Engaging in Service - The Eternal Occupation
Engaging in service is the inescapable nature of the living entity. Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that just as sweetness cannot be separated from sugar, the propensity to serve cannot be separated from the soul. Everyone, from the highest administrator to the smallest ant, is engaged in serving someone. The perfection of life is not to stop service, but to direct it toward the proper object—the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The Constitutional Position
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that every living being is constantly engaged in rendering service. Whether one is serving their family, their country, or a pet dog, the mentality of service is always present. This is called the eternal occupational duty. However, in the conditioned state, this service is misdirected toward māyā (illusion). Because we have forgotten our eternal relationship with the Lord, we have become kuyogīs, or performers of bad activities, engaging in the service of the material world.
- Even though one's body or one's superficial religion may change, every living entity is always engaged in the service of someone. Therefore, the mentality of service is called the eternal occupational duty.
- Every living creature is engaging in the service of something else. A living being's constitutional position is to render service, but in maya, or illusion, or the conditional state of existence, the conditioned soul seeks the service of illusion.
- Every one of us is kuyogi because we have engaged in the service of this material world, forgetting our eternal relationship with the Lord as His eternal loving servants. It is our duty to rise from the kuyoga platform to become suyogis, perfect mystics.
- Every service has some attractive feature which drives the servitor progressively on and on. Every one of us within this world is perpetually engaged in some sort of service, and the impetus for such service is the pleasure we derive from it.
Service to Senses vs. Service to Kṛṣṇa
The pivot point of spiritual life is the object of our service. Śrīla Prabhupāda distinguishes between go-dāsas (servants of the senses) and gosvāmīs (masters of the senses). As long as one is engaged in serving their own senses, they are in a state of dharmasya glāniḥ, or a decline in religious principles. True dharma begins when the same senses are engaged in the service of Kṛṣṇa. This transformation turns material activities into bhakti.
- In our conditional state, our senses are engaged in serving these bodily demands. When the same senses are engaged in executing the order of Krsna, our activities are called bhakti.
- Everyone is serving his senses. This is the position. This is dharmasya glanir bhavati. As soon as we are engaged in serving our senses, that is dharmasya glanih. And as soon as we agree to serve the senses of Krsna, that is dharma.
- As opposed to this, the go-dasas engage in the service of the senses or in the service of the material world. They have no other engagement.
- Customarily everyone is eligible to inherit his father's property, and Ajamila also inherited the money of his father. But what did he do with the money? Instead of engaging the money in the service of Krsna, he engaged it in the service of a prostitute.
Exemplary Servants
The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam provides vivid examples of those perfectly engaged in service. The Queens of Dvārakā, despite their royal status, served Kṛṣṇa personally. Devahūti served her husband Kardama Muni with such intensity that she neglected her own body. Even Kṛṣṇa's flute is glorified; despite being "full of holes" and "knots," it is considered pious because it is engaged in the service of the Lord's lips.
- Although each and every queen had thousands of maidservants engaged for her service, the queens were all personally attentive in serving Krsna. Each one of them used to receive Krsna personally when He entered the palace.
- Her husband (Kardama Muni) was living in a cottage, and since she (Devahuti) was always engaged in serving him, her royal beauty disappeared, and she became just like an ordinary maidservant.
- My dear friend the flute, you are actually full of many holes or faults. You are light, hard, juiceless and full of knots. But what kind of pious activities have engaged you in the service of being kissed by the Lord and embraced by His hands.
- He (Prahlada) refused direct service but he wanted blessing that he may be engaged in the service of his spiritual master. This is Vaisnava conclusion.
Social Duties and Service
In the varṇāśrama system, service is structured for spiritual elevation. A brahmacārī is meant to serve the spiritual master, and a śūdra serves a master from a higher order. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda warns that brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas should never engage in śva-vṛtti—the profession of dogs—meaning serving low-grade persons merely for money. The ideal administrator serves the Lord by protecting the citizens.
- Engaging in the service of low-grade persons, however, is called sva-vrtti, the profession of the dogs. Specifically, brahmanas and ksatriyas should not engage in the low and abominable service of sudras.
- A faithful servant of the Lord engaged in the service of administration is the ideal executive head and can well protect the interest of the people in general.
- A brahmacari is supposed to engage in the service of a sannyasi and accept him as his guru.
- For the sudras the only duty is to accept a master from a higher social order and engage in his service.
Conclusion
When one engages in the service of the Lord, all fear and lamentation vanish. As Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura stated, for one who has unflinching devotion, liberation itself stands ready to serve like a maidservant. By engaging in service to the Guru and Kṛṣṇa, we fulfill the true purpose of our existence.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Engaging in Service. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.