To serve or to be served?

Another wonderful day in the service of Srila Prabhupada and Lord Krsna.

Attending mangal arti and getting your rounds done before 7am is really the boost you need to get you going for the day. Mixed with conscious enthusiasm to serve the Lord, His pure devotee and other living entities makes for one AWESOME day!

 After a day of service and work, while putting the Lord to rest, I was wondering about the concept of being a servant. We are always servants. There is never a time when we are not a servant to some one or something. Srila Prabhupada says that either you serve God or you serve dog, but you must serve. It's a difficult concept for some to swallow...I mean, SERVANT? Menial SERVANT? Can this be right? Is this all I am? Is this all I amount to? A SERVANT?

Some may feel it's so degrading, so low. After all, WE want to be the masters and controllers. And even although a woman or man may find great joy in serving their dog, we still don't like to admit that we are mere servants. But what is the feeling behind service? Why does it make us feel so good? And here I'm not referring to being a servant to an abusive boss or so called guru or family member (although in a twisted reality this may feel good to the one being abused due to low self esteem). I mean the good relationships, but more specifically our relationship with Lord Krsna and His pure devotees. What makes us tick? What makes us go on and on and on without stopping despite trials and tribulations?

 Well I found out tonight that it boils down to loving exchange. The loving exchange between the Lord, the Spiritual Master and the devotee. Just see the loving exchanges between Arjuna and Lord Krsna. Sudhama Brahmana and Lord Krsna. So many examples are there. The Srimad Bhagavatam are full to the brim of examples of the loving exchanges between the Supreme Master and His eternal parts and parcels. Examples of how the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself serves the devotee. It's incredible. Not that we should aspire and desire to be served by Lord Krnsa! But we can appreciate the Lords loving spirit and mood. And although I am young in my devotional life and bound up by the modes of material nature, still in this conditioned state I can practically see and experience the reciprocation from Lord Krsna and Srila Prabhupada. There are countless examples of the loving exchanges between Srila Prabhupada and His early disciples that we can also hear and relish. So next time if we feel like what's the point in serving serving serving all day long, we can try to remember those loving exchanges that we experience everyday. :)