What does Gurudeva want? He wants to engage everyone in Krsna’s service, Radha-Krsna’s service. A first class disciple will know what Gurudeva wants in what way he wants. He will give up all kinds of false ego and his own desire and will quickly fulfill the desires of Gurudeva…
If one is not serving his Gurudeva, if he does not have strong belief in his Gurudeva, and if he is not following his line of thought, such a person must be a sahajiyā. This is taking place nowadays. We are preaching and therefore they are somewhat stopped, but I do not know what will happen after I leave this world. A very dangerous stage is coming. You should offer praṇāma to such pastimes and try to practice bhakti-yoga, as our predecessor ācāryas have taught us. Gradually begin from…
An ācārya’s duty on his birthday: an ācārya should worship his Gurudeva and the whole paramparā, Vaiṣṇavas, and all others. So, whatever you have given to me, it is not to me. What are you giving? You are giving a flower. And I am placing it at the lotus feet of my Gurudeva. So, false ego should not come like: “I am guru.” I want to be saved from this false ego. I want to be guru-sevaka. What I have—I have only by guru-sevā. I gave my whole heart and everything else to the lotus feet of my Gurudeva…
Once, when Ramānujācārya had finished speaking hari-kathā in the morning the newly married daughter of one of his disciples approached him weeping profusely.“What is wrong my daughter?” Ramānujācārya asked.The girl replied, “Guru Maharaja, I do not want to complain, but I cannot tolerate my situation any longer. My in-laws are treating me like a slave. I have been married into a far away village, and the whole day I am abused and forced to work without any rest. I have no time to chant my guru-mantras or do any bhajana. They say this is all useless activity. Please protect me Guru Mahārāja and give me a place at your lotus feet!”Ramānujācārya called his personal servant who was very dear to him and told him, “Go with this girl and do all the work that is given to her by her in-laws. This will please me. Do not think that I have sent you for any ordinary work. If you follow my instructions you will please me. This is real service to me.”The sevaka thus went with the girl, accepting the instructions of his Gurudeva as his life and soul. At her in-laws home, he became the menial servant of the household. The shy girl did not disclose that he was a senior disciple of Ramānujācārya.The girl’s father-in-law thought that the she had brought a servant from her father’s home because he had said to her formerly, “If you cannot handle all the work here, then go to your father and have him send a servant to replace you.” Seeing the humble yet strong and healthy young man return with his daughter-in-law, he engaged him in all forms of work to maintain the household.The family had no mercy; they were greedy and abusive. The sevaka was fed with half-rotten food or whatever was stale and left over, but he was humble and did all the service he was ordered to do without complaint, all the time remembering his Gurudeva.Some months later, a large religious assembly was held in the area. The Śaṅkarācārya of that time was there giving a discourse. The girl’s in-laws went there to listen to the māyāvādī speak. The sevaka passed by this assembly several times as he collected water from the well to carry out his chores. Coming back and forth several times, he overheard some of the māyāvādī’s words. Unable to tolerate hearing the blaspheme of Bhagavān and especially his own Gurudeva, Ramānujācārya, he entered the assembly and asked if he could say something. Everyone there looked at him with contempt, like he was an ordinary low-caste servant. They ridiculed him, but the māyāvādī-guru said, “I encourage listeners to ask any questions they may have. If anyone has an inquiry or wishes to debate on any point let them do so.”The sevaka, raised his hand and requested a chance to speak once again. Seeing this, the in-laws tried stop him, but the Śaṅkarācārya silenced them, and called him forward. The sevaka then spoke, in eloquent Sanskrit, the teachings of Ramānujācārya. He spoke for five minutes, but by that time everyone was so surprised and pleased with his speech that they cheered and urged him to continue. He then went on for hours more, stunning everyone present.The māyāvādī-guru lowered his head in shame. His philosophy was completely smashed and defeated by a mere house-servant in tattered clothes. Humbled, and in awe of the sevaka’s knowledge and qualification, he said, “Salutations O Divya-sūri—O enlightened one.” He then departed with his followers.The girl’s relatives asked their daughter-in-law, “From where did you collect this person? We engaged him as a menial servant and now he is being considered a Divya-surī by the Śaṅkarācārya. Even hell will have no room for us! This is all your fault Who is this person? Tell us.”She replied, “I opened my heart and pain to my Guru Mahārāja and he sent his sevaka of his to serve you in this household.”