Faith

Complete Dedication

by Srila 
Bhakti Rakṣaka Śridhara 
deva Goswāmī Mahārāja.

King of Vaiṣṇava Sannyāsīs

Founder of Śrī Caitanya Saraswata Maṭha

Quality is necessary, indispensable in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Not partial dedication, but in connection with Kṛṣṇa, the dedication must be of the whole self, nothing less.



The demand from an autocrat is categorically different. Kṛṣṇa is not satisfied with any partial service. He wants to swallow the whole thing, not less than that. This is the demand of an autocrat. But He is the Absolute Good, and He is beauty. He is harmony. He is the law. He is everything. But His demand is such.

The symptom of śraddha is self-giving; Intellectualism, just reading scriptures has no value.



Without faith, śraddha, the physical association of the sadhu, or saintly person also has no value. Insects, germs, and animals are in physical association with a sadhu but without faith there is no value.


The association through dedication, śraddha, is all important. And śraddha means that if we dedicate ourselves to Kṛṣṇa we get everything. We receive whatever is necessary to result in fulfillment of our whole self.

Our Guru Maharaja, Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhakura  laid much stress on service.



We were not allowed to read so much as Śrīmad Bhāgavatam and the books of the Goswamis.


"Go and do service." he said.  "The serving nature will attract your connection with the real thing."

And no scripture, or knowledge, or even close connection with a saint can help, if there is no dedication, self-surrender, self-giving.

If I am asked by a sadhu, or by the guru, to read a particular book, that is service.



And yet,  if I read a book to enhance or increase my knowledge, that may be jnāna. If I, myself, take the initiative to read śāstra, that may contribute to my knowledge, but there is no service as such  involved in my reading.

Professor Sannyal

As Rupa Goswami states, sevonmukhe he jihvadau, He may be understood through service.  Otherwise, if we do not approach with a spirit of service, then everything may be imitation.

But we don’t come in contact with reality by imitation, but through service and faith. This is the speciality of the Gaudiya Math, ordered by our gurudeva and also by Mahaprabhu and Rupa Goswami.



That is the key to Vaikuntha, to deal with the infinite: surrender, service, dedication.

 Without knowledge and without much energy, one can attain fulfillment. Reading all the religious literatures of the world, just to store them within the belly, that also won’t come to any good.

An example of this principle may be found in Mahabharata.

At the  rajasuya yajna  Yudhisthira  Krsna foretold that everything would be complete when the bell rang automatically.

Add caption

There was some bell at that sacrifice, and when that bell would ring automatically, then everyone would know that the yajna had been completed.

Vidura washing Kṛṣṇa's feet at the Rajasuya of Yudhisthira

So everything was finished, but the bell did not ring.
Then Bhima spoke to Krsna, “The bell is not ringing, although the whole yajna has ended.”
“No, one thing is still remaining,” Krsna replied.
“What is that? What kind of thing?”
“The Vaiṣṇava seva, the service of the Vaisnava.”
And Bhima said, “What do you say? So many munis, big rsis, Narada, Vyasadeva, and Yourself, have eaten and are satisfied. And You say that  vaiṣṇava seva has not been done?”
“Yes.” said Kṛṣṇa.

“Where is that Vaisnava?” said Bhima.

Then Krsna indicated, “Go to the outskirts of the town. There you will find one man of the lowest caste. And he does not go anywhere. He is satisfied with taking the name of the Lord. Going on in his own way, he does not care for the passing of the world. His eyes are always full with devotion.”

And so, they went with their chariots to bring that man, and they found an ordinary poor man of the lower class. They wanted to take him to the rajasuya, so they approached him with folded palms.




The man was perplexed: “Oh, so many big men have come to my cottage. What is the matter?”
He was informed by the Paṇḍavas, “We have come for you. You must go and take some food there.”

 What could he do? He could not avoid the situation; he had to go. Draupadi had cooked many palatable dishes. She was thinking that so many ṛṣīs, munis, had been served, even Lord Krsna had been fed, but vaiṣṇava seva has not been done.



With all her heart’s might she prepared various kinds of cooked food.
And the man was given, and he took. But the bell didn't ring.

"She prepared various kinds of cooked food..."

“What is the matter?” Bhima asked. “It is finished, but the bell did not ring.”
Krsna explained, “There must be some kind of offence committed against the vaiṣṇava seva. So the bell did not ring.”

"The bell did not ring."

“What are you saying?" said Bhima.
And Kṛṣṇa replied, " You have some doubts about something, some conception against him?”
Then they asked one another if anyone had though any evil about the man.

Lord Kṛṣṇa with the Paṇḍavas

And at last, Draupadi admitted, “I had something in my mind: that the man is low-born, I prepared so many curries with utmost care, but the man mixed all the curries together and then ate them. He does not know how to eat because he comes from a very low caste. I had that in my mind.”

"he comes from a very low caste..."

Krsna said, “Because there is some contempt for the vaiṣṇava, the bell is not ringing.”
So they had to go to the man once again, and again he was brought. And this time, all were waiting with great respect when he was taking prasadam. And the bell was ringing with each and every morsel.

"The bell was ringing with each and every morsel."

 We are thinking that we are such sound devotees, but we are devotees in dress only.

"Don't be devotees in dress only"

The real inner hankering should be wholesale, it must, be sincere,  The only price is to really want it. Don’t refuse it. Understand the value of it, want it, and you will have it.

"The real inner hankering should be wholesale..."

Faith, or śraddhā is a real regard to have this. You must feel, "this is  the highest thing, and only that can satisfy my quench, my inner thirst." This is faith.

By giving your small self, you can get the whole infinite. How can we develop that sincere hankering? With the contact of the sadhu and with the help of the scripture, we can try to satisfy that inner demand. The inner demand can only be satisfied by Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

"with the contact of the sadhu and the help of the scripture, we can try to satisfy that inner demand."