Service - the eternal engagement

If one wants to gain a core understanding of an object or a subject one must understand the essence of that object or subject. The essence, or the inner inseparable quality of  a thing is in Sanskrit called dharma. Dharma  is the innate property of a thing that makes the thing what it is. In other words dharma is the very principle that gives meaning to a thing. The dharma of salt or the meaning of dharma is to be salt; a stone’s dharma or the meaning of a stone is to be hard; water’s dharma is to be wet, fire’s dharma is light and heat, the dharma of sugar is to be sweet and so on. There is no meaning to fire if it doesn’t burn, and honey is meaningless if it is not sweet. This is all self evident.

One might then ask what is the dharma of a living entity. Or what is the meaning of the soul’s existence? What is it that makes a living entity what it is and that cannot be separated from the living entity? The answer the Vedas give us is service. Service or to serve is the inherent quality that cannot be taken away from the soul. The soul or the particle of consciousness, which is an eternal part of Krishna, is simply meant to serve Krishna. In our conditioned state, where we exist separately from Krishna, this service is expressed in so many other fashions, but the serving tendency inevitably shines through in all circumstances. Vi all have to serve someone or something.

As parents we serve our children, we serve society by paying taxes, we serve the boss at work, we serve our spouses. It can almost be said that service equals love. In any case, service is an integral aspect of love, because without service there is no love. Without service love is just empty or at best fancy talk, that which poets write about. A man might declare his love to a woman, but if he never does anything for her, if he never shows her his love by buying her flowers or nice dresses, what then is the value of his love? And if a woman loves a man she will also be eager to please him in all kinds of ways by cooking his favorite dishes for him etc. In other words, we serve the ones we love. This urge to serve is so strong that even people who have no loved ones to serve, like some old people who have lost all their relatives or some lonely people often get themselves a canary or a little dog they can serve.

They serve the bird by cleaning its cage and feeding it with fresh water and food, or they walk their dog and pick up its droppings in a plastic bag to dispose of later, and sometimes they spend half their pension on veterinary bills. These are all symptoms of the loving service that are always manifested in the living entity. Even in animals we find this service although in lesser degrees. And even in people, who are very selfish, who care for nothing and no one, who claim that they feel absolutely no necessity to serve or care for anyone, we find that they still have to serve. They serve the urges of their bodies, they are forces to it. They have to eat, they have to sleep, they have to mate, there is just no way they can escape serving their bodies. Or they will serve their minds’ demands for name and distinction. In all circumstances everyone is serving.

 When the Vedas speak of dharma in connection with human life, the word in English is often translated with religion, because religion is said to be the essence of human existence. Even an atheist will have some belief system or moral and ethical codes he adheres to. But religion or faith can change. A Christian can change and become an atheist, a Moslem can convert to Hinduism, so religion or faith describes only the temporary dharma we follow as human beings. It doesn’t describe that dharma or service which is eternal.

A better translation of the word dharma is the word duty. Duty is inextricably connected with human life. But we don’t have the same duties. We have different duties according to the body we inhabit. Thus the Vedas describe different types of dharma in terms of our different bodies and their inherent abilities. There are different dharmas for women, for men, for children, for old people and for all the different types of people and social orders.

So there are two forms of dharma or duty  associated with human life. There is the dharma we have in relation to our body and culture and there is the dharma we have as a spirit soul. One is the duty we have to perform as conditioned, embodied souls, and the other is our duty as liberated soul. The first is a temporary duty in relation to our specific body type, which takes on a myriad of forms and the other is our eternal duty as pure souls in relation to Krishna. Here also is a distinction between the duties that are laid down for us by God and the sages through in the holy scriptures like the Vedas or scriptures from other cultures and the duties we fabricate ourselves as is evident in the modern culture. It is clearly stated in the Bhagavad Gita that if one neglects to perform the dharma that are described in the shastra and acts whimsically according to self constructed rules, one cannot expect to be happy either in this life or the next.

“He who discards scriptural injunctions and acts according to his own whims attains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the supreme destination.” (Bg. 16.23)

“But ignorant and faithless persons who doubt the revealed scriptures do not attain God consciousness; they fall down. For the doubting soul there is happiness neither in this world nor in the next.” (Bg. 4.40)

If one follows the dharma as directed by the Vedas it leads to happiness and welfare in life and one will gradually be promoted to increasingly advanced forms of life on the higher planetary systems. That is, one can become a demigod, a siddha, a sage or any of the other sublime forms in the universal hierarchy. But if one neglects to perform his designated duties as a human being, one will not only create a hellish existence individually and collectively, but if one insists on breaking with the natural balance of life in this way one will gradually sink down to the most abominable life forms.

Thus the essence of all life is service. Generally it can be said that this service is expressed through the performance of our duties, and in relation to our status in life – body, age, position, culture etc. – we have different duties to perform. These duties are ultimately given to us by God, as prescribed in the different religions, with the expressed purpose of allowing us to live in harmony with nature and thus advance in happiness and prosperity. Some people have the idea that the duties given to us by God are a nuisance and a hindrance to our enjoying life, but it is simply irrational to suggest that God wants us to suffer. He wants us to become happy and satisfied and therefore he has given the directions how to do exactly that, and it is obvious to any dispassionate observer that as the modern culture has discarded the rules of God of invented its own rules for becoming happiness, exactly the opposite has occurred – the modern civilization has turned the planet into a dump and everyone without exception is disturbed and miserable to the max. That’s the unavoidable consequences of ignoring the rules and regulations established by God.

But besides the dharma we have to perform as human beings, ie. The different duties we have to perform if we want to live a good life in harmony with nature and all other creatures not only in this life but the next one as well, we also have an eternal dharma, which is constant, and that is our direct service to Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the Vedas it is said, that the original position of the soul is to be the eternal servant of Krishna. That service to Krishna is performed by the soul in its liberated state after its been freed from the necessity of having to exist in a physical body and it is being expressed by the soul allowing itself to be enjoyed by Krishna. When the living entity no longer have any desires to enjoy selfishly, i.e. when it no longer wishes to enjoy separately from Krishna, he serves Krishna by unconditionally by performing all activities to please Him. By such service the soul expresses its love for Krishna.

Such love is the eternal dharma of the soul and it is totally without hankering and lamentation and it continues forever. This type of love can be experienced even when the soul is still situated in his material body, for such pure devotional service is without any tinge of material properties and is thus not dependent on whether the soul is situated in the material or spiritual world. In fact, when the soul serves Krishna with his body, mind and words he is to be considered liberated even if he is within a material body. So one does not have to wait until leaving his body to serve Krishna purely.

iha yasya harer dasye / karmana manasa gira

nikhilasv apy avasthasu / jivan-muktah sa ucyate

"One who acts to serve Krsna with his body, mind, intelligence and words is a liberated person, even within this material world." (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.187)

The method by which to become engaged in such service that is inherent in the heart of all living entities is to simply invoke it by calling to Krishna for it, and that is done by reciting or meditating on the Hare Krishna mantra:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare,

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

By chanting Krishna’s name one engages in the eternal dharma of the soul, and by doing that one’s life becomes sublime regardless of whether one is rich or poor, ugly or handsome, clever or not so clever, it doesn’t matter what material situation one may find oneself in, as soon as one calls for Krishna one is immediately transported to the transcendental plane. This truth can be realized by anyone irrespective of  religious or cultural belongings. It is not even a question of giving up this or that or changing one’s lifestyle, all one needs to do is simply to add Krishna to one’s life, and this is done very easily just be chanting His name. From that everything else will manifest and one will experience that satisfaction for which we are al hankering, and which further more is the topmost goal of life.