The Ultimate Goal to Become a Servant | SB 6.18.75 | 25 Dec 1994 | New Delhi | Gopāl Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya! Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya! Shrimad-Bhāgavatam— Kanto 6, Chapter 18, Text 75. Radhyātmā pradām devaḥ, adhyātmā pradām devaḥ, ātmānām devaḥ īśvaram, ātmānām devaḥ īśvaram, o'priṭhā gunaḥ parasyaṁ, o'priṭhā gunaḥ parasyaṁ, buddhaḥ svānara-ketiyāḥ, buddhaḥ svānara-ketiyāḥ. Translation: The ultimate goal of all ambition is to become a servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If an intelligent man serves the most dear Lord, who gives Himself to his devotee, how can he desire material happiness, which is available even in hell? Responsibly, purport by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swāmi Prabhupāda. Jājā. An intelligent man will never aspire to become a devotee to achieve material happiness. That is the test of a devotee. As Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu teaches, "O mighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service." birth after birth. A pure devotee never begs the Lord for material happiness in the shape of riches, followers, a good wife, or even mukti. The Lord promises, however, yogāśeṁ vāham yahām, "I voluntarily bring everything necessary for My service." Om agyānātiminandasya jñānāñjanaśalakyaḥ. Śrī Rādhā Kṛṣṇa-padānta hāginalalitā śrī viśākāṇu-kamṣata. He Kṛṣṇa karunāsyendhu dīnā bandhu jagat-pate. Gopesa gopī-gaṇṭha rādhā-kānta-nāmo 'sute. Çapta-kāntma-gaurāṇī-rādhāy bṛndāvanēśvari. Viśvābhanu sute devī-paṇamāmi haribhyo. Jai Śrī Kṛṣṇa caitya-karuni-karanaṣrīya vraja-kṛṣṇaśivasya-nigurva. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma. So Lord Indra is speaking this verse. Whom is he speaking this verse to? Lord Indra is speaking this verse to Deity. Deity, as you know, had a desire to have a son. Who would be able to kill Indra? But her husband Kashyapa, he gave her very strict guidelines by which, if she followed, she could have a son that would be able to kill Indra. But her husband also warned her that if you deviate in any way from these rituals, Then this son, instead of being an enemy of Indra, will become a friend of Indra. So Indra— so one day by chance, Diti forgot to wash her hands after eating. As a result of which, Indra took full advantage and then through his yogic siddhi, anima siddhi, He was able to enter into the womb of Diti and he was able to protect himself. Now Indra has revealed everything to Diti, how he was able to foil her plans to have a son that would eventually kill, kill him. So Indra in this verse is stating, That the ultimate goal of all ambitions is to become a servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So frankly, everybody is a servant of somebody or the other. So everybody is a servant of someone or the other. Someone may say, "I am Mr. Birla. I am not a servant of anybody." Yes, you are a servant. Servant means slave. I'm the President of the United States, the most powerful position on the planet. I'm not a servant of someone. Yes, you are. We are all servants. For example, you may be the Prime Minister or the President, but you are the servant of the electorate. Isn't it? That's why when you go campaigning, you beg the people. "Please give me your vote, please give me your vote." Isn't it? Isn't that what the President of United States does when it's time for election? He campaigns, shakes hand with everyone, pats every baby, kisses every baby on the cheek because he wants to get to everyone so he gets their vote. Isn't it? Similarly, when the Prime Minister of our country or even anybody else goes election time, He begs the people, isn't it? Please give us your vote. At election time, all the local municipal councillors, everyone that comes, Swamiji, don't forget us at the time of election. So actually, we are all servants of everyone. Then you might say, oh yes, politicians are servants, but not the businessman. The businessman is also a servant. He has to flatter his customers. Even if you are Mr. Birla, the theory is the customer is always right. If you do a course in business management, that is the first thing they teach you. Don't argue with your customer. The customer is always right. So right or wrong, he's always right. Just like you say in England, the Queen can do no wrong. So they say the customer can do no wrong. So you have to be very polite to your customers. You have to flatter your customers. Doesn't matter how big a businessman you may be, isn't it? Then besides this, you also become a servant to the laws of nature. The laws of nature are very, very stringent and very, very severe. They are ruthless. You know what ruthless means? Ruthless means one who shows no mercy. So the laws of nature They are really ruthless, isn't it? All your relatives and you may make a plea, "Please extend my life." But Yāmraja's material nature says, "No, no more time." Yāmraja says, "No, now you have to die." Isn't it? When you are sick, all the relatives pray, "Please, please, please, my father has done no wrong. He has been a pious man all his life." 