No Sevā is Big or Small—All Are Guru-sevā
When our Tirtha Mahārāj came to the maṭh he engaged in so much harinām that he gave up eating and became mad chanting while shedding tears. Then Gurujī engaged him in sevā and he performed it with such dedication. He underwent so much trouble and attended so many court cases to reclaim Prabhupād's birthplace at Jagannath Purī.
When I was in Kolkata I have seen that he went to the kitchen and did all the cooking once when the cook was not available. He also cleaned the cooking pots when the necessity arose. He considered all sevās as guru-sevā, whether it was cleaning the lavatory, doing arcana, preparing roti, or sweeping the floor, all activities are guru-sevā—no sevā is big or small. Without thoughts like this one cannot become guru, one cannot do bhajan. We are narrow-minded, we are not simple-hearted or open-hearted. Only the simple-hearted can understand Mahāprabhu's teachings. With deceitful hearts, we cannot understand. We are just platform speakers, we speak from the mouth, but do not follow what we speak.
Mahāprabhu's teaching is āpani ācari’ bhakti śikhāimu sabāre—without accepting and honoring the teachings ourselves we cannot teach others. This is the most important teaching. We have to perform bhajan ourselves and also inspire others to perform bhajan. We will not speak as per our mind's dictates, we will speak what we heard from Gurudev.
During Punjab particularly, your Gurujī used to always say, "I have standing orders from my Gurudeva that wherever you go, you speak what you heard from Gurudev, not anything from your mind." See his humility and simplicity. In Punjab particularly I often heard him say when he speaks in Hindi it is broken. He requested, "Please do not see my language, only grasp the feelings behind them." In spite of being such a great scholar and laureate, he would speak with humility such as this.
—Śrīmat Bhakti Prabodh Viṣṇu Daivata Mahārāj
translated to English
source: June 4th, 2020
When I was in Kolkata I have seen that he went to the kitchen and did all the cooking once when the cook was not available. He also cleaned the cooking pots when the necessity arose. He considered all sevās as guru-sevā, whether it was cleaning the lavatory, doing arcana, preparing roti, or sweeping the floor, all activities are guru-sevā—no sevā is big or small. Without thoughts like this one cannot become guru, one cannot do bhajan. We are narrow-minded, we are not simple-hearted or open-hearted. Only the simple-hearted can understand Mahāprabhu's teachings. With deceitful hearts, we cannot understand. We are just platform speakers, we speak from the mouth, but do not follow what we speak.
Mahāprabhu's teaching is āpani ācari’ bhakti śikhāimu sabāre—without accepting and honoring the teachings ourselves we cannot teach others. This is the most important teaching. We have to perform bhajan ourselves and also inspire others to perform bhajan. We will not speak as per our mind's dictates, we will speak what we heard from Gurudev.
During Punjab particularly, your Gurujī used to always say, "I have standing orders from my Gurudeva that wherever you go, you speak what you heard from Gurudev, not anything from your mind." See his humility and simplicity. In Punjab particularly I often heard him say when he speaks in Hindi it is broken. He requested, "Please do not see my language, only grasp the feelings behind them." In spite of being such a great scholar and laureate, he would speak with humility such as this.
—Śrīmat Bhakti Prabodh Viṣṇu Daivata Mahārāj
translated to English
source: June 4th, 2020
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