February, 2004
Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji to Sevadal Volunteers during SDHS Volunteers camp - February, 2004 - Nadamantapam Mysore
A true Sevak (person doing Seva) is one who offers service to servants,servants of the servant, the members of the troupe accompanying Swamiji andto their families, other fellow sevaks and to the assistants of these othersevaks. A true seva is one, which is done without any selfish motive, witha pure heart and mind. A seva done with an attitude that "I will serve onlythe Lord but not His assistants" is not a true seva.
Suppose you are doing seva to a great person or a rich person or a famouspersonality. You may think that since I'm offering my services to such agreat person, I am also very important or in future I may become veryfamous. Then, this cannot be called true seva as it is filled withselfishness.
On the other hand, a seva done with a pure mind and heart full of love andcompassion, irrespective of whether the person is great or not, is calledtrue seva. It is called Svayam Seva.
There are 3 types of Svayam sevaks. The first type of Svayam sevak does notwait for someone else to give him directions or allot him his duties. Suchpersons will always be on the look out for any opportunities for seva. Theydo not wait for people to come to them and seek their help. They are thehighest type of Svayam sevaks.
In many of our branches such Svayam sevaks are operating. When there arenatural calamities in their areas like floods, cyclones etc; they rush anddo various kinds of seva without expecting any recognition. They do not seekany publicity for their actions. They do not wait for Swamiji to give themdirections. Swamiji greatly appreciates this type of seva.
The second type of sevaks does seva as soon as they are informed about thework. That means, when someone approaches them and seeks their help, theyimmediately help without any selfish motives. They are the medium categoryof Svayam sevaks.
The third type will not move even if someone approaches them and asks fortheir help. They wish to serve only the great persons. They are the realenemies of our society. Even in the ashram, there are some persons who saythat they will only serve Swamiji. They want to always be near Swamiji. Theyare not bothered about others. They think that by being near Swamiji theywill get special blessings from Sri Swamiji. But Swamiji looks upon suchpeople as His enemies. Remember this.
There are some others who say that they will complete any job only if theyreceive personal instructions from Swamiji. They refuse to listen toinstructions from His troupe or assistants. This is also wrong. If you wishto become a true Svayam sevak as described above, then first learn to obeyand do seva to Swamiji's assistants. Not only this, learn to do seva to thedevotees who come here for Swamiji's darshan. Didn't we say that those whodo seva to the servants of the servant are true Svayam sevaks!
A true example of seva bhakti is Hanuman. When he was entrusted with the jobof finding Sita, he didn't ask, "How can I find her? How does she look?" Hehad never seen Sita before. But still using his intellect and strength, hemanaged to complete the job.
Take the example of Vanaras (monkeys). Except a few important ones likeHanuman, Sugriva, the others had not seen Rama. But just by listening toRama's glory from Sugriva, Hanuman and others, they were ready to give uptheir life fighting for Sri Rama. They didn't say "Who is this Rama? Wehave never seen Him. We can't believe you."
Similarly, in Shiva Purana, in the context of Sati dahana (Sati'sdestruction), Shiva wanted to destroy Daksha's yagna. Understanding hisfeelings, Nandi immediately approached the pramatha ganas (Shiva'sassistants) to fight. They didn't say, "Shiva has to come and tell usdirectly." They considered Nandi's message as an order from Shiva Himself.
Take the story of Garuda. He wanted to go to heaven and get nectar, as itwould release his mother from slavery. At that time, he was not Vishnu'svehicle. He was going on his personal mission. However, many maharishis,knowing that in future he would be Vishnu's vehicle, out of love for Vishnu,secretly transferred their tapas shakti (spiritual energy) to him so that hecould complete his mission quickly. As a result, Garuda quickly completedhis mission and went on to become Vishnu's vehicle. These Maharishis couldget Vishnu's darshan after many more yugas. It was the result of theirselfless service.
Thus there are many stories in our Puranas depicting true seva. You alsoshould aim to do such seva.
Each one of you should learn to look for opportunities to do seva. No onewill direct you, while you are doing such work, if someone approaches youand corrects you or directs you to do the work in a different way, youshould be humble and accept it. That is the seva method.
It is not so easy to reach the level of true seva. You can only go one stepat a time. First begin by doing seva to servants. This is the first step.
Every one comes to the ashram only to learn Guru Tattva (essence of Guru). Butthere is only one way to learn Guru Tattva. That is Seva. Without seva, GuruTattva cannot be learnt. "O ***, if there are so many conditions, then itis better not be a Svayam sevak." If anyone thinks like this, then you maystay here or go away. Do as you please, but remember, you can never everlearn Guru Tattva. So it is important that every one who comes here to theashram should be a Svayam sevak. You should learn to climb one step at atime starting from the first step.
Swamiji wishes that all of you should reach the level of true Svayam sevakand that you understand Guru Tattva.
Jaya Guru Datta !
Compiled by Bala Aati