'Everyone thinks he's a pious man. Nobody thinks he's done any wrong. So please extend my life.' But Yāmraj is cruel. See, Yāmraj is very soft, but the laws of nature, work under the supervision of the Lord, are very, very stringent. So you have to die. You don't want to get old, you have to get old. You're a servant of disease. You don't want— So we're all servants of someone or the other. Prasad RAVAL. Then in material society, the loving propensity is there in everyone. Everyone wants to be loved. Do you know that? Even the animals want to be loved. For example, you analyze a dog of a rich man and a dog that roams on the street. You will see a big difference. The dog of a rich man looks very handsome. Isn't it? He's clean, he has a nice cloth covering his body, he has higher taste, he doesn't sniff for food in the khachra. You know, he's used to getting his dinner on a nice plate in his room. Many dogs have private rooms. Many rich people, they give a bedroom to their dogs. Really. So the dog of a rich man, is different from the dog on the street. And the dog of a rich man, he's trained better, isn't it? When he's called, he at once comes, while a stray dog on the street doesn't come. In other words, the love, biyāt, the dog that is tamed by a rich man follows his master's order, isn't it? Because the master gives him love. Because the master gave them love. Just like cows. Cows, they are also looking for somebody who will love them. Therefore, the cows, it is our experience in ISKCON that whenever cows are brought into our goshalas or farms, initially, especially in the West, the cows are very fearful. But when they see the devotees are coming, patting them on the back, playing with them, feeding them, Then the cows become more secure, and as they become more secure, they reciprocate with the love manifested by their keepers. So the point that I'm making is we all have a tendency to be loved and to love. Human beings also are searching for someone who you can serve, where you can position your love. Prabhupāda has said many times that because today in society we can't find any individual where our love can be positioned, we give our love to cats and dogs. We give our love to cats and dogs, then you become a servant of the cats and dogs. You don't want to become a servant of the Supreme Īśvora. Actually, Caitanya-caritāmṛta states, ekalā Īśvora-kṛṣṇa-ārtha-bhṛta. "Vṛttaya" means "servant." And "ekla īśvār-kṛṣṇa." "Īśvār" means "master." Īśvār means "controller." Īśvār means "master." So, Caitanya-caritāmṛta establishes that actually there is only one master and all others are actually subordinate to him and all others are actually his servants. So, when we do not become a servant of God, Then you have to become a servant of your senses. Isn't it? You become a servant of the dogs and cats. Just like people will not get up in the morning to come to Maṅgalārti or come to a temple, but they get up in the morning and with pleasure take their dogs out for a stroll. Why? Because they don't want the dogs to pass stool and urine in the house. So can you pass "Go out on the street, but don't dirty my house." So they'll take their dogs out for a stroll, isn't it? So the tendency to love, the tendency to serve is there. But the question is, where should you position your love? Where should you position your— whose servant should you become? Prabhupāda once gave us a story that there was once a man in a village. That man in the village had a desire to become a servant of the most important man. So he went to the most important man and, "Can I become your servant?" "Yes, you may become my servant." So became a servant of the local governor. Then one day he saw that A man had come on behalf of the king in a horse. And when the man came, the governor got up from his seat and bowed down and paid him respects. So the man, the individual said, after this man went away, he went to the governor and said, I thought you were the most important man in society. But today I saw that you got up from your seat and bowed down to that man. It appears to me that man is more important than you. Is that right? The governor said, yes, that man is the viceroy of the king. He is more important than me. The servant said, can I become his servant? He had a desire to become a servant of the most important man in society, you understand? So he said, "Can I become a servant of that Viceroy in front of whom you bow down?" Governor said, "Yes, I will recommend your case." So then, on the recommendation of the Governor, he became a servant of the Viceroy. Viceroy is the representative of the Raja or the King. So then he started serving the Viceroy. Then one day he saw that the Viceroy also bowed down before another important