# Serving the Lord and His Devotees ## 1. How can we gain strength in devotional service? By serving the spiritual master with respect and love, one’s heart is filled with immense strength. Only by serving the spiritual master and the holy names will one gather the strength to engage in devotional service. ## 2. What does it mean to see the Supreme Lord? Seeing the Supreme Lord means cent-percent engagement of the senses in His service. In other words, serving the Lord twenty-four hours a day with all one’s senses means living in one’s original constitutional position. In that position, one naturally sees the Lord. By guru’s mercy and on the strength of one’s own bhajana one becomes fully Kṛṣṇa conscious both internally and externally. This is called “Seeing the Supreme Lord.” ## 3. Is it good to try to be happy without serving the Supreme Lord? Trying to become happy is a nondevotional endeavor. Even if one gives up the service of the Lord, the spiritual master, and the Vaiṣṇavas, and remains busy pursuing his own happiness and prosperity by demanding service from others, he cannot find it. Rather, such a person becomes an object of negligence and criticism. On the other hand, if someone disregards the pursuit of his own happiness and prosperity and remains always engaged in the service of guru and Kṛṣṇa with body, mind, and words, then what to speak of millions of people coming forward to serve him, Mahāprabhu Himself will come to offer him service. ## 4. Is there no benefit without serving the Lord? Being averse to Kṛṣṇa, some living entities adopt the yoga path in order to contemplate the Supersoul, and others rush to the path of impersonal knowledge to cultivate Brahman realization. However, this is not how to achieve ultimate benefit. Service to the Supreme Lord awards one the Supreme Lord. A spirit soul cannot attain any fortune without serving the Lord. The Lord is not an object for us to associate with but the object of eternal service. Discussing mundane topics proves our lack of interest in hearing kṛṣṇa-kathā. Simply by discussing kṛṣṇa-kathā we will certainly develop a taste for it. If we do not attain liberation in this lifetime, then we will have to take birth again. Why is it that we do not even wish to become free from such an inconvenience? And if someone wants freedom only from material life, that too is a material desire—a desire for personal happiness. Serving the Lord is not about satisfying ourselves. It is not about looking for one’s own happiness. Searching for personal happiness is only selfishness. The desire for material enjoyment and liberation amounts to searching for personal happiness. That is why the Lord does not help material enjoyers or dry renunciants. Instead, He gives them over to His illusory energy. The Lord only helps those who totally surrender to Him and try to please Him. If we wish to attain pure devotion, we must be freed from material bondage by serving the Lord without duplicity and under the guru’s guidance. Unless one is liberated one cannot serve the Lord properly. One must therefore always chant the holy names while surrendered to the spiritual master. Always remember that chanting is the best form of kṛṣṇa-bhajana. By chanting one attains all perfection. If one simply serves the holy names one can understand everything about the topmost kingdom of worship. ## 5. To whom should we render service? Both the spiritual master and the Supreme Lord are transcendental. One who has begun to develop a relationship with the Absolute Person also comes to see the spiritual master as good as God. The spiritual master is servitor God, the sheltered. Thus the spiritual master is both God and a devotee. In that sense, although the spiritual master is nondifferent from the Supreme Lord he is also most dear to the Lord. The spiritual master is Kṛṣṇa’s complete energy and Lord Kṛṣṇa is the supreme energetic. The Śāstras confirm that there is no difference between the spiritual master and the Lord. One should serve that spiritual master, who is Kṛṣṇa’s devotee and who serves the Lord twenty-four hours a day. It is also essential to serve Vaiṣṇavas devoted to their gurus. Nothing is gained by serving pseudo devotees who appear as Vaiṣṇavas. Due to Kali’s influence, we see many pseudo devotees these days, people who pose themselves as Vaiṣṇavas but who are actually atheists. That is why I say that one must serve the bona fide spiritual master and the Vaiṣṇavas if one wishes to make spiritual advancement. One should also note that one may serve the Vaiṣṇava spiritual master, but later find that one’s guru has again become a nondevotee. If that should occur, there is no longer any need to serve such a person. Serving nondevotees invites inauspiciousness. It is vital to serve and follow only the Lord’s devotees. We must take shelter at the guru’s lotus feet and serve him with great determination. The Śāstra states, viśrambheṇa guroḥ sevā: one should serve his spiritual master with love and intimacy. If one serves the spiritual master and the Vaiṣṇavas with firm faith and love, Kṛṣṇa will certainly be pleased. We should not consider the spiritual master an ordinary human being. The spiritual master is faultless. Do not try to find fault with him. We may not always have the same time and opportunity. As long as one is alive, take advantage and worship Hari in the association of Vaiṣṇavas. ## 6. Who is dead and who is alive? The living entities are the Supreme Lord’s servants, and serving Him is their eternal, constitutional duty. Fulfilling one’s constitutional duty is life. Therefore only the Lord’s servants are alive; and others are dead. The jīvas have no other business but to serve Lord Kṛṣṇa and His devotees. They are the natural servants of guru and Kṛṣṇa. Leading a whimsical life does not help us to use our life properly, and therefore we are dead. People engrossed in karma-kāṇḍa practices are dead. Those engaged in sinful activities, who are inattentive when