“What is guru-sevā,” Śrīla Gurudeva asked us after telling this story. “Sitting around guru all day long is not guru-sevā. To follow Gurudeva’s instructions is guru-sevā. Also to go to those who have lost faith in guru and to bring them back on the right path— that is real guru-seva. (Click on the Title to read the full article)
Completely fix your faith in the advice of Śrī Guru. Imbibe Śrī Guru’s vāṇī, transcendental instructions. Don’t look or run here and there. If guru’s heart melts, all his love and affection will come to you. You are the calf of Śrī Guru. A calf will not go to any buffalo, goat, pig, elephant, or camel for milk. When a calf is born, he will not even take milk from any other cow. He drinks from his own mother’s breasts. And a cow will not give her milk to the calf of another cow.
Anything you hear from Guru-pāda-padma, keep that with you like a seed. Every day, practice that. After continual practice, this will become perfect. When you daily clean iron, it will shine like steel. If you daily smear a clay pot with ghee, it will become very strong and shiny. Guru Mahārāja gives mantra and dīkṣā—daily practice that, remember and repeat those mantras. Gurudeva is the rasamaya-vigraha, embodiment of rasa. Anything that comes from his lips is sweeter than honey. This is very helpful for increasing one’s bhakti and bestowing bhakti-rasa. Therefore, very carefully accept the vāṇī of Guru-pāda-padma, his transcendental teachings. Never be hopeless. If you have no desire to follow the mantra and teachings of Śrī Guru, then you will never develop your bhakti. Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī came to Caitanya Mahāprabhu and was offered in the shelter of Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara. Dāsa Gosvāmī would come and pray to Mahāprabhu, “You never give me any instruction.”
“You are with Svarūpa Dāmodara. What he says is good for you. If I tell you to do something and you don’t follow, then it will be problematic.”
Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī requested Svarūpa Dāmodara to beg Mahāprabhu to give him even one small instruction. Then Mahāprabhu said:
grāmya-kathā nā śunibe, grāmya-vārtā nā kahibe
bhāla nā khāibe āra bhāla nā paribe
amānī mānada hañā kṛṣṇa-nāma sadā la’be
vraje rādhā-kṛṣṇa-sevā mānase karibe
Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā 6.236-237
Do not speak mundane topics or hear what general people have to say. You should not eat very rich, palatable food, nor should you wear very nice clothing. Do not expect respect, but honor all others. Always chant Kṛṣṇa’s names, and within your mind and heart render service to Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in Vraja.
Mahāprabhu told only four lines to Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. Then, for the rest of his life, Dāsa Gosvāmī followed these instructions every day.
Any order that Gurudeva gives, any word he speaks, don’t think this is ordinary. Any order Gurudeva gives means that he came near you with that order in the form of his speech. Gurudeva is the bhakti-rasamaya-vigraha. He gives you this bhakti-rasa through his instructions. This is then your property, your wealth, your life and soul. But if you don’t accept this and don’t keep this with you, and if you don’t try to follow his advice, then you are very far away from Guru Mahārāja. You have lost everything. Anything Gurudeva says is truthful. If a disciple accepts this, this is bhakti-rasa.
Gurudeva is bhajanānanda and rasa-mādhurī—his heart is very soft and always absorbed in the sweet pastimes of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. All the Guru-paramparā is included in Śrī Guru—Param-guru, Parameṣṭhī-guru, Parātpar-guru, Paramparātpar-guru. Guru Mahārāja is not alone. His heart has a place for the Guru-varga and God. Don’t think, “My Guru Mahārāja is alone; other gurus are separate from him.” Mad guru jagad-guru—if I serve my Guru Mahārāja, I am serving all gurus. If I don’t serve my Guru Mahārāja, but rather run here and there trying to serve everyone, the result will be zero.