personality. And so this man was bewildered. Either the Viceroy was the most important man But now I see that he is also bowing down before somebody else. So after that somebody else went away, he asked that washer, I saw that you were bowing down in front of some individual. Is that individual more powerful than you? Because that man's desire was that I should serve the greatest personality. So he was searching who is the greatest personality whose servant he could become. So the voice boy said, "Yes, he is the Raja. I am only his representative. That's why everybody bows down to me. But I bow down to him because he is the king." So he said, "Can I become a servant of that king?" The voice boy said, "Yes, I see no problem." So he introduced him to the king and he became a servant of the king. So he started serving the king. Then one day he saw that the king was also bowing down to somebody else. One day a saint had come to his house, the king's palace, and the king bowed down to that saint and gave him respects. So then this man, after the saint left, he went to the king and said, I always thought that you were the top man on the planet. Now I saw that you are also bowing down in front of somebody else. Is there anyone more powerful than you? Because that's the person whose servant I want to become. He said, "Yes, the sadhus are more powerful than me. Can I become a servant of that sadhu?" King said, "Why not?" So on the king's recommendation, that individual became a servant of this sadhu. But then he saw that a sadhu also is bowing down in front of somebody else. He saw that a sadhu also goes, gives his dandapaath. So he went to the sadhu and said, I thought that you were the most important man, but now I see 'Is there somebody more important than you? Can I become a servant of that person?' The sadhu said, 'Yes, I am a servant of Kṛṣṇa, God. He is the most important personality.' 'So where can I find God?' 'You can find God in a temple.' So he left the sadhu at once and went to the temple of the Lord. When he went to the temple of the Lord, The temple doors were all closed and it was a very cold night. So, the doors were closed and he started, he went to sleep at the entrance of the door. Now, it was very cold in the night. So, the Lord was so pleased by this man's desire to serve Him, that the Lord came in the night and put a Hare Kṛṣṇa chādara on that servant's body. In the morning when they got up, the pujari saw, "Oh, this man, this beggar is there? He has a chādara on his body? He must have stolen it." And he got very angry, he started fighting with this man. The man said, "No, no, no." Then the Lord revealed to this pujari, that He gave Jādara, especially to this person, because this person had this desire to serve the greatest, become a servant of the most powerful personality. So then he became a great devotee of the Lord. So the point is that we are all searching to become a servant of an important personality, isn't it? If somebody tells you, "Come on, here is a position with the Prime Minister's office." You at once, everyone hankers for such a position. We are all hankering to become a servant of somebody. So, the Bhāgavatam is saying, since you have a desire to become a servant of somebody, why don't you become a servant of God? Become a servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Of course, as we understand from the scriptures, servant, servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead means becoming a servant of His servant. We should not forget that. Just like Kṛṣṇa says to Dava in the 11th Canto of the Bhāgavatam, "One who says he is My servant is not actually My servant. But one who maintains that he is a servant of My servant, he is actually My servant." And what did Caitanya Mahāprabhu teach us on this point? What is the point? I am a servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of Thee. So, because when you become a servant of the Vaishnavas who have dedicated their lives to propagate the mission of the Lord, the Lord actually becomes very pleased by your effort and the Lord reciprocates. So, the ultimate goal of all ambitions. So, in life people are ambitious, huh? Somebody wants to become a powerful man, somebody wants to become a rich man, somebody wants to become a famous man, isn't it? Everybody has different desires, but the ultimate goal of all ambitions is to become a servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Now why should we become a servant of the Supreme Lord? Why? Just like people always say, "Okay, what are you going to get in return? Tell me." Isn't it? So, by serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one observes, experiences total satisfaction. By becoming a servant of the Supreme Lord, one feels total satisfaction to the point that this satisfaction gives them the strength of renouncing, abandoning all activities. Material sense pleasures. You cannot give up