spiritual topics are discussed, are dead. To fail to cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness is death. Those who choose to serve illusion are dead, even though they appear to live. It is not our constitutional duty to prosper physically and mentally. Pursuing those ends is not a sign of life but of death, unconsciousness. Devotional service alone gives supreme happiness. Everything else is only an absence of happiness. Both karmīs and jñānīs are unhappy, restless, and ultimately, dead. Only the selfless devotees are alive, happy, and peaceful. ## 7. What is the best form of worship? To serve the son of Nanda Mahārāja in the mellows of sweet ecstatic love is the ultimate goal and the ultimate process for achieving it. The best form of worship is to worship the son of Nanda. The cowherd girls of Vraja did not accept Nanda’s son as their husband because they were not overwhelmed with His opulence. No amount of Kṛṣṇa’s opulence could attract their minds. Rather, they were spontaneously inclined toward Kṛṣṇa. Their only desire was to please Him. This great, causeless desire induced them to accept Kṛṣṇa as their husband. ## 8. Who is the topmost servant? In the Padma Purāṇa Lord Śiva tells Pārvatī: ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ, viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param tasmāt parataraṁ devī, tadīyānāṁ samarcanam Of all types of worship, worship of Lord Viṣṇu is best, and better than the worship of Lord Viṣṇu is the worship of His devotee, the Vaiṣṇava. The Supreme Lord worships His devotees. Although the Lord Himself is supremely worshipable, His devotees are the objects of and candidates for His adoration and love. The spiritual master is topmost among the Lord’s devotees. Needless to say, one whom the Lord worships must be worth worshiping. My spiritual master is the spiritual master of the whole world, and my Lord the Lord of the universe. My spiritual master’s enemies are the enemies of the universal controller. Unless we root this conviction firmly in our heart, we cannot surrender fully at our guru’s lotus feet and cannot become true disciples. We will not realize our insignificant position, and will not be able to chant the holy names while thinking ourselves lower than straw in the street and more tolerant than a tree. There is nothing more auspicious than serving the spiritual master. Among all kinds of worship, worship of the Supreme Lord is the greatest, but service to the spiritual master is even greater. Unless we are fully convinced about this, we cannot properly take shelter of our guru and understand that he is our shelter, protector, and maintainer. The Vedas say, sarvasvaṁ gurave dadyāt, “Everything should be offered to the spiritual master ” If we do not serve the guru by offering our lives, wealth, intelligence, speech, mind, knowledge, and body at his lotus feet, we will not become free of our absorption in matter. We will not give up our material desires; our material disease will not be cured, and our illusion, fear, and distress will not be vanquished. By surrendering completely at the guru’s feet we become free from illusion, fear, and lamentation. If we aspire for the spiritual master’s causeless mercy, then the spiritual master will bless us without duplicity. The spiritual master is not a mortal being; he is immortal or eternal. The spiritual master is eternal, his service is eternal, and his servants are eternal. Therefore we have nothing to worry about if we serve him; we will be freed from death. Since our material attachment or sense of being the doer is strong at present, we are anxious and miserable. Only the spiritual master can protect us from such formidable pride. Do we want his protection? It seems we prefer to remain trapped in material existence. If we wanted to become free we would engage in his service. Do we have such a mentality? What to speak of giving the guru one hundred percent of our energy, we are not even prepared to give him one percent. Unless we accept the essence of everything, Lord Kṛṣṇa, as the goal of life, how can we achieve Him? Our present pathetic condition is due to our not accepting the spiritual master as if he were as good as the Supreme Lord. This is the root cause of our continued attachment to matter. That is why I say one should not consider the spiritual master an ordinary being. He is the one who can give you unlimited life; he is the doctor of your soul, your protector, maintainer, benefactor, and selfless well-wisher. If we are not prepared to take complete shelter at his lotus feet, then we should expect to be cheated according to the degree of our negligence or duplicity. Think carefully about this. If we are not introspective, we will not be successful. If we do not surrender ourselves one hundred percent at the feet of that personality to whom most auspicious Kṛṣṇa has entrusted our well-being, how can he bless us? If we make a pretense of devotional service or become hypocrites while maintaining material desire, then the omniscient spiritual master will be compelled to deceive us. The Śāstra states, yādṛśī bhāvanā yasya siddhir bhavati tādṛśī: “According to one’s state of mind one attains perfection.” When you cheat your spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa by serving Maya and your relatives, without taking full shelter of guru, then the caitya-guru will mercifully remind you that you have not yet become a true disciple. You are not yet following your spiritual master’s instructions, and your heart still contains sinful desire. Since you are accustomed to listening to your duplicitous mind and adopting the ideals and conceptions of ordinary people, that’s proof that you have not yet developed ears to hear My instructions. Therefore you have been cheated. Again, it is the duty of a disciple to accept his spiritual master’s arrangements for his life without reservation. If you do not, degradation is inevitable. O my friends! Do not become sense