Only service proves your real love (Bhakti) to God

[dattaswami]

Only service proves your real love (Bhakti) to God

 

Guru Dakshina is the money offered in the service of God. Money is the fruit of work. Therefore money and work are inter-convertible forms. In the Gita, donating money is called as Karma Phala Tyaga and donating work [your voluntary efforts in God’s mission] is called as Karma Sanyasa. Both these put together are called as Karma Yoga or Seva (Service). One can do service by doing both or any one of these two according to one’s convenience. Only this service proves your real love (Bhakti) to God. In front of service, the expression of feelings and meditation by the mind and the prayers by the mouth are like pickles in the plate without the central item i.e. bread. One can eat the bread without pickles, but without bread, only pickles cannot be eaten. If only pickles are eaten, that will burn the stomach. We are giving only pickles to God. That is why He is not responding to our chantings of His name. Anybody will respond if he is called out by name even once. But you are calling God lakhs [hundreds of thousands] of times by His name. He is not responding once even by saying “Hello”. This shows the anger of God. If a prostitute called somebody by name, he will not respond since his prestige will be lost in the respectable society. Similarly God is not responding to us since if He responds, His prestige will be lost among sages and angels. Many devotees are really like prostitutes because their devotion to God is only to get some benefit from God. In order get some material benefits, these devotees spend money for God. Astrologers, priests etc., are exploiting the people and are earning money in the name of the super natural powers of planets and deities. The money of the devotees is wasted and stolen. There is only one God in all deities and planets and all the super natural powers in the creation belong to God only (Bheeshodeti… Veda). Such God comes down in human form only, to this earth as said in the Gita “Manusheem…” and not in any other inert form. The Gita condemns the worship of inert forms like statues “Bhutejyanti…” The statues are useful only to have a vision of the past human incarnations (Drastavyah… Veda). Only the present human form of God is to be worshipped. Worship again means not mere words and feelings but by participating in his mission through service. His mission is only to spread the divine knowledge and devotion in this world and to uplift everybody.