something inferior unless you get something superior, isn't it? It's an old law of intelligence. You only leave your job of ₹1,000 if you get a job of ₹2,000. You won't only leave a job of ₹1,000 to take a job of ₹500. So you don't give up something inferior till you obtain something superior. Spirit. So by serving the Vaiṣṇavas and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one observes total satisfaction. And as a result of that satisfaction, he can renounce the attraction of the so-called illusionary energy. Therefore, Lord Indra is saying— Lord Indra says that when you serve The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Lord gives Himself to His devotees. Kṛṣṇa gives Himself to His devotees. What does it mean, Kṛṣṇa gives Himself to His devotees? Kṛṣṇa also is anxious to serve His devotees. Devotee is anxious to serve the Lord, and the Lord is anxious to serve them. And to become a devotee of the Lord, it only Any material condition. Just like once when Lord Caitanya was touring southern India, He came to a temple where He saw a man was holding the Bhāgavad-gītā and crying. He was crying and there was a big crowd of people around him and they were all laughing. They were all laughing at that poor man. That poor man was a Brahmana. Now everybody knew in that town, this Brahmana is anpara, he's uneducated. But the Brahmana was holding the Bhagavad-gītā as if he was reading and understanding. They were, you know, saying, "Hey, hey, look at this bluffer. He's uneducated and he's pretending as if he's reading the Bhagavad-gītā." So Lord Caitanya was passing by. Lord Caitanya saw that this crowd of people are laughing and this Brahmin is crying. So Lord Caitanya went to the Brahmin and said, "Why are you crying?" He said, "My spiritual master told me, please read one chapter of the Gītā every day." "But I am so uneducated, I can't read." So he was crying because he could not carry out the orders of the spiritual master. Lord Caitanya then probed further and said, "Sylvai, why you cry?" Then he said, "When I look at this picture of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa becoming the chariot driver of His devotee Arjuna," When I look at Kṛṣṇa pulling the chariot on the order of Arjuna, looking at the humility of God, the Possessor of Six Opulences, my heart is lamenting. When I look at the compassion of the Lord and the concern that the Lord has for His devotees. So he says, "Sadhana-lāu ca tanyaḥ." embraced him and said, "You have really understood the Bhāgavad-gītā." So the point is that the Lord gives Himself to His devotees. When you give yourself to Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa gives Himself to you. So somebody may say, "Okay, I am going to test Kṛṣṇa now. I am going to start chanting 16 rounds, I am going to take a guru, I am going to take dikṣā." And I'm going to see how much Kṛṣṇa is going to give to me. I'm going to see whether my business is going to boom, whether my children are going to get better grades in school, whether my health is going to improve or stop seeing the doctor's faces. I'm going to analyze how much Kṛṣṇa gives Himself to me. So sometimes people think like that. So what is the answer? Is that how you are going to test how much Kṛṣṇa has given Himself to you? Huh? But we are all experiencing the reaction. Of our past karma. We are all experiencing the reaction of our past karma. And just because you become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa doesn't mean your karma goes down to zero, but it gets minimized. Your suffering is greatly minimized. But the devotee should not think that, "No, no, my suffering is going to become zero." No. Just like Indra is actually, after all, a devotee of the Lord. So Dītī had a plan to kill Indra, but the Lord saved Indra. The Lord saved Indra. Dītī made a small mistake by which Indra got saved. So the point is that the Lord gives Himself to His devotee. You should never think that if you give yourself to Kṛṣṇa, you will ever be a loser. Just like in the Kṛṣṇa book, You read of that very wonderful story, how once there was a lady selling apples, isn't it? And she came in front of Baby Kṛṣṇa's house, "Sage Kṛṣṇa, oh Sage Kṛṣṇa, buy apples." So Kṛṣṇa came out as a young child, like this young boy. Kṛṣṇa was younger than him. Came with grains in His hand. Those days there was no currency, no dollars, no marks. "No, he has no rupees." They had a barter system. So Kṛṣṇa came with some grains in His hand to pay in exchange for the apples that He was going to realize. But by the time Kṛṣṇa reached the lady who was selling the baad, the apples, most of the grains fell out of His hands. Anyway, That lady was very attracted to Kṛṣṇa's beauty. And she still gave the apples that she had. In her mind she was thinking, "Ah, poor lady, now if I give these apples, what will be left for me?" But still was so charmed by Kṛṣṇa's beauty that she gave the apples