enjoyers! Everything in this world is meant for the service of guru and Kṛṣṇa. If you try to usurp the objects meant for their pleasure, you will find only misfortune. Until you learn to see everything in relation to your spiritual master, there is no question of success on the devotional path. ## 9. How is it possible to actually serve Kṛṣṇa? Actual service to Kṛṣṇa is rendered simply by serving the spiritual master and the Vaiṣṇavas. The sahajiyās cannot understand this. They think that one who worships Kṛṣṇa is great, and therefore they proudly consider themselves Vaiṣṇavas, accept service from others, and renounce their guru-and vaiṣṇava-sevā. Those who have heard the teachings of Śrī Caitanyadeva and the Gosvāmīs, however, know well that it is possible to serve Kṛṣṇa by serving the guru and the Vaiṣṇavas, who are all Kṛṣṇa’s dear devotees. What is the point in making a show of serving Kṛṣṇa while neglecting to serve His devotees? Those who renounce their subordination and service to the spiritual master pretend to serve Kṛṣṇa and chant the holy name, but they commit offenses at every step. As long as one continues to commit offenses he cannot serve Kṛṣṇa or chant His holy names purely. Only the surrendered devotees engaged in guru—and vaiṣṇava-sevā attain pure devotion by their mercy. Śrī Caitanyadeva and the Gosvāmīs bestow mercy on those who serve guru and the Vaiṣṇavas with love and devotion. I used to think of myself as a learned scholar in mathematics and philosophy, but by my good fortune I met my spiritual master. When he shocked me by pointing out that my great qualities—my truthfulness, my pure moral life, and my vast learning—were insignificant, I realized how great he must be to consider such qualities insignificant. By his push I could understand that there was no person as fallen and wretched as myself. I understood my actual position. Here was a great soul who placed no value on qualities such as learning and moral character—qualities I esteemed highly. I understood what an invaluable object this great personality must possess! I concluded that he was either extremely merciful or extremely proud. Thereafter I took shelter of the Supreme Lord with humility. By the Lord’s mercy I realized that without the service and mercy of such an akiñcana, I could not achieve spiritual success. When I developed that good intelligence, I received the shelter and unlimited mercy of my spiritual master and my life became successful. Here I am speaking about that most auspicious personality whom I have realized by the mercy of the Supreme Lord, my own spiritual master. The shock I received from my spiritual master made me realize that unless people are similarly shocked they will not come to their senses. Therefore I declare that I am the most foolish person in the entire world. Do not become foolish like me! Do not try to measure the spiritual master or Kṛṣṇa. Discuss kṛṣṇa-kathā and you will certainly become a great personality. ## 10. How can we realize our constitutional position? If one does not realize that he has a spiritual body, then he will remain forgetful of Kṛṣṇa and consider his body the self. The Absolute Truth is beyond material sense perception. Kṛṣṇa is the master of the senses, and one must serve Him with all one’s senses. Service to Kṛṣṇa is rendered through service-inclined senses, spiritualized senses. One revives one’s spiritual body only by guru’s mercy. The soul serves the Supersoul, who is sat-cit-ānanda, through its spiritual senses. People devoid of service inclination toward the transcendental Lord are compared to the animals. Better one always associate with saintly persons. The Lord’s devotees are constantly engaged in His service. If we associate with devotees, we will also develop the propensity to give the Lord pleasure. Simply by associating with devotees we can come to understand that we possess a spiritual body. Then we will no longer consider the material body the self and our desire for material happiness, which is all-destructive, will be destroyed forever. A devotee desires neither material enjoyment nor liberation. Rather, a devotee is always eager to please the Supreme Lord by engaging constantly in His service. A materialist thinks, “I will enjoy by cheating the Lord.” An impersonalist thinks, “I will become the Lord myself by cheating Him.” Devotees do not possess such sinful mentalities. Rather, their devotional practices situate them in their original constitutional position as the Lord’s servants. ## 11. Does serving the Supreme Lord give real freedom? We are so dependent in this world, and so controlled by Maya, that we cannot protect ourselves. Therefore Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam instructs us to constantly cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness and asserts that to depend on worldly strength is treacherous. We are always under death’s control. What freedom can we have in Maya’s kingdom? Only by engaging in the service of Hari will we become spiritually healthy and be situated in eternal independence. ## 12. Which concepts should one understand with great care? We should take utmost care to attain the Lord’s service by awakening our eternal constitutional propensity. We should always be eager to serve the son of Nanda Mahārāja. A person favored by Kṛṣṇa has no wealth or shelter other than Kṛṣṇa. If one is proud because of his high birth, wealth, knowledge, or beauty, he cannot attain the Lord’s mercy. Such a person will continue on in material existence. If we become attracted to the path of ultimate benefit (śreyas), we will lose interest in the path of immediate benefit (preyas). Intelligent persons should accept the path of ultimate benefit and worship the Lord in the association of His devotees until death. Everything in this world belongs to the Lord. If we are greedy to acquire material objects we will face difficulties. Only those averse to hearing kṛṣṇa-kathā remain attached to or conditioned by