The rāja, the kings, the government, or the government, they must study Bhagavad-gītā. Then it will be nice. Imaṁ rāja... And ṛṣayaḥ. Ṛṣayaḥ will give you... Ṛṣayaḥ means great saintly persons, the brāhmaṇas. They should give to the government men... But who is consulting the saintly persons? Just like we are trying to preach this Bhagavad-gītā. We are trying to give the essence of knowledge. Satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ (BG 9.14). Mahātmā. The symptoms of mahātmā is that he is always engaged in chanting the glories of the Lord. Satataṁ kīrtayanto mām (BG 9.14). The Bhagavad-gītā says that catur-vidhā bhajante mām: "Four classes of men comes to worship Me." Bhajana means sevā. Sevā. So sevā means bhakti. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam, arcanaṁ vandanam... (SB 7.5.23). These are the sevā formula. So the devotees are engaged in sevā, in service of the Lord.
Seva means
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Sevā means service. Not that "Oh, I have inquired so many things from such and such person. Oh, I have not rendered any payment or any service, so I have gained." No. Without service, your inquiry will be futile. So three things here. Praṇipāta, paripraśna and sevā. Praṇipāta. Praṇipāta means you must have the qualification to, at least to find out a person who is actually qualified to give you real instruction. That you have to do. That remains on you.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Dayā. One must be merciful. Dayā means... When a man is suffering a fellow man, another fellow man must feel for it. That is called dayā. There are two things: dayā and sevā. Sevā means to give service to the superior, and dayā means to give service to the inferior. Both of them are service. Dayā, I mean to say... A man is suffering. He is in helpless condition. Just like in hospital, those who are patients, who are diseased, they go to the hospital There is also sevā. The nurse is serving. The doctor is serving. But that is not sevā. That is called dayā. He is not obliged, but out of his compassion, he's giving service to the patient. That is called dayā. And sevā means superior. Just like spiritual master. Sevayā. Tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā (BG 4.34). Because the Vedic injunction is that "You must go to a spiritual master." Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). Abhigacchet means "must." There is no alternative. If you're actually interested in transcendental knowledge, tad-vijñānam... Tad-vijñānam means transcendental knowledge. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. And the human life is meant for tad-vijñānam, to understand.
If we are, our heart is attached to limited circle of my friends, wife, children, home, country, then I am kṣūdrātmā, because that is limited. Kṣūdrātmā or durātmā. The opposite is mahātmā. Mahan, great. So we have to associate with mahātmā. Mahat-sevā. How associate? Tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā (BG 4.34), to associate. Therefore, it is the custom whenever one goes to see one saintly person, he gives something for service, either fruits or something presentation. That is necessary. Mahat-sevā it is said. Sevā means service. Maha-sevā. Not that I go to see one mahātmā, saintly person, and talk with him with all rascal proposal, and waste his time and his own time also. That is not association of the mahātmā. Mahat sevā. You must approach a saintly person to give him some service. This is the beginning. Spiritual advancement of life means you have to give some service. That service begins when we serve the representative of Kṛṣṇa, mahātmā. He's spiritual master or saintly person.
If you associate and serve mahat—mahat means the great, great personality—mahat-sevāṁ dvāram, then your door for purification will be open. Mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimuktes tamo-dvāram... And the opposite is, if you want to enter into the darkest region of ignorance, then you associate with persons who are simply meant for sense gratification. Two ways, this way or that way. If you want to approach to the perfectional point of purificatory birth, then you associate with mahat-sevā. Sevā means service. Service. Our whole process is service. This spiritual life can be attained simply by service, not by any other qualification. Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā the last instruction is surrender. You cannot render service to a person unless you surrender. That is the first condition, mahat-sevā.