If one forgets his identity as the servant of guru, he has not taken shelter of guru but, rather, stolen guru’s post. “Who is guru?” “I am guru.” “Then what is your Guru Mahārāja’s post?” “I am now jagad-guru.”
If this position comes and one cheats others, then everything will be lost. “Dāso ’ham,” I am the servant. I am guru-dāsa, the servant of Śrī Guru. And anyone who comes, I will collect them and bring them to the shelter of Śrī Guru. This is my duty. If I don’t do this, I will lose everything and will fall prey to brahmavāda, bauddhavāda, or māyāvāda.
Here it is written, guru pādāśraya, dīkṣā, then śikṣā, and viśrambheṇa guru-sevā. This means your guru-sevā must continuously go on, and anything that comes to you must be entirely offered to Śrī Guru.
“My love, affection, desire, duty, property, wealth, health, and everything I possess is for guru-sevā.” Then everyone who is near you will come inside that channel and flow. If you are independent, then the flow of guru’s mercy will stop, and you will not be helpful to any jīva. Then you are not an authority; you are a cheater. This is called māyāvāda.
Water is helpful for people to drink, but when it is very cold, the water becomes ice, hard like a rock and undrinkable. When guru’s śakti comes, a little power, then I think, “I am the master.” ‘Prabhuta pai, mada kahi nahi,’ all become intoxicated with position and authority.
Where am I now? Have I crossed māyā? Visvāmṛta Ṛṣi tried to send his unqualified disciple to heaven upon his repeated requests, but the demigods kicked him out, shouting, “Get out! Rascal!” He shouted, “Gurudeva, Gurudeva, I am falling, save me! I will die.” Then Visvāmṛta Ṛṣi shouted, “Tiṣṭha!” (Be fixed where you are!) Then he hung in the sky, legs up and head down. This is like the position of the bogus disciple who tries to steal the post of his guru.
Sad-guru always thinks of himself as guru-dāsa, and always performs viśrambheṇa guru-sevā. He continuously serves his Gurudeva, and he brings everyone and gives them to the lotus feet of Śrī Guru.
If anyone came to Śrīla Gurudeva, he would offer them to the lotus feet of Rūpa Gosvāmī, saying, “Now you are a rūpānuga.”
Guru-sevā is essential! If I try to steal and enjoy guru’s property, I will be a great demon.
Gurudeva appears in his śrī-vigraha for the sādhaka. Gurudeva first appears in this world and helps the living entities in one body and then Guru-pāda-padma appears everywhere in thousands and thousands of bodies. If anyone serves him, worships and follows all rules and regulations of bhakti in front of him, then he will be connected to Śrī Guru, and vraja-bhakti-rasa, prema-rasa, and vraja-bhāva will flow to that person. This is the bhajana-rasa-dhara that comes to the sādhaka. The sādhaka will not think, “I am equal to Śrī Guru.”
Uddhava asked Kṛṣṇa, “How can I protect myself from māyā when You go?”
“Worship My Deity.”
śailī dārumayī lauhī lepyā lekhyā ca saikatī
manomayī maṇimayī pratimāṣṭa-vidhā smṛtā
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.27.12
The Deity, or arca-vigraha of Śrī Bhagavān, is of the following eight kinds: marble or stone, wood, iron, gold or any other alloy, clay, painted, sand, mentally conceived, and made of gems, pearls or jewels.
If you have nothing, then you can even draw a picture of Śrī Guru on the wall and worship him there. The Deities of God and Śrī Guru are not different. If you don’t worship guru and perform viśrambheṇa guru-sevā, you will fall down.
Prema-sevā is learnt from Guru Mahārāja. By serving Guru-pāda-padma, pure devotion will come in your life.