material existence. Such people travel in the chariot of their minds and ultimately fall into distress. One should give up the mentality that we have become Vaiṣṇavas. Rather, we should humbly pray for the Lord’s mercy and service. Simply by the mercy of Hari, guru, and the Vaiṣṇavas we can attain the Supreme Lord’s service. At that time, we will no longer be filled with false ego. Being controlled by lust and anger, human beings become proud. When one is proud, one thinks it is no longer necessary to take shelter at the lotus feet of guru and the Vaiṣṇavas. As a result, the noose of conditioned life tightens. To protect oneself, one should remain always in the association of devotees. We cannot survive without their association. If instead we listen to mind and remain aloof from the devotees, we will not be able to master our sinful mentality. Rather, we will feed it. Then we will be in danger of disregarding the orders of guru and the Vaiṣṇavas. As soon as we lose that shelter, Maya will capture us. Making us her servant, she will force us to travel throughout the universe. ## 13. How can an infinitesimal soul serve the infinite Supreme Lord? The living entity is not an infinitesimal material object but an infinitesimal spiritual object. Even though the jīvas are tiny, they have the ability to serve the unlimited Lord. It is the soul’s constitutional nature and eligibility to serve the unlimited Lord. In that sense, the soul has the same power as the Lord. If a spark is supported by the fire from which it emanated, it can burn the entire world to ashes. ## 14. What is the relationship between the supporter and the supported? Lord Kṛṣṇa is the only supporter and everyone else is supported. The supported is not separate or different from the supporter. The relationship between supporter and supported is a servant relationship between master and servants. The supporter, Kṛṣṇa, is one, but there are many supported, many servants. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the unique object of service. Although there are many servants, they are divided into five principal categories under ideal devotees. In the mādhurya-rati the ideal is Vṛṣabhānu’s daughter, in vātsalya-rati Śrī Nanda and Yaśodā, in sakhya-rati Subala and other friends, in dāsya-rati servants like Raktaka and others, and in Śānta-rasa items like the cows, flute, and cowherding stick. Each servant serves Kṛṣṇa in one of these five flavors under the guidance of their respective ideal. Only those who do not waste time uselessly discussing mundane topics can understand the confidential purport of this topic. In our present condition, it is impossible to understand the science of Śrī Rādhā, the personification of love for Kṛṣṇa. Vṛṣabhānu’s daughter is the original servitor God and She is situated on the highest platform of devotional service. In order to serve Kṛṣṇa She even climbs on His chest, scolds Him, and chastises Him. Those who are greedy to serve Kṛṣṇa can understand the confidential meaning of these topics with their pure heart. ## 15. How can we vanquish lust? Inclination for the Lord’s service can protect us from the inclination to enjoy matter. Lust is another way to say “aversion to Kṛṣṇa’s service.” It is our duty to serve the complete whole. The only way to be rid of lust is to serve those devotees who are free from material desire. Kṛṣṇa’s devotees are alone capable of protecting us from lust’s influence. Lust is opposed to devotional service. We experience mundane lust because we lack attraction to the transcendental Cupid. We should give our attention to gratifying His senses. Surrender and service to Kṛṣṇa destroys the seed of lust. ## 16. Should service be rendered personally? Every one of us will have to become servants of the transcendental Personality of Godhead. We cannot hire a representative, even a priest, to perform our service for us. I have see that in some sampradāyas, a spokesman conducts the worship while others remain standing. This is not how we render service. We must each engage ourselves in the Lord’s service under the guidance of an ācārya. We can perfect our lives when we associate with saintly persons, chant the Lord’s holy name, hearing hari-kathā, and worshiping the Deity. But we will fail totally if we act out a pretense. If instead of surrendering ourselves we try to imitate these activities without heart, we will fail to achieve the goal. Whatever wealth and assets we are given by Kṛṣṇa’s will, we should engage them in Kṛṣṇa’s service. We will be in trouble if we accumulate wealth either through miserliness or by remaining indifferent to the Lord’s service. Many people suggest that I make a permanent arrangement for the continuation of the Maṭha’s Deity worship, but I will not do that. If there is actual inclination to serve the Lord and actual surrender, then by the Lord’s mercy His service will continue unhindered and Mahāprabhu’s teachings will be preached boldly. Otherwise, let everything go to hell. We should pay close attention to the welfare of others and ourselves. We will not live in this world for too long time. If we give up our bodies while chanting Hari’s glories and engaging in His service, then our lives will be successful. We have not come to this material world to become carpenters and builders. We are simply messengers of Śrī Caitanyadeva’s teachings. ## 17. Is it a mistake to consider serving one’s family synonymous with serving the Lord? One’s home, which is the abode of one’s enjoyment, and the temple, the abode of Hari’s service, are not one and the same. Therefore it is a mistake to consider serving the family the same as serving the Lord. The mentality of an attached householder and the devotee’s propensity to serve Hari are two separate things. However, for those who are actually engaged in hari-bhajana, there is no difference between the Maṭha and their home. And for those who are unable to practice hari-bhajana anywhere, there is no real difference between