prema seva

  • HOW WILL DESIRE COME FOR PREMA-SEVA?

    ByBhaktabandhav

    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.

  • WHAT IS SRILA GURUDEVA'S INTERNAL SEVA?

    ByBhaktabandhav

    “When I am going on my morning walk, I am present with Rādhikā and the mañjarīs. My skirt is rose pink and my shawl and blouse are light yellow—the color of a campaka flower. People are seeing me on a morning walk in some place in this world, but this is only in my external form. Daily, at this me, I go with Rādhikā to Nanda-bhavana. I place the fresh butter made by Rādhikā in the hand of Yaśodā Mātā. Kṛṣṇa is sleeping in His bed. Yaśodā Mātā quietly enters Kṛṣṇa’s room. Kṛṣṇa opens His eyes slightly as Yaśodā Mātā washes His face with a warm, damp towel and places the butter with sugar-candy in His mouth. Kṛṣṇa takes the mākhana-miśri, and then closes His eyes and smiles, savoring the nectarean butter churned by the hand of His beloved. Yaśodā Mātā leaves His room and tells the boys and animals waiting outside the house, ‘Don’t make any noise; Kanhaiyā is sleeping.’ “Yaśodā Mātā then enters the kitchen,” Śrīla Gurudeva continued, “where I am cleaning the stoves and preparing ingredients—honey, ghee, rice, dāls, various grains and flours, vegetables and fruits—for Rādhikā to cook. While Yaśodā Mātā looks over the cooking, she sends me to fan Kṛṣṇa. She says, ‘Nīlimā, Kanhaiyā is still resting. Go fan Him and make sure no one disturbs Him.’ I enter His room and begin to gently fan Him. Kṛṣṇa sits up to see who is there and playfully tries to catch my hand, but I run out of His reach. “Shortly after, the sakhās enter the room and, with them, Kṛṣṇa goes to milk the cows. When He returns, the cooking is complete and Śrīmatī Rādhikā says to Yaśodā Mātā, ‘We will bathe and dress Kṛṣṇa while you prepare His breakfast.’ “According to her bhāva, Yaśodā Mātā sees Kṛṣṇa as her small baby boy and Rādhikā and the gopīs as young girls. So, without hesitation, she arranges Kṛṣṇa’s morning meal in the kitchen, giving the kiśorīs a chance to intimately serve kiśora Kṛṣṇa. Śrīmatī Rādhikā bathes Kṛṣṇa with pitchers of fragrant water that I fill for Her. When Kṛṣṇa is touched by Rādhikā’s hand, He shivers uncontrollably in bliss.