Maṭha-sevā

On Gaura Pūrṇimā in 1947, about three months after arriving at Śrī Devānanda Gauḍīya Maṭha, Śrīla Gurudeva received both harināma and dīkṣā initiations at one time from Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja. After initiation his name became Śrī Gaura Nārāyaṇa dāsa.

When Śrīla Gurudeva joined the maṭha, there was no electricity, and he would clean the lanterns every day. The lanterns would become very black, and therefore, had to be cleaned often and carefully. Śrīla Gurudeva also used to wash the pots and kitchen utensils twice a day after cooking.

Nowadays, gas is mostly used for cooking in the maṭha, but in the 1940s, only wood was available and this made the pots very black. even though Śrīla Gurudeva had been an expert authority and highly respected police officer, he undertook these menial services every day.

Śrīla Gurudeva comments that nowadays some devotees do not want to perform any menial service. Their attitude is, “I have my designated service, and I am one-pointed in my guru-sevā. I will follow gurudeva’s direct order, and I will stick to that service only, and I will not do anything else.” even when devotees see that one devotee is working hard, they will still not work themselves. Some are working hard, and some others are hardly working; they space out.

Those who are spacing out think that they are very clever, and that others are foolish. Actually, it is just the other way round. Śrī guru, Bhakti-devī and Bhagavān are much more clever in every way. Those who do not want to do any menial service are not cheating Them; they are only cheating themselves. Kṛṣṇa confirms in Bhagavad-gītā that He is the cheater of all cheaters. He has also said, “ye yathā māṃ prapadyante tāṃs tathaiva bhajāmy aham–As they surrender unto Me, I reciprocate accordingly” (Bhagavadgītā 4.11).

The members of our whole guru-varga have worked hard and given us everything for our spiritual lives. even Svayam Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Lord Śrī rāmacandra worked hard in gurukula, so what to speak of ourselves! If we want to realise our constitutional loving relationship with Kṛṣṇa and go to our eternal home, Goloka Vṛndāvana, we will have to surrender and engage in unconditional devotional service.

A question may arise when we hear about the menial services that Śrīla Gurudeva was performing: “If Śrīla Gurudeva was doing all this service, what were the other brahmacārīs in the maṭha doing? Were they not doing anything?” When asked about this, Śrīla Gurudeva clarified the situation. “Yes, they were also performing so much service. When I saw them, I was inspired to do all these types of menial services. They were my seniors, and I begged these services from them, so how could I not do it?” The other brahmacārīs were performing so many other services.