śrī śrī guru gaurāṅga jayataḥ!
Year 13, Issue 12
Posted: 4 January 2020
Dedicated to
nitya-līlā praviṣṭa oṁ viṣṇupāda
Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja
Inspired by and under the guidance of
Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja
My Friend Renders More
Intimate Service Than I Can
by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
The Personality of Godhead has a singular significance, quite distinct from the impersonalism we have here due to our apathy toward Him. Such apathy is improper in itself and a contamination consisting of incompatible concomitants.
I myself should not be polluted by that discord which is always found in the plurality [duality] of this miserable manifestation, but I have every inclination to make my friends quite compatible with the All-love [God], provided they count me as one of them [as a soul in service to the All-love]. I will then be in a position to accept comradeship in that plurality as all of us shall have one aim and object and no conflicting discord born of mutual rivalry. I will be all more pleased if I find that another person competes in my line to serve my All-love in a better way perhaps than I can.
The lower part of my consciousness will not harm or prejudice me in the least but will develop and augment the cause of my unalloyed devotion to the Lord and love for Him. Rather, I will harmoniously regulate and conciliate the wrong elements within me and regard my friend’s one-pointed service in the proper light of [the blessings of] my guru. My friend, by rendering more intimate* service to the All-love than I can with my humble devotion, will draw more love from my guru. And on my part, I should please my guru by not interfering with the greater capacity of my friend to render more intimate service.
* Here, “intimate” refers to a closeness to heart – fulfilling the innermost cherished desire of the object of service.
Adapted from The Gaudiya Monthly Vol.36, Issue 3
by the Rays of The Harmonist team