the Maṭha and their home; they will be disturbed by illusion in both places. If we think serving our family is synonymous with serving Hari, there is no hope for spiritual advancement. It is impossible to serve Hari as long as we remain attached to and focused on our temporary relatives and the life we build with them. If we are bound by such temporary material affections, then affection for our relatives will become the object of our service. When we forget who is the father of whom or the son of whom, we are bound to become degraded. Even after accepting initiation, if we feel that association with those who are averse to Lord Hari, such as our father, son, country, wife, or mother is favorable for our spiritual progress, obviously we have forgotten what it means to execute pure devotion. In such a situation we should renounce our misconceptions and restlessness and associate with the living source (guru) for some time. Otherwise, dangerous attachment for relatives, affections for children, and pleasures in the wife’s company, will perpetually separate us from our actual worship. We will come to desire only material life. It is only bad association that teaches us these mistaken conceptions. If we want to free ourselves from that mess, we must associate with Kṛṣṇa’s devotees and hear the scripture. ## 18. Who is not able to follow? The living entities cannot benefit without serving Kṛṣṇa, the transcendental Absolute Truth. No one other than my spiritual master is able to render service to that supreme worshipable Lord. Whoever lacks this conviction cannot surrender. ## 19. What is the value of accepting a material body? This body is a product of matter, a bag of flesh and bones with no relation to Kṛṣṇa. The only value in accepting a material body is if one engages it in Kṛṣṇa’s service under the spiritual master’s guidance. It is always profitable to engage one’s worldly knowledge, education, and so on in the Lord’s service. ## 20. What is the secret of success? We are servants of the Supreme Lord and our only goal is to serve Him. This is the way of success. There is no duty superior to serving the Supreme Lord. We must enter into Kṛṣṇa’s family, not Maya’s family. We are successful when we become servants, not masters. ## 21. What is the main duty of those who want to serve God? The first and foremost duty of those who want to serve the Lord is to give up bad association. Until one gives up the association of nondevotees, one cannot begin to associate properly with devotees. All desires other than the desire to serve Kṛṣṇa are considered bad association. Caitanya-caritāmṛta states: ’duḥsaṅga’ kahiye——’kaitava’, ’ātma-vañcanā kṛṣṇa, kṛṣṇa-bhakti vinu anya kāmanā Cheating oneself and cheating others is called kaitava. Associating with those who cheat in this way is called duḥsaṅga, bad association. Those who desire things other than Kṛṣṇa’s service are also called duḥsaṅga, bad association. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya 24.99) A sincere devotee firmly renounces association with nondevotees. He respectfully associates with and serves the devotees. Now the question must be asked: Who is a devotee? One who constantly chants the Hari’s holy name, who discusses Hari and His pastimes and instructions, and who engages in His service is a devotee or saintly person. Those who spend their time in sense gratification, planning to become happy in this world, are nondevotees or sinful. The sincere practitioners of devotional service reluctantly accept only as much sense gratification as necessary to keep body and soul together while they eagerly engage in vaiṣṇava-sevā. As a result they gradually attain auspiciousness. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.26.26) states: tato duḥsaṅgam utsṛjya, satsu sajjeta buddhimān santa evāsya chindanti, mano-vyāsaṅgam uktibhiḥ An intelligent person should therefore reject all bad association and instead take up the association of saintly devotees, whose words cut off the excessive attachment of one’s mind. People averse to God are nondevotees. We have to give up the association even of our near and dear ones if they are averse to God. People opposed to Śrī Caitanya are opposed to the Supreme Lord. Those who do not take shelter at Śrī Caitanya’s lotus feet or follow His invaluable teachings are nondevotees. Only those who follow in the footsteps of Śrī Caitanyadeva’s devotees and are faithful to them are actually inclined to serve the Lord. As people who desire knowledge cannot avoid taking shelter of learned people, similarly those fortunate and pious persons who want to attain the Lord’s shelter cannot avoid taking shelter of Śrī Gaurāṅgadeva, who has appeared in this age, and His devotees. The Supreme Lord can be attained through their mercy. ## 22. What is our main duty at present? We can taste sense gratification and enjoy the fruit of our karma birth after birth. But let’s set these aside and now engage in serving Kṛṣṇa. That is our most important duty, and it can be executed only in the human form of life. If we had been born demigods we would not have been given the time or opportunity to hear hari-kathā. Therefore until our last breath we should try our best to attain the Lord’s lotus feet. There is no greater duty than this. ## 23. What is the duty of a brahmacārī? A brahmacārī does not enter family life. On seeing the householders’ distress, brahmacārīs remain cautious. Perhaps he will wonder who will cook for him, and such fears drive him into family life. He thinks he will somehow manage and live his life in happiness and with little distress. Such ideas get people into trouble. Our perfection and prime necessity is to attain the Lord’s service. There is nothing more important than this. Devotional service will give us ultimate peace, happiness, and fulfill life’s ultimate goal. If we give up the Lord’s service simply to seek personal happiness, we will find only distress in the end. Join Kṛṣṇa’s family, leave