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The journey of self-discovery 2
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī explains pure devotional service in this verse from Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu [1.1.11
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beginning of life – in other words, from the tender age of childhood – to practice the activities of devotional service, giving up all other engagements. achieved, and although temporary like other bodies, it is meaningful because in human life one can perform devotional service. Even a slight amount of sincere devotional service can give one complete perfection.”
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When a person does not allow his senses to do anything for sense gratification but acts only for the service of Kṛṣṇa, that is called devotional service. Hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate: Devotional service means to engage your senses in satisfying Now we are trying to use our senses for our personal service. This is called māyā, illusion. But when we engage the same senses in the service of Kṛṣṇa, that is perfection.
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The word bhakti means “devotional service,” or, in other words, submission to the Supreme Lord. So, to reach the spiritual abode of the Lord, we must engage in pure devotional service to Kṛṣṇa.
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says, puruṣaḥ sa paraḥ pārtha bhaktyā labhyas tv ananyayā: One can approach the Supreme Person only by devotional service – not by challenge, not by philosophical speculation, and not by exercising in this yoga or It is clearly stated that one can approach Kṛṣṇa only by surrender and devotional service. Only by unalloyed devotional service, without any admixture, can we reach the spiritual world.
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And this training is devotional service to Kṛṣṇa, which is a process of purification:
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“Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. from all material designations, and second, his senses are purified simply by being employed in the service
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Kṛṣṇa says, mām … bhajanty ananya-manasaḥ: “A mahātmā is always engaged in devotional service to Me.” Does he engage in this devotional service blindly? No.
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student or sage, well equipped with knowledge and detachment, realizes the Absolute Truth by rendering devotional service in terms of what he has heard from the Vedic literature, Vedānta-śruti.”
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Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ: “Only by devotional service can one understand the The Vedas confirm that only through bhakti, or devotional service, can one attain the highest perfectional
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and our seeing, touching, smelling, and so on become nirmala, or purified, by being engaged in the service as our eyes are not purified we cannot see Kṛṣṇa, but as soon as they are purified by the process of devotional service, we will see nothing but Kṛṣṇa.
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Thus when we speak of worship, there is a selfish motive, but when we speak of devotional service, there Devotional service is based on love. For example, when a mother renders service to her child, there is no personal motive: she serves only Similarly, when there is a question of service to God, there should be no question of a personal motive