So in our other branches, all the devotees, they take together prasādam. That is nice. Why one should be not liking to take prasādam in the temple? What is the fault? No, this is not good. We should... Everyone should take prasādam. You see still if you go to Jagannātha Purī. Even outsiders who go there, they do not cook. Strictly, they do not cook. They purchase prasādam. And if you go there, one thousand men—because there are pilgrims, they are coming, there is no—you will get immediately ready prasādam, purchased from the the market, the Jagannātha Purī, still. And there is no such thing as infection. I am taking your prasādam remnants. Whatever you left, I am... He is taking. Even if you are outcaste, if you are not brāhmaṇa, still there is. Because prasāda is transcendental. It is not material thing. So one must have faith that it is not material. It cannot be infected by any material things. In this way prasāda should be taken. It is called prasāda-sevā, not "prasāda enjoyment." Sevā means giving service. Prasāda is as good as Kṛṣṇa; therefore prasāda should be respected as good as Kṛṣṇa. As soon as one gets prasādam, immediately he touches on the head because it is Kṛṣṇa, absolute. In this way we have to be trained up as it is prescribed in the śāstras.
We have got so many dirty things within our hearts, and as soon as we are a little inclined to hear about Kṛṣṇa, He removes the dirty things, then we become more and more enthused. In this way, nityaṁ bhāgavata sevayā. Naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu (SB 1.2.18). Not that cent percent we are cleansed, but even a little percentage cleansed, naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā. Nityam, daily, there must be bhāgavata-sevā. Everything is sevayā. Prasāda-seva, bhāgavata-sevā. Because, sevā means service. Just like maha-prasāda, not eating. The exact term is sevā. Kṛṣṇa has sent him maha-prasāda. So by taking it, it is sevā, it is service to Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa likes it, that you take the prasādam. Therefore it is sevā. In this way, increasing sevā.
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
Here is, sitting, Śrī Gosvāmījī. He's coming from Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī. So all these six Gosvāmīs, they were not inactive. They were always active. As we are active in the karma, karmī life, so bhakti life is also activity. It is not sitting down idly or gossiping. One must find out some job to serve Kṛṣṇa. That is bhakti life. Hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanam (CC Madhya 19.170). Sevanam means activity. Sevanam does not mean sit down idle, inert. No. As soon as seva... Sevā means activity. One has to preach, one has to write, one has to do this, do that, cook, offer the prasādam, everything. Sevā, activity.
Initiation Lectures
So this tongue in the human body can be engaged. In other body, in the cat's body, dog's body, tiger's body... Tiger may be a very powerful animal. No animal is powerful or better than human beings. That is accepted. So this human form of life is a great boon to the living entity who is traveling through the cycle of birth and death, perpetually changing different sorts of body. Here is the opportunity, human form of body. We can utilize the tongue properly and get out of these clutches. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau. So sevā, sevā means service; jihvā ādau, beginning from the tongue. So if we can keep our tongue engaged, always chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra... Because "Kṛṣṇa," this sound, is not different from Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is absolute.
General Lectures
These three things are the basic principle of receiving knowledge. So submission means I must approach somebody who is actually in better position or higher position. Otherwise, what is the use of approaching? Tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā. And sevā means service. You cannot challenge. You approach such person whose instruction you shall receive. You can inquire submissively, but you cannot challenge. That is not allowed in Vedic system. Samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham (MU 1.2.12). Therefore before selecting a teacher, you must decide whether you can submit there. If you cannot submit there, don't approach, don't waste time. So that is the process. And Arjuna submitted to Arjuna, uh, Kṛṣṇa.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Seva means service. So service is offered to the superior. And to the inferior or subordinate, we offer our compassion. So similarly, as we are eager to give service, similarly, we should be eager to be compassionate. So it is not very good idea. Just like in India they say, daridra-nārāyaṇa. Some nation, that to give service to the human being, and cut the throat of the animals. This philosophy is not good.
1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Indians, they are fortunate. They have got their birth in Bhāratavarṣa. The knowledge is here. So assimilate this knowledge. Make your life successful and distribute it to persons outside India. That is paropakāra. That is real paropakāra. That is real sevā. But sevā, no. It is dayā. The sevā cannot be used. Sevā means offered to the superior. And to the inferior, if you want to do something, that is dayā. There are words. Sevā is only capable to accept, Kṛṣṇa.
| Page Title: | Seva means |
| Compiler: | Partha-sarathi, Rishab |
| Created: | 07 of Apr, 2010 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=10, Con=2, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 12 |