimate contact with the Lord are known as tadīya, “His own.” Vrindavan Dāsa Ṭhākura has written in his Chaitanya Bhāgavata:

bhāgavata tulasī gañgāya bhakta-jane
caturdhā vigraha kṛṣṇa ei cāri sane
jīva-nyāsa karile śrī-mūrti pūjā haya
janma-mātra e cāri īśvara vede kaya

“The Supreme Lord is always associated with the four following things: the book Bhāgavata, tulasī, the Ganges, and the devotees. The deity form of the Lord becomes worshipable after it has been consecrated ritually and the Lord’s presence has been invoked. Scripture says that these four things, however, are innately divine.” (Chaitanya Bhāgavata 2.21.81-82)

The book Bhāgavata, the person Bhāgavata, tulasī, and the Ganges are all considered to be manifestations of the Lord Himself because of their intimate connection with Him. They are called His prakāśa-vigraha. The deity form is not considered worshipable until the prāṇa-pratiṣṭhā ritual has been performed. These four prakāśa-vigrahas, however, are considered to be naturally worshipable; there is no need for any kind of ritual in order to elevate them to that status. They are all spiritual and due to their natural connection to the Lord, are considered to be in a relationship to us as masters to servants. They are always to be considered distinct from the material nature and never looked upon as potential objects of sense enjoyment.

Krishnadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī expresses the same idea in Chaitanya Charitāmṛta:

tadīya tulasī vaiṣṇava mathurā bhāgavata
ei cārira sevā haya kṛṣṇera abhimata

“The word tadīya refers to those things or persons which are connected to the Lord: tulasī, Krishna’s devotees, the land of Mathurā, and the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Krishna is pleased when one renders service to any of these four things.” (Chaitanya Charitāmṛta 2.22.121)

This last couplet is found in the Chaitanya Charitāmṛta in the context of an enumeration of 64 elements of devotional service in practice. Of these sixty-four devotional practices, five are considered to be most important.

sādhu-saṅga nāma-kīrtana bhāgavata-śravaṇa
mathurā-vāsa śrī-mūrtira śraddhāya sevana

“One should associate with devotees, chant the Holy Name of the Lord, hear Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, reside at Mathurā, and worship the deity with faith and veneration.” (Chaitanya Charitāmṛta 2.22.214)

These five limbs of devotional service are considered to be the best of all because even a slight performance of them awakens love for Krishna. Whether a person executes only one or many of these processes of devotional service, love for Krishna can quickly manifest. (Chaitanya Charitāmṛta 2.22.214) Clearly, there is a close relationship between these five most potent devotional activities and the concept of tadīya, or things related to the Lord.

What needs to be particularly emphasized is that service to the Vaishnavas cannot be separated from any aspect of devotional service. Thus Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura sings, chāṛiyā vaiṣṇava-sevā nistāra pāyeche kebā—“Who has ever attained supreme beatitude without serving the Vaishnavas?” (Prema-bhakti-candrikā) Without the association and service of a perfected devotee of the Lord, the person Bhāgavata, no aspect of devotional service can be exercised properly.

Furthermore, as Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu taught Sanātana Gosvāmī, association with devotees is important at all stages of one’s devotional life.

kṛṣṇa-bhakti-janma-mūla haya sādhu-saṅga
kṛṣṇa-prema janme teṅho punaḥ mukhya aṅga

“The root cause of devotional service to Krishna is association with advanced devotees. And when one’s love for Krishna awakens, the association with devotees becomes the chief element in one’s devotional service.” (Chaitanya Charitāmṛta 2.22.83)

Devotion to Krishna is the fruit of associating with devotees. When that devotion attains its most mature state and is transformed into pure love for the Lord, then associating with devotees continues to be the essential expression of such love.

The Special Status of the Vaishnavas

In two verses from Pādmottara-khaṇḍa, Mahādeva emphasized the glory of worshiping tadīyas to Pārvatī:

ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ
viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param
tasmāt parataraṁ devi
tadīyānāṁ samarcanam

“Of all types of worship, worship of Lord Vishnu is best. Even better than the worship of Lord Vishnu is the worship of those things which are connected to Him.” (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.214, Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 10.361)

arcayitvā tu govindaṁ
tadīyān nārcayet tu yaḥ
na sa bhāgavato jñeyaḥ
kevalaṁ dāmbhikaḥ smṛtaḥ

“One who worships Govinda without worshiping those who are connected to Him cannot be considered a true devotee. In fact, he is nothing more than a hypocrite.” (Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 10.362)

The Lord does not accept the service of one who has no affection for Tulasī and the other things described as tadīya, and who simply tries to show affection for Him alone. The devotees are so dear to Lord Govinda that He subordinates Himself to them. He is therefore easily won over by anyone who shows love and respect for them. Indeed, He says that anyone who claims to be a devotee is not truly His devotee. It is only the person who acts as a devotee of His devotees who can make such a claim:

ye me bhakta-janāḥ pārtha
na me bhaktāś ca te janāḥ
mad-bhaktānāṁ ca ye bhaktās
te me bhaktatamā matāḥ

“O Arjuna, those who claim to be My devotees are actually not My devotees. I consider only those who are the servants of My devotees to factually be My devotees.”
(Ādi Purana, quoted in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.218, Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 10.133, and Chaitanya Charitāmṛta 2.11.28)

Uddhava is one of the foremost devotees of the Lord. When Uddhava approached Krishna in order to learn about the discipline of yoga, the Lord delivered the instructions known as the Uddhava-gīta, which have been preserved in the eleventh canto of the Bhāgavatam. Amongst the characteristics of a pure devotee given there, the Lord said,

ādaraḥ paricaryāyāṁ
sarvāṅgair abhivandanam
mad-bhakta-pūjābhyadhikā
sarva-bhūteṣu man-matiḥ

mad-artheṣv aṅga-ceṣṭā ca
vacasā mad-guṇeraṇam
mayy arpaṇaṁ ca manasaḥ
sarva-kāma-vivarjanam

“My devotees take great care in rendering service to Me, offering obeisances to Me through the use of all their bodily limbs and faculties. They consider the worship of other devotees to be even more important than My worship; they see My presence in all living beings. They engage their bodies in working for Me; they use the power of speech for glorifying My qualities. They offer up the activity of their mind to Me and they give up all material desires.” (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.19.21-22)

Vrindavan Dāsa Ṭhākura confirms the third line of the first verse, mad-bhakta-pūjābhyadhikā, as follows:

āmāra bhaktera pūjā āmā haite baṛa
sei prabhu vede bhāgavate kaila daṛha

“The Lord has forcefully declared in the Vedas and the Bhāgavatam: ‘Worshiping or serving My devotee is even greater than worshiping Me.’ ”
(Chaitanya Bhāgavata 1.1.8)