4 Ways to Serve Shree Krishna – A Story Every Devotee
Must Hear by Swami Mukundanand
Main Points:
1. 0:04 – True devotion is expressed through seva (service); mere words are insufficient, action is the real proof of devotion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4DfBvaZbNw&t=4
2. 0:43 – Serving the guru is essential; seva demonstrates actual surrender rather than just claiming to be surrendered
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4DfBvaZbNw&t=43
3. 1:43 – Where one’s treasure is, there the heart and surrender will naturally follow, whether it is the spouse, a social cause, or the guru
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4DfBvaZbNw&t=103
4. 2:27 – Illustrative story: A guru asks his disciple (a cloth shop owner) repeatedly for cloth to cover a sacred book, but the disciple defers, while the wife promptly arranges it—showing where true surrender and seva lie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4DfBvaZbNw&t=147
5. 5:02 – Seva signifies where surrender is manifest; it is necessary for spiritual knowledge transfer and opens one up to divine grace
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4DfBvaZbNw&t=302
6. 6:14 – Seva is of four kinds: greatest is atma-samarpan (total self-surrender), followed by mental seva, physical seva, and material/wealth seva
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4DfBvaZbNw&t=374
7. 6:55 – Physical seva can be challenging due to worldly duties, so offering even part of one’s earnings is the foundational form, gradually elevating to higher forms
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4DfBvaZbNw&t=415
8. 8:03 – By offering possessions, the attitude towards work shifts to Karma Yoga, as work is done with the mood of offering to the guru or Krishna
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4DfBvaZbNw&t=483
9. 8:15 – The ideal attitude is humility—thinking nothing offered is truly worthy, feeling gratitude for the opportunity to serve, and surrendering the pride of having served
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4DfBvaZbNw&t=495
10. 10:42 – Example of Raheem and Tulsidas: Raheem lowered his eyes while giving charity, reflecting the true mood that one is not the giver, but a divine instrument; genuine seva is humble and egoless.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4DfBvaZbNw&t=642
Full Text
0:00
If you really think God is your
0:02
everything
0:04
then prove it. So the expression of that
0:08
devotion is the seva.
0:12
The ideal bhav of seva
0:16
is what?
0:40
Now the next point he says in regard to
0:43
the guru you do seva of your guru.
0:48
And what is the importance of the seva?
0:53
Seva makes the surrender practical.
0:57
When we say guru dev I am surrendered
1:00
to you. Seva means we are walking the
1:05
talk. Not merely talking but doing it as
1:10
well. And the test of that is seva.
1:16
Without seva there is no samaran.
1:20
People go into the temple and they will
1:24
offer a coconut to God and say
1:31
just with one coconut you're making God “Tvameva mata ca pita tvameva" (You are my mother & father)?
1:36
If you really think God is your
1:38
everything
1:40
then prove it.
1:43
The Bible says where your treasure is,
1:48
that is where your heart will be.
1:52
Whatever you consider as your treasure,
1:55
that is where you will start
1:57
surrendering yourself. If you have great
2:01
interest, if the closest thing to your
2:05
heart is your spouse, that is where you
2:08
will surrender your wealth. If you have
2:11
great compassion for the AIDS victims in
2:14
Africa, that is where your wealth will
2:17
go. And if your love in your life is
2:21
towards your guru, that is where your
2:24
wealth will go.
2:27
One Guru dev, his son had a cloth shop.
2:35
So Guru dev he used to read his Bhagwad
2:39
Gita and thought I need to cover this
2:42
Bhagwad Gita with a cloth.
2:45
He went to his disciples shop
2:49
and he said to the disciple beta I need
2:52
2 m of cloth.
2:56
The disciple said Gurudev you can see
2:58
that it's all busy today. You come after
3:00
2 weeks I will arrange it for you.
3:04
Gurudev went off. He came back after 2
3:07
weeks. Beta, you remember I had come a
3:10
fortnight ago for 2 m of cloth. The
3:14
disciple said, "Guru Dave, today is a
3:16
wrong day. You have again by chance come
3:18
on a wrong day. Please come after 2
3:20
weeks."
3:22
Now the guru kept on visiting three four
3:25
times. And the disciples wife she saw
3:29
that what is the matter? Why does guru
3:31
keep coming? She called him aside and
3:34
Asked guru dev why do you keep visiting our shop?
3:38
He said beti you see I have to cover the
3:42
Bhagwad Gita and I need 2 m cloth so I
3:46
come to your husband's shop for that
3:48
reason.
3:51
The wife said guru dev don't you worry
3:54
tomorrow at 900 a.m. you come here and
3:57
it will be ready for you all packed.
4:02
Guru went back. At night when her husband,
4:05
the shop owner, he returned, the wife
4:08
said, "My dear husband, I need two
4:11
bundles of the most luxurious cloth in
4:14
your shop."
4:16
He said, "Srimati ji, I have downed the
4:20
shutter. Tomorrow when I open the shop,
4:22
I will arrange it for you." She said, "I
4:25
want it today." arey baba, I am
4:27
exhausted. I'm telling you, I'll give it
4:30
to you. No, I need it today.
4:33
Now the high command has said it. So he
4:36
went, he opened the shutter, he took out
4:39
two luxurious bundles and gave them to
4:42
his wife.