Maya’s family aside. Try to become a servant and forget about being the master. ## 24. What is the proper religious principle? Bhāgavata-dharma, bhakti-dharma, and bhāgavata-sevā-dharma are different names for the proper religious principle. To serve Kṛṣṇa and His devotees is a proper religious principle. Apart from this, everything else is temporary or conditioned dharma, or even an improper religious principle. Devotional service to the Lord is the soul’s eternal occupational duty, and that is why it is called a “proper religious principle.” When people realize that all living entities are servants of Kṛṣṇa, they will see with equal vision. This means they will be liberated from the constant need to discriminate between large and small. To follow the path of peace means to engage in Kṛṣṇa’s service. Devotional service is sanātana-dharma, eternal dharma, and is also called parama-dharma and ātmā-dharma. Without devotional service the jīva’s life is useless. Without devotional service, every endeavor is aimed only at becoming the master. Devotional servitorship is on one side of the balance, and the attempt to master the material energy by practicing karma, jñāna, yoga, or anyalabhilāṣa is on the other. Chanting the holy name is the ultimate goal of bhāgavata-dharma. There is no other remedy for our material disease than Kṛṣṇa’s name. ## 25. What is service? Hari’s servants preach: O living entities! Please engage in Kṛṣṇa’s service. You do not need to do anything else. Do not engage in sense gratification in the name of serving Hari. Remember that devotional service means gratifying Kṛṣṇa’s senses, whereas gratifying your own senses and materialistic relatives is selfishness. If you think they are synonymous, you have been deceived. Do not mistake serving your family for serving the Lord. After taking shelter of the Lord, do not waste time serving Maya. This will not help you. Rather, it will increase your attachment to material life and you will fall down from the platform of devotion. Be eager to serve the Lord if you wish to attain Him. Serving Kṛṣṇa is not a joke. If you try to cheat Him, you yourself will be cheated. Therefore, be clever and serious and forget everything but Kṛṣṇa’s service. Then the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa will be pleased with you. ## 26. Does the soul enjoy? The soul serves the Supersoul as its only duty. Therefore, why should the soul renounce the Lord’s service to engage in material enjoyment? It is not natural for the soul to hanker after material enjoyment. Such hankering is the nature of the mind. The propensity to taste material enjoyment binds one to matter and covers the soul’s original propensity to serve Kṛṣṇa. ## 27. How can we prepare ourselves to serve God? We attain the Supreme Lord’s mercy by serving the spiritual master. Such service qualifies us to serve God. If we simply serve the spiritual master and the transcendental sound vibration we will be given spiritual strength. ## 28. We consider doing good to others our religion. What is your opinion in this regard? Welfare work is good, but it has two defects: it directly or indirectly encourages godlessness, and it supports violence to animals and other living entities. Whatever attempts we make to help others while neglecting the Absolute are useless. Neither are we in favor of practicing devotion in order to use the sādhus for our own ends. Those who want to accomplish something mundane by using the sādhus proves that they have no respect whatsoever for saintly persons. Ordinary altruism is not the goal of life. There is a much more important duty while one is in the human form of life, and that is to serve God. Serving God can permanently liberate people from their material distress and allow them to taste eternal happiness. It is our intention to convert the entire human population to practicing bhakti. Serving God is the soul’s supreme eternal religion. Hearing Śrī Caitanyadeva’s teachings on this point will forever help everyone. Śrī Caitanyadeva said: bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya janma yāra janma sārthaka kari’ kara para-upakāra One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India [Bhārata-varṣa] should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta Ādi 9.41) Śrī Caitanyadeva preached throughout the world for the welfare of all jīvas, but the welfare work He proposed was not of the temporary, insignificant, narrow-minded, changeable, or imaginary type—not pie in the sky—as is the welfare work proposed by so-called social reformers and mundane philanthropists. The welfare work He proposed is of the highest caliber and is neither temporary nor insignificant. The ways to uplift others as invented, being invented, and about to be invented by ordinary human beings according to their narrow considerations will in no way benefit anyone because they are each temporary. Śrī Mahāprabhu revealed the actual way to uplift others: dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo ’tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satāṁ vedyaṁ vāstavam atra vastu śivadaṁ tāpa-trayonmūlanam śrīmad-bhāgavate mahā-muni-kṛte kiṁ vā parair īśvaraḥ sadyo hṛdy avarudhyate ’tra kṛtibhiḥśuśrūṣubhis tat-kṣaṇāt Completely rejecting all religious activities which are materially motivated, this Bhāgavata Purāṇa propounds the highest truth, which is understandable by those devotees who are fully pure in heart. The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all. Such truth uproots the threefold miseries. This beautiful Bhāgavatam, compiled by the great sage Vyāsadeva [in his maturity], is sufficient in itself for God realization. What is the need of any other scripture? As soon as one attentively and submissively hears the message of Bhāgavatam, by this culture of knowledge, the Supreme Lord is established within his heart. (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.1.2) The process of doing good for others described by the