(16/16) Love for Service

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sriman Nityananda Prabhu's appearance day
Sri Ekachakra Dham, evening class
17 February 2019, part 16

I also heard one story from Pujyapad Bhakti Kumud Shanta Maharaj in 1995. It was many years ago (at that time, I was a brahmachari), but I still remember it.

There was one guru who had two disciples. They lived together at a temple. The problem was that the two disciples used to argue all the time. They would argue so much that it sometimes came to fighting.

'I do more service!'

'No, I do not more service!'

'You only put stuff on the plate and ring the bell! But I do so many things!'

And so on. It happened so that the guru was blind, he could not see anything. One day, he asked them,

'Why are you two fighting so much? What is the problem?'

'Gurudev, I work so much! He does not do anything!'

'No, I am the one who works so much! I get oil from the shop and massage you with oil every day before you take a shower so that you do not feel cold!'

'Oh,' the guru said then. 'Since you are fighting so much over my service, I will divide the service between the two of you. One of you cooks, and one of you does puja, let it be, but since you are fighting over my service, then one of you will massage my left leg, and the other one will massage my right leg.'

They did that. One disciple massage his guru's left side, and the other disciple massaged his guru's right side. Two–three months passed in this way. One day, one of them fell ill and could not come to massage his guru. The disciple who massaged his guru's right leg carried on massaging only his right leg.

'What is going on? Why are you massaging only my right leg? Why are you not massing my left leg?' the guru asked his disciple.

'That is not my leg. It is his leg!'

'Oh, it is his leg? Then I will break it! Why must I keep that leg?'

This is what we are like. We come to the temple, but we do not think about service. Getting service means getting mercy. Do you think that doing service is the same as doing any other work that people do in this outside world? Is service the same as household chores? I have written a chapter called 'Home-interest vs Math-interest' in Guidance 3. Read it. I have written everything about it nicely there. You think that you do some chores at home and you can come to the temple and do the same things, but service means mercy – if you do service, you are the one who will get benefit from it. Why must you look at what others are doing? If you do more than others, that means that you will get more benefit. It is necessary to understand this. But we do not understand it. We think that we are losers, that we work more, that we are having it harder than others, but this is not so – the more service you do, the more service the Lord will give you. Guru Maharaj also said that if you know how to play football, the ball will always come to your feet. Always remember this. Being able to serve the Lord is not a chore.

I would like to finish now.

বাঞ্ছাকল্পতরুভ্যশ্চ কৃপাসিন্ধুভ্য এব চ ।
পতিতানাং পাবনেভ্যো বৈষ্ণবেভ্যো নমো নমঃ ॥

vanchha-kalpatarubhyas cha krpa-sindhubhya eva cha
patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah

'Again and again I offer obeisances to the Supreme Lord's devotees, who are saviours of the fallen, oceans of mercy and wish-fulfilling trees.'

There is going to be a festival soon nearby. We will be opening a temple of Lord Siva in Bardhaman district. I know that many of you will not be able to come, but I am still inviting you. Please also come for Gaura Purnima. Do not worry how you will come and stay – the Lord will arrange everything. I am also trying to make all arrangements. I do not want to tell about it now, but I am inviting everybody – there is place for everybody, do not worry about it. Come and do Sri Dham parikrama, do not deprive yourself of this opportunity.

— : • : —

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CLICK TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE

Size: 53 Mb
Length: 110 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Nityananda Consciousness
2) Seek Real Help
3) External and Internal Contamination
4) Sheltered and Shielded
5) Make Effort
6) Collecting vs. Begging
7) Pure Association, Residence and Practice
8) Proper Utility
9) Our Sole Concern
10) Lord's Arrangement
11) When? And How?
12) Stay on Board
13) Service, Desire and Mercy
14) Mindless Service
15) Disciple's Folly
16) Love for Service