to Him. And then when she looked back in her, in her tokri, what did she see? Apples will occur. So when you give to Kṛṣṇa, when you give your youth, give your intelligence, you give your words, your wealth, you're never a loser. You're always going to be a gainer. So Prabhupāda says in the prayer book that an intelligent man does not aspire for material happiness. Why? Because material happiness you can also get in hell. Pralāda Mahārāja said, "Jyūrāna ho endevu." Whatever happiness is destined in your quota, you will get, not more. As I have explained many times in our lectures, you will not get 1% more than your quota. Doesn't matter how hard you may work. So we must know that a devotee is not interested in spiritual happiness. And what is the test of a devotee? Test of a devotee is a famous verse of the Sikh Shāstrikā, which is this verse where it is said, "I have no desire to accumulate wealth, no desire for materialistic comforts." Nandanānda jānāma sundarim kāmitāmā jagadīśakam. Ei, mā januni jāmeśvare bhaktā bhaktir eikiti bhā. So Lord Caitanya tells us what should be our mentality. Nādhānam nājñānam. He says, no wealth. Generally people come to God, why? They want wealth. Then if you don't want wealth, why do you go? Then I want materialistic followers, like all these politicians want chelas. We went and saw, A politician recently, one man who took us, touched his feet. Self, now materialistic qualities, what do you want? I just want the opportunity to serve you birth after birth. Tākura bākṣī, you know, they said, my dear Lord, if you won't give me birth as a worm, but in the house of a— Ah, or Mr. Birla. No, no, he said, of course, a worm in the house of Mr. Bhairava lives in a nice marble palace. He says, give me birth as a worm, birth in the house of a Vaiṣṇava. Why? Because in the house of the Vaiṣṇava, see, Thakura Bhaktinoda is praying for that. Thakura Bhaktinoda was both materially and spiritually very high position. Maturely, he was a magistrate during the British rule. During the British rule, The highest position was the position of the governor. And the governor was always sahib from England. And the Indians could only go as far as the position of district magistrate. And Thakur Bhaktinath was a district magistrate. See, he was holding the highest position that the Indians were allowed under the British rule. Of course, Thakur Bhaktinath, and also spiritually, he was the incarnation of Lord Caitanya's mercy. So people should not think all the Hare Krishnas are uneducated. Look at Thakura Bhaktivinoda. So Thakura Bhaktivinoda says, "My dear Lord, if You have to give me birth, please give me birth as a worm, but in the house of a Vaishnava." So, you may say, "Yes, it's very easy to quote Lord Caitanya and say I should have no desire." But I have so many desires. I want to become rich, I want beautiful woman, I want chelas, I want sense enjoyment, I want position, I want this, I want that, I want that, I want that. I am serving material desires. You say give up all this, but it's not so easy. You know. So then what is the answer? The answer is take the medicine. Just like Tākura Bhaktinanda says, that I have brought this medicine. Ene kiya sudhi maya nāsi bāra bhāgi harī-nāma-mālā-māntara-lauṭu vyāgi. I have brought this medicine made in Vaikuntha, not made in America. I brought this medicine made in Vaikuntha. What is this medicine? The Holy Name. Now take this medicine, beg for this medicine, and this medicine will cure you. So Prabhupāda used to say, we are all heart patients. Because our heart is full of material desires. So you are all heart patients. And the cardiologist is not the cardiologist who has a degree, but the spiritual representative of God. He can tell you how to cure your heart disease. And that is through the process of devotional service. So it is guaranteed. That anybody who takes to the process of bhakti and sincerely executes the process of bhakti will be able to cure the different material desires. That's why devotional service is a continuous process. That's why Kṛṣṇa says, satatāṁ kṛṣṇa-yāntaḥ māḥ. Satatāṁ means nonstop. Yāntaḥ, uninterrupted. Go on serving Me. That is why Bhāgavatam says, 'Servaipuṣaṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktiya bhauṣadeyā aṇitokya pratyātāye ātmā-suprasīdati.' That the Self can only be satisfied when you render unmotivated and uninterrupted devotional service. So you will get real satisfaction when you are serving without motivation and without interruption. Interruption means no stopping. You should not think, "Oh, I have done service for 4 years. Now I am going to take a break for 2 years. Then I am going to start again." No. Just like you eat without interruption, you sleep without interruption, your service to Kṛṣṇa should also be executed without interruption. And we should be anxious to serve. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Lama Lama, Hare Hare.