Bhāgavatam was discovered and refined by Śrī Caitanyadeva. This process destroys the threefold miseries, whereas the usual forms of mundane welfare work imagined by this world’s thoughtful people are neither beneficial nor do they deliver the ultimate goal of life. They cannot even destroy the material miseries. Miseries are the effect of a particular cause. Until the cause is destroyed, the effect will remain. Until the root of a banyan tree is destroyed, it will again sprout even if one cuts down its trunk and branches thousands of times. The thousands of manmade proposals for social welfare remind us of the attempt to empty the ocean with one’s bare hands. Even if thousands of people engage continuously in such an endeavor for thousands of yugas, they will never be successful. Still, one may see that their work has caused a vast body of water to accumulate in some other place. Similarly, we cannot empty the ocean of material misery by our own strength. At most we will simply succeed in transferring the misery somewhere else. Of course, by doing that we can certainly deceive others and even ourselves. The threefold miseries cannot be vanquished without following the Bhāgavatam’s instructions. There are unlimited varieties of misery. We cannot concoct a way to destroy even one of them. They are caused by nescience in the form of forgetfulness of the Supreme Lord. This nescience both covers the living entities and throws them into further pain. Until we destroy this root cause we will never destroy the miserable effect. We must propagate devotional service if we wish to help others. If the Lord’s message is preached around the world, then all countries and all people will achieve the greatest success of all time. ## 29. Is service to Viṣṇu service to mankind? Lord Viṣṇu is all-pervading because He is the supreme Brahman. He is greater than the greatest. If we serve Him, we are serving everyone else automatically. When someone serves a particular horse, he does not automatically serve all horses. Patriots are by nature servants of a particular country, not all countries. Paid servants are those who serve only at particular times, not at all times. Those who kill fish or goats to serve their tongue make the fish or goats unhappy and therefore do not serve all living beings. But by serving Lord Viṣṇu, all living beings are satisfied. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mercy yields no inauspiciousness results. Devotional service benefits all beings in all countries at all times. ## 30. What is the constitutional duty of the spirit soul? The spirit soul is unborn and as such, has no mother. To enjoy or to give up enjoyment is not the soul’s propensity because the soul does not possess a material body. The soul is an associated counterpart of the Absolute Truth. The propensity, duty, and self-interest of the soul is to render service and to give pleasure to the Absolute Truth. ## 31. Don’t those who serve Hari serve all living entities? Lord Hari is the complete whole. Therefore His servants are the real friends and well-wishers of all living entities. Bewildered by the various external appearances of the living entities, those who consider service to the temporary body service to Hari are in total illusion. Their service to the living entities has no value. As they serve the material body, so they serve Maya, Lord Hari’s external limb. Even if they serve Maya for unlimited years, they benefit neither themselves nor others. When one thinks of the poor as Lord Nārāyana (daridra-nārāyaṇa), one is saying that Lord Nārāyaṇa is poor. With such a mentality one can neither serve Lord Nārāyaṇa nor His servants. One simply serves Maya. The illusioned serve desert mirages or shadows, not the Absolute Truth. The Absolute Truth is Kṛṣṇa, and the living entities are His eternal servants. Since we are eternal servants of Kṛṣṇa we will serve Kṛṣṇa and His devotees and will physically and mentally help those who are unable to understand the glories of either the devotees or Hari. We will also serve those who are envious of the devotees by simply ignoring them. The Lord’s servants are our best friends, so we should befriend them. Then we will preach about Viṣṇu’s service to those of our friends who, not understanding the glories of service to Viṣṇu, have adopted other religious processes, provided they are not envious. We will not cooperate with atheists or the envious. ## 32. Please tell us something about how to worship Kṛṣṇa. The best way to worship Kṛṣṇa is in the same way in which the gopīs of Vraja worshiped. Lord Kṛṣṇa is full of transcendental energies and is supremely independent. His transcendental energies have three principal duties. His first energy is called hlādinī, and its purpose is to give Kṛṣṇa pleasure. His second energy is called saṁvit, and its purpose is to help Kṛṣṇa feel the depth of His own self. The third energy is known as sandhinī, the energy of existence, and its purpose is to make all arrangements for the Lord’s enjoyment. Actually, all the ingredients for Kṛṣṇa’s enjoyment are arranged by the sandhinī-śakti. Personified, she serves Kṛṣṇa by manifesting His abode and the paraphernalia for His pastimes. The saṁvit energy serves Kṛṣṇa by making Him feel pleasure and helping Him realize Himself. The hlādinī-śakti personified manifests Herself in various form to increase the transcendental mellows of Kṛṣṇa’s ecstatic love in newer and newer ways. These forms appear as the damsels or gopīs of Vṛndāvana. The gopīs are expansions of Śrī Rādhā, who is the personification of ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa and the supreme enchantress. Śrī Rādhā is the original shelter of all of Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental energy. Although this divine young couple form a unity, they manifest Themselves as enjoyer and enjoyed. Mahāprabhu comes to establish our service through subordination to Rādhikā. ## 33. What is the procedure for engaging in service? Śāstra states: etāvaj janma-sāphalyaṁ,dehinām iha dehiṣu prāṇair arthair dhiyā vācā,śreya-ācaraṇaṁ sadā It is the duty of every living being to perform welfare activities for the benefit of others with his life, wealth, intelligence and words. (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.22.35) Serving God is the secret of success and happiness, and aversion to His service is the root of all distress. Prāṇa means “consciousness” or “love.” Service to the Supreme Lord is rendered mainly through prāṇa; wealth, intelligence, and speech. Those devoid of prāṇa cannot serve properly, and that is why prāṇa is listed first. The spiritual master invokes prāṇa in his disciple. The spiritual master teaches the sincere disciples how to serve God. He teaches the secrets of the Lord’s service only to those who desire to serve the Lord. ## 34. What is service? When all our propensities and endeavors are directed only to giving Viṣṇu pleasure; that is called service. Activities performed with the desire to demand service from others in the form of religiosity, economic development, sense gratification, and liberation are called disservice or atheism. Atheism can appear in various forms, even as sympathy for others. ## 35. How should one treat the material world? The Īśopaniṣad mantra , states: īśāvāsyam idam sarvaṁ, yat kiñca jagatyāṁ jagat tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā, mā gṛdhaḥ kasya svid dhanam Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong. O sense enjoyers! Why do you think that this world is meant for your pleasure? You will not be able to worship Hari as long as you remain engrossed in material enjoyment. Why have you forgotten that this material world is meant for the Lord’s service and that Lord Kṛṣṇa is the supreme enjoyer of all objects? Why do you try to enjoy, even though you are servants? It is the servants duty to serve his master; a servant’s satisfaction lies in giving the master pleasure. Striving to taste matter does not bring peace. Only serving the Lord allows one to feel peaceful. ## 36. Who does the Supreme Lord deliver? Fools, karmīs, and dry renunciants do not understand devotional service. Those who follow the path of strict renunciation, dry speculation, or argument, will not understand the glories of devotional service. I am a servant of the Supreme Lord and service to my Lord is my eternal duty. I have no other recourse but to take shelter at His lotus feet. We learn this by our spiritual master’s grace. The Lord does not forsake those who do not forsake Him. Anyone who serves the Lord will surely attain Him. But we must surrender cent percent if we do not want to be deceived. If we surrender one hundred percent, the Lord guarantees our deliverance. ## 37. Is it possible to serve the transcendental Lord with our blunt material senses? We should not think we can serve the transcendental Lord with the gross material body. Lord Hari is not served either by the gross senses (the eyes and ears) or by the subtle senses (the mind). Yet these senses appear to all we have in this world. Therefore Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī devised a plan by which we can use our material senses to reach the transcendental kingdom. He said, “When the senses, by their own strength, want to reach the transcendental realm, they will fail. This is why those who practice the ascending path never reach their destination. But when the light of inclination toward the Lord’s service illumines the senses, they become qualified to understand transcendental subject matter. Then they no longer remain hostile to spirit but can enter the transcendental realm.” ## 38. Should one serve the Lord personally as opposed to through a hired representative? We cannot serve the Lord by hiring a priest or other representative. Everyone should personally render service to the Lord with love and devotion. ## 39. Can one achieve any benefit without serving the devotees? One who serves the Supreme Lord is a devotee, and one who accepts service from His servants as their worshipable Lord is God. The Lord’s devotees are as worshipable as the Lord Himself. Thus there are two kinds of worship, worship of the worshipable Lord, and worship of His worshipable servants. The Supreme Lord is just like the sun, and the devotees or spiritual masters are just like light. The worshipable Lord and His servants, in other words, are inseparably related. The devotees are never separate from the Lord. The Lord is complete, and the devotees are dependent on Him. The devotees are those who possess devotional service. When we speak about the devotees we must naturally speak about the Supreme Lord, just as when we discuss a man’s son, it is natural to speak of the son’s father. Similarly, bhakti, the devotee, and the Supreme Lord are inseparable. The devotees are ever dependent on Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa is ever dependent on His devotees. They are nondifferent just as the body’s limbs are inseparably connected to the body. If we try to remove the devotees when discussing the Lord, there will be nothing left as the Absolute Truth. If we stop the worship of the devotees, there is no question of worshiping the Lord. Bypassing the devotee amounts to having a partial conception of the worshipable Lord. If the devotees are separated from the Lord, their propensity to serve the Lord is also checked, and they will be encouraged to become independent. This is how nondevotees think. The devotees not only serve the Lord but serve those who are engaged in His service. The word “Lord” here refers to His name, form, qualities, pastimes, and associates. Our attempt to worship the Lord directly may not often reach Him, but worship of the Lord performed through the devotee via medium is infallible and is bound to reach the Lord. This is because in that case, the devotee takes all responsibility for the one worshiping the Lord and ensures that the Lord receives the offering.