“O son of Kunti, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.27)

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यत् करोषि यद् अश्नासि
यज् जुहोषि ददासि यत्
यत् तपस्यसि कौन्तेय
तत् कुरुष्व मद्-अर्पणम्

yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi
yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam

“I know this is an age-old criticism. You can find it in practically any area of influence. The typical stimulus is the sight of a beautiful, expensive structure reserved for worship of God. A temple, an institution, a basic house of worship, or what have you. From the first glance a person can understand that a lot of time, effort, and resources went into the construction.

“The criticism stems from turning towards other areas. A person wonders of what use is the elaborate structure. Simply to worship a statue. Just to recite a few prayers. Interacting with something that is visibly inanimate.

“On the outside, you have children starving. People living in the streets. The downtrodden in desperate need of medical attention. A lack of basic resources necessary for living. The disparity between the well-off and those who can barely make ends meet.

“Is it not better to redirect the effort towards service of humanity, in general? Serve man instead of God. Serving man will make God happy. That will please Him the most. To simply give up on everything, chant a bunch of mantras, and look at statues is more selfish than it is benevolent.

“These are the criticisms, anyway. What is the neutral observer to think? Will they not be swayed by the arguments? Should not we be serving our fellow man? We do not want to be atheists; I get that. At the same time, we should not be callous to the suffering around us.”

From where will we learn how to serve? Is it that each person merely speculates as to the need? They generate their own causes and insist that others follow. If anyone should be against them, then that group becomes the new category of sinners.

Sentiment is not enough. The service has to be conducted in the proper way. As an example, someone may be suffering from a disease. An outsider witnesses the suffering. Their heart breaks. They decide to bring some food to eat. They think this is the best service to offer, to help those who are ill.

The problem is that the food being offered will end up killing that person. It contradicts with the medications already being prescribed. Or perhaps the illness will feed off the food. It is similar to parents giving experimental injections to their children, in the name of compassion and good citizenship, and then later lamenting when their children suffer from mysterious, unexplained heart problems.

Worship in the formal sense is but one way to establish and maintain the link to the Divine. That link is known as yoga. The person on the other side is complete knowledge. He is the Absolute Truth. His direct words of instruction, found in texts such as Bhagavad-gita and Bhagavata Purana, have no equal anywhere in recorded history.

Service to God the person is like watering the roots of the tree. This is the proper way to serve. There is an internal mechanism for delivery. The system works. A person might decide to give water to the branches or the leaves. Their heart may be in a good place, but this service will do no good.

In the same way, simply serving the clothes that a person wears will not actually help the person. It is the soul which matters. It is the soul which identifies the individual. It is the soul which arrives at the time of birth. It is the soul which departs at the time of death.

वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय
नवानि गृह्णाति नरो ऽपराणि
तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णान्य्
अन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही

vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya
navāni gṛhṇāti naro ‘parāṇi
tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇāny
anyāni saṁyāti navāni dehī

“As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, similarly, the soul accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.22)

Giving first priority to the Supreme Personality of Godhead is simultaneously learning the proper way to serve others. Otherwise, no one will make meaningful advancement. They might accept the benevolence of food and financial support to grow up and later invoke terror in the world. Then what good has the service done?

If the beneficiaries continue to spin in the cycle of birth and death, without any proper direction, constantly morose and depressed, how has anyone actually served them? Whereas the service to Bhagavan is so potent that simply meeting someone who offers such service can be lifechanging.

Meeting for only a moment. Hearing a single point of instruction. Accepting one mantra, with a vow to constantly repeat it: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Living life with the aim to offer everything to the Supreme Lord, as recommended in Bhagavad-gita, for the best service to family, community, nation, and mankind.

In Closing:

Pleased God will be,
When service to see.

A helping hand to lend,
Towards mankind to extend.

But first knowing the proper way,
Not that in rebirth to stay.

The principles on field playing,
With worship in temple displaying.

Categories: questions

Tags: bhakti, charity, god, hare krishna, poem, poems, poetry, service to man