Servitude 

All Glories to HDG Srila Bhakti Promode Puri Goswami Maharaj

All Glories  To HDG Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada

The eternal  identity of the living entity is as the servant of the Lord. We have forgotten our mood of servitude to the Lord and hence  our  present conditioning. Therefore if we are able  to be established in our position as the servitor of God then that will mean that our conditioning will go away. Unfortunately instead of being servitor, we are  content to act as  the master in this world under the jurisdiction of  the illusory energy which is actually  a problem. If we can give up this sense of lording over material nature then we can  come  to the  liberated platform where we are able to experience bliss in the service of the Supreme Lord. Fluctuating between the enjoying mood of being a gross sense enjoyer and in the reverse as the renouncer in thinking oneself as non different from Brahman. All these opposing moods are simply in rebellion to our original identity and our  present intelligence identifies itself likewise  through the gross and subtle bodies . The living entity has forgotten that he is the eternal servant of the Lord and for that reason he has become completely bound by the material energy. There is no other way to  cut off these material bonds. The saintly person and the spiritual master are way above the fold of the illusory energy. No body who is under the influence of the illusory energy can have  the ability to free others from that material energy. By taking the shelter of the saintly devotee one can become free from his conditioning by the mercy of such a devotee. He by his shining example teaches us this attitude of surrender to the Lord  which we by imbibing in our lives become freed from the gross material energy. As the Lord declares in the Geeta those who are surrendered to me will be able to cross over the insurmountable material energy.

yesam sa esa bhagavan dayayed ananta

sarvatmasrito yadi nirvayalikam

te dustaram atitaranti cha devamayam naisam mamaham ati dhih sva srgala bhakshye.

The purport of the verse is that those who completely take shelter of the Supreme Lord in every respect and free from all duplicity is the right candidate to warrant His mercy   and  solely be able to cross over the   insurmountable material energy otherwise those who in the  bodily conception of me and mine will remain in the embodied state with their gross bodies eaten by the  jackals and dogs at the time of death. The condition to get the mercy is the the striving to completely surrender to the lotus feet of the Lord. In short ,at the start there must be the dedicated service to the spiritual master and the saintly devotees. This called servitude in divine service. If we can strive to be their servant of the servant that would mean we are their surrendered servants. All the limbs of devotional service are usually  to be performed in the mood of servitude. The question arises if this is so then what is the necessity of another limb named as in service  be stated. ?If we are not inspired as being the servant of the Lord what is the use of hearing and chanting? In this respect when we speak of the living entity as the eternal servant of the Lord ,we are saying that the living entity is never the enjoyer but only the Supreme Lord is the actual enjoyer. The living entity is by nature the eternal servant of the Lord but in his bewildered condition becomes covered by the gross and subtle bodies  in identification. As an example the gopis are serving the Lord in the mood of loving devotion yet there is not an iota of selfish motives in their service. Although their service seems to be as in servitude in fact it is not but comes under the confines of nectarine mellows of devotion and this identification is one of the main limbs of devotion. All articles gathered for the service of Hari,Guru ,Vaishnava and also  in offering the same and in implicit obedience to strive in different works are all considered as in  that mood of servitude. I am the servant of the Lord and his beloved servants and  to be absorbed all times in that mood of service is dasya or servitude.as described in the scriptures jamanantarsahraresu yasya syanmataridrshi dasiham vasudevasya sarvan lokan samubuddhayet

One who is fixed in his intelligence that  he is servant of Krishna means  he completely purifies the  whole world. In the neutral mellows of devotion too there is complete faith in the Supreme Lord .They understand that that the Lord is the Absolute master and living entity as the servant but the feeling of possessiveness(mamata) is lacking in them .It is that feeling of possessiveness that propels the mood of servitude in this class of devotees(dasya)Durvasa Muni in perceiving Ambarish Maharaj mentions  that  the servants of the Lord are never lacking in any perfections.

yadnamsruti matrena puman bhavati nirmalah

tasya tirtham padam kim va  dasanam avasisyate