4:44
Next day when the guru came at 9:00, the
4:48
wife said, "Guruv, you wanted 2 m. Here
4:52
are two bundles of cloth."
4:55
So where do you think was the surrender
4:57
of this person? to his guru or to his
5:00
wife.
5:02
Wherever the seva is happening, that is
5:05
where the surrender is happening. So
5:08
this seva is also necessary
5:12
because the transfer of knowledge from
5:15
the guru is not a material thing.
5:20
In the world, it is all material.
5:24
So this online course this portal
5:28
what is the cost of it? All right
5:31
admission fee is paid and you have right
5:33
to the knowledge.
5:35
So similarly say guru dev what is the
5:38
price of the knowledge you're giving? Is
5:40
there some discount rate available?
5:44
Guru says look this is priceless
5:46
knowledge because it's divine knowledge.
5:49
You can attract it. You will receive it
5:54
not by purchasing but by grace. Your job
5:59
is to draw the grace to you
6:04
by your bhakti, by your devotion.
6:08
So the expression of that devotion is
6:12
the seva.
6:14
The seva
6:17
is of four kinds.
6:20
Tan, Man, Dhan
6:21
and Atma Samarpan. So the highest is the
6:25
Atma Samarpan. You just surrender your
6:29
soul and everything associated with it.
6:34
Yogi SriKrishna Prem he said in this
6:36
world of dust and din (noise) if anyone has
6:40
given complete atmahuti (sacrificed),
6:42
merging himself in the flame of love
6:45
Divine, there is an explosion called
6:48
grace for no true atmahuti (sacrificed) can ever go in
6:53
vain.
6:55
This is atma seva. But how will you do
6:59
atma samarpan?
7:01
The soul is enmeshed with the mind. So
7:05
when the mind develops the seva bhav
7:09
that is when the soul will be
7:10
surrendered.
7:12
So then below that is manasi seva, in the
7:17
Mind, the desire to serve.
7:21
Now the mind doesn't remain there. It
7:24
wanders around in the world.
7:28
So what to do? The next step with the
7:32
Tan (तन), with the body, whatever seva you
7:36
can do with your body whether you're
7:38
cleaning the floor or something you're
7:40
doing that seva but with the body we are
7:45
working in the world
7:47
you have got your job minimum 40 to 50
7:50
hours a week and if you are in IT etc
7:53
then 60 to 70 hours a week that's the
7:56
reality of today's corporate world so
7:59
how do you get time to serve the guru
8:01
with the body.
8:03
So then you start with the lowest step.
8:06
The lowest step is the dhana seva, what you
8:09
are earning with your body you offer a
8:12
little bit of that.
8:15
So that offering that Kripalu ji maharaj saying
8:21
when you start offering the material
8:25
wealth, possessions, opulances,
8:30
it creates a situation of karma yog
8:34
because now your attitude to work
8:37
changes. I am not working for my
8:43
bhukti (enjoyment). I am working so that I can
8:47
offer to my guru. So even while working
8:51
you're thinking I am doing it for my
8:53
guru. The guru then he encourages us. He
8:58
wants us to reach karm yog.
9:03
Oh my god my guru is very greedy. So it
9:08
is for us to understand, the guru is
9:11
giving us an opportunity to achieve the
9:14
state of karm yog.
9:17
Now the mind starts going towards God
9:22
then the atma samarpan happens. So the
9:25
step starts from below. You start with
9:28
your bodily possessions then with the
9:31
body itself and then the mind also
9:34
comes. But in doing this seva,
9:38
the service,
9:42
there are certain points to be kept in
9:44
mind.
9:47
The ideal bhav of seva
9:51
is that
9:52
while serving to think
9:56
I don't have anything worthy of offering
10:01
to the guru.
10:03
It is his grace that he is accepting it
10:08
while giving and giving and giving
10:12
to think, oh my god, I'm getting and
10:14
getting and getting
10:17
I'm getting the opportunity to serve
10:22
and while serving
10:24
to also give away the pride of having
10:27
served.
10:29
I have done nothing. Guru, in this age of
10:33
Kaliyug, he ensured that I do some samarpan,
10:37
otherwise my mischievous mind would
10:39
never have done it.
10:42
We should take inspiration from the
10:44
saints.
10:46
Raheem khan khana, you have probably heard
10:50
his name.
10:52
He was a Mohammadan nobleman and he had
10:56
devotion to Lord Krishna.
10:59
So he used to profusely give what he had
11:02
in charity whatever he would get.
11:06
Only thing is
11:08
when he would give
11:11
he would lower his eyes
11:14
and then give.
11:16
This news reached Tulsidas ji. He was a
11:20
contemporary of Tulsidas both in the
11:22
medieval bhakti period of India.
11:26
So Tulsidas wrote him a message.
11:42
He said, "Where have you learned this
11:45
style of giving in charity? While your
11:49
hands engage in higher and higher
11:51
activity, your eyes go lower and lower."
11:58
He asked for an explanation.
12:07
And then Raheem
12:10
answered.
12:12
Raheem's answer was a classic one. He
12:15
said
12:23
the giver is somebody else.
12:26
But people are thinking I am the giver.
12:45
People are saying Raheem is so
12:47
charitable. Raheem is so charitable.
12:49
They don't realize that it is somebody
12:51
else who is the giver. And that is why
12:55
in embarrassment I lower my eyes.