Serving the lotus feet of the Lord

All Glories to HDG Srila Bhakti Promode Puri  Goswami

All Glories  to HDG Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada

We have discussed the limbs of devotion as hearing and chanting so one of these  total nine limbs of devotion is by serving the Lotus feet of the Lord.  Prahlad Maharaj has given us the instruction that one should always remember the Lotus feet of Vishnu. We can understand that he was not an exponent of transcendentality bereft of all diversity but had complete assurance of the eternal ,transcendental form of the Supreme Lord. The Upanishads declare apanipado javano grhita  which has removed all doubts about material diversity in the Lord's form. That the Lord has a material form is definitely false nevertheless, we can not deny that the Lord has an eternal form. The Sruti accepts this statement with their verse om tad vishnoh paramam padam sada .The dry scholars with their material intelligence try to formulate that the Lord has no form by inductive reasoning through the ascending process of knowledge but they have no clue as to the transcendental realm far away from material nature, assuming and thinking it as some boundary  extension of this material variety. The transcendental truth is not in anyway connected with the material variety in this  material world and I myself  am unable to fathom something beyond this material external world. Therefore to think of the Supreme Lord as bereft of form is likened to the the  frog in the well anecdote. The devotees of the Lord following the  spiritual path by  the descending process are not as narrow minded  as the former. They are convinced of the presence of the transcendental world with its eternal diversity and beauty. Only the materialists are under the impression that the Supreme Lord is without any form. There may somewhat diversity like wise in both the transcendental and material worlds. But  the material world is prone to be  destroyed and despicable  while the spiritual world is full of light and  of the highest excellence and not in the same form. Now the question arises that of those in the path of devotional service in practice ,how will they serve the Lord or His Feet having no idea of His transcendental form. Pada seva here simply mean acting as a menial servant. This  word pada was conjoined to seva to mean  service done with the greatest devotion.  Serving and worshipping with touching the transcendental deity with great faith, doing circumambulation with following the deity in a procession, visiting the temple of the Lord, also visiting the holy places like Mathura ,Dwarka and holy places are all  categorized under this limb of devotion as pada sevana  or serving the Lotus feet of the Lord. All this is explained by Srila Jiva Goswami in Krama Sandharbha. Further, the service of the pure Vaishnavas  being  equated to the dear paraphernalia of the Lord  are are considered too as this limb of devotion. Actually ,without the service of the pure Vaishnava  ,no body can have the qualification to serve  the Lord.  chaidiya vaishnava seva nistara paayeche keva

Srila Narotama Thakura has explained this above verse in a gist . Austerity ,charity .sacrifice ,renunciation ,following the rules of Varna ashrama ,studying the Vedas are not necessary once one has obtained the direct  service to the Supreme Lord. Only by the service of the pure devotees will we  able to obtain the  divine service of the Lord that will  ultimately enable us to attain perfection. On the contrary ,where one disobeys the instructions of the Vaishnavas with persisting  to strive for worshipping the Lord, in reverse,  will lead to the rise of  many material impediments by the strong influence of the illusory energy. The service of the confidential associates of the Lord are also considered  to be the service of the Lord. The service to Tulasi and Ganga are also the limbs of devotion to the Lord. However, to neglect the dear paraphernalia of the Lord but instead striving  to worship the demigods in an independent way is not service to the Lord  but rather an  opportunity to fulfill one' lusty desires

In following the statement of Sri Jiva Goswami seva smaranasiddharthyam whch means it is by service that remembrance of the Lord is maintained. The hands are engaged in sweeping the floor, the mind engaged in surrender to the Lord, the mouth in chanting and praising the Lord's glories. the ear in hearing the glories of the Lord, the eyes in perceiving the beautiful form of the Lord. The hands in touching the lotus feet of the Lord and the pure Vaishnavas, the nose in smelling the  fragrant tulasi leaves that are  offered to the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord. The tongue in tasting the foodstuffs of the Lord. The feet in walking to the various Holy places, while the head is used give obeisance and offer respects to the Lord and His devotees. All these  various actions done for the service of the Lord are  called servitude. By this types of servitude, there comes the constant remembrance of the Supreme Lord  .If we can engage in this types of services constantly, then the senses will not have any respite to indulge in the enjoyment of the senses. The master of the senses, the mind  in not engaging in  the restless search for enjoyment will become  engaged  instead in remembering the Lord. If neglecting service ,we endeavor  artificially only for remembrance of the Supreme Lord, then the mind will stray away to being absorbed  in sense enjoyment  without  any divine remembrance. One is qualified to perform this limb of devotion as pada sevana when he renounces all types of gratification while engaging  himself in  the service of the spiritual master by following  his instructions in his shelter, otherwise is not possible. The shelter of the guru and the pure Vaishnavas presents the doorway  to executing properly this limb of devotion. All the other forms of striving are only pretense which will just increase one's enjoying tendencies ,one good example are the Brahmana priests who perform worship in return for material remuneration. They have not  generally taken the shelter of  either the guru or the Vaishnavas. They simply follow ritualistic tradition being averse to the Lord  with placing importance on minor things while neglecting the primary ones  and with their inflated egos think themselves as real initiated devotees. In fact, they were never initiated in the first place .They use the  holy, transcendental deity form of the Lord  to earn for their  gross sense gratification with the maintenance of  their wife and children. Readers! Please be careful that we do not perform  that type of work to head for  the hellish destinations. All , please give me the blessings that I may  be able to renounce my gross enjoying inclinations  with  relishing  the service of Sriaguru  gradually ,by which I may able  to qualify for the service of the